Definition
A Marketing-Qualified Lead (MQL) is a contact whose behaviour and attributes signal enough interest for marketing to rate it valuable - a whitepaper download, repeat visits, fit to the ICP. But it isn't sales-ready yet.
A Sales-Qualified Lead (SQL) is an MQL the sales team has vetted and confirmed as a real opportunity: concrete need, budget, timeline, decision authority. The MQL → SQL transition is the most important handoff in the funnel - and the most common break point between teams.
The value of the split lies in the shared definition: if marketing and sales don't agree what turns an MQL into an SQL, marketing hands off too early (sales complains about bad leads) or too late (hot leads cool down). A written threshold ends the recurring conflict.
Why it matters
The MQL-SQL boundary decides whether sales time burns on ripe or unripe leads. Without a shared definition, marketing and sales argue about quality instead of building pipeline.
In practice
- 01MQL: downloads a whitepaper and visits the pricing page. SQL: confirms budget and timeline in a discovery call.
- 02A service-level agreement sets: marketing delivers 50 MQLs/month, sales works each within 24 hours.
- 03Lead scoring automates MQL status; the jump to SQL stays a human sales judgment.
