Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)

What SQL actually means

An SQL is a lead that has survived contact with a salesperson. Where an MQL is scored by a system, an SQL is judged by a human against criteria like budget, authority, need and timing. The conversion rate between the two is the most honest measure of lead quality a company has, because it is the point where marketing's opinion meets someone who has to hit a number.

Worked example

Marketing delivers 240 MQLs. Sales works them and qualifies 84 as genuine opportunities, a 35 percent MQL to SQL rate. If that rate falls to 20 percent while MQL volume climbs, marketing is producing more leads and less pipeline, and the extra volume is costing sales time it will never get back.

Why the board cares

The MQL to SQL rate settles the recurring boardroom argument about whether the problem is lead quality or sales execution. A stable rate with rising volume means the engine is scaling. A falling rate means marketing is buying worse traffic, and no amount of sales coaching will fix that.

Common mistakes

• Letting sales requalify definitions informally, so the rate measures rep behavior rather than lead quality.
• Reporting SQL counts without the conversion rate from MQL, which hides the efficiency of the handoff.
• Treating a falling rate as a sales problem before checking whether the traffic mix changed.

Related terms

• Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
• Sales Accepted Lead (SAL)
• Win Rate
• Pipeline Coverage Ratio

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