January 16, 2025
Each Sales Qualified Lead your business generates is at a different stage of the customer journey, and it’s essential to know where they stand before taking any action. One key milestone in this journey is becoming a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL). However, to truly grasp what SQL is, you need to understand Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) first.
A Marketing Qualified Lead has shown interest in your product but has yet to be ready to engage with your sales team. They need nurturing and further engagement from your marketing department. Once the lead progresses and meets certain criteria, it is passed from marketing to sales, and that’s when it becomes an SQL.
A Sales Qualified Lead is a potential customer who both the marketing and sales teams have thoroughly vetted. They have shown enough interest in your product to be considered ready for direct sales engagement. At this stage, your sales team can step in and begin more targeted, sales-specific interactions.
In most companies, the transition from MQL to SQL follows a lead-scoring system. This system assigns points to leads based on their interactions with your marketing content, such as website visits, email clicks, or social media engagements. Once a lead reaches a certain score, it indicates that they are ready for sales outreach.
Think of this journey as nurturing a plant. The MQL is the seed that needs nurturing (watering and sunlight) before it can bloom into a sales-qualified lead, ready for harvesting by your sales team.
An SQL is a B2B-qualified lead that has gone through several stages of vetting and is deemed ready for a sales conversation. Typically, this lead has either discovered your brand organically or been reached out to by your marketing team. They have shown a strong interest in your product, signaling that they are more likely to make a purchase soon.
The sales team then reviews the lead’s details, verifying whether it is ready to move forward. Once both marketing and sales agree that the lead is prepared for the next step, it is officially labeled as an SQL.
The primary difference between Marketing Qualified Leads and Sales Qualified Leads lies in their sales readiness. An MQL still needs nurturing and guidance, while an SQL is ready to be contacted by the sales team for a direct conversation about buying your product.
MQLs are in the early stages of exploring options, requiring education and engagement. SQLs, on the other hand, have already done their research, are weighing their options, and could convert into customers quickly, sometimes even within 24 hours, if approached with the right offer.
In many businesses, there’s an intermediate stage known as Sales Accepted Leads (SALs). This step happens after the marketing team has flagged a lead as ready for sales but before the sales team officially qualifies them as an SQL. During this stage, the sales team reaches out to the lead, often scheduling a call to confirm whether the lead is indeed ready to proceed further in the buying process.
While this call may not include a full sales pitch, it helps the sales team assess the lead’s readiness and suitability for the product. By doing so, they avoid wasting time on leads that aren’t truly interested or a good fit for the product.
To determine if a lead has truly reached the SQL stage, it’s essential to analyze their behavior. Some key indicators include:
These signals help your team assess the lead’s level of interest and readiness to buy.
Effective lead qualification is crucial in ensuring that your marketing and sales teams work efficiently. By identifying the right leads at the right time, you can ensure that your sales team is only focusing on B2B-qualified leads that are likely to convert.
One way to streamline this process is by implementing a Lead Scoring System (LSS). LSS assigns numerical values to each lead based on their interactions with your brand, helping both marketing and sales teams agree on when a lead should move from MQL to SQL. This system is vital for ensuring a smooth handoff between teams and avoiding frustration on both sides.
Once a lead has reached the Sales Qualified Lead stage, the next step is converting them into a paying customer. But this is where things can get tricky. Sometimes, sales reps may assume that SQLs are already well-informed and ready to buy without further nurturing. However, it’s crucial to avoid making this assumption.
Instead, sales reps should focus on building a conversation with SQLs, addressing their needs and concerns. Regular follow-up is also essential. Research shows that a lead often requires 8 to 10 touches from marketing and sales before converting into a customer.
By nurturing SQLs with personalized content and conversations, your sales team can convert them more effectively, ensuring a higher close rate and a smoother sales process overall.
