Glossary: lists and qualification
What is a sales qualified lead (SQL)?
A sales qualified lead (SQL) is a lead that a salesperson has spoken to and confirmed as worth pursuing. The person has a real need, the company fits and there is an agreed next step, so the lead moves into the sales pipeline.
What sales confirms before a lead is an SQL
Fit
The company matches the profile
Need
A problem they want solved
Authority
They decide or can bring who does
Next step
A meeting or demo is booked
A sales qualified lead meets four criteria.
Fit means the company matches the profile. Need, authority and next step are confirmed in a conversation: sales has heard the answers, not inferred them.
The need has been said out loud.
The lead has described a problem they want solved, in their own words, on a call or in a reply. Nothing is assumed from a click.
The person can move a deal.
On authority, they decide or can bring who does: the person with the final say has agreed to join.
A next step is on the calendar.
A meeting or demo is booked. Without a date, the lead is interested but not yet qualified.
Here is a quarter of meetings qualified for an invented company.
Imagine Pennywhin, an invented company that sells scheduling software to clinics. In one quarter its outbound campaign has 40 meetings booked, and 34 are meetings held.
After each call the salesperson applies the same four criteria. 15 of the 34 pass and become sales qualified leads. 19 do not: some clinics are too small and some have no plan to change tools this year. Pennywhin's SQL rate from held meetings is 15 ÷ 34 × 100, about 44%.
Pennywhin's quarter, from meetings to SQLs
Use the SQL as the entry gate to the pipeline.
The SQL is where forecasting starts, so the gate has to be the same for everyone.
The four steps in order
- 1Write the criteria
- 2Decide after a call
- 3Log the reason
- 4Feed it back
- 1
Write the criteria in one place.
Fit, need, authority and next step, each with a yes or no answer.
- 2
Decide after a call, not before.
Mark a lead as an SQL only once someone has spoken to them. Until then it is a lead.
- 3
Log the reason when a lead fails.
Note the failed criterion each time. The pattern shows whether the list or the message needs to change.
- 4
Feed it back to targeting.
If leads keep failing on fit, tighten the profile. If they fail on need, change the angle.
Prymatica books interested prospects onto your calendar after qualifying their replies. You take the meetings we book. See how Prymatica's cold email process works.
Teams make these mistakes with sales qualified leads.
A booked meeting is counted as an SQL.
A meeting is a chance to qualify. It becomes an SQL only if the call confirms the criteria.
Each salesperson uses a private definition.
If one person qualifies on enthusiasm and another on budget, the pipeline cannot be compared or forecast.
Failed leads are thrown away.
A lead that fails on timing may qualify in six months. Keep it, with the reason, and return to it.
These glossary terms sit next to sales qualified lead.
These Prymatica pages go deeper on sales qualified lead.
Questions
People ask these questions about sales qualified lead.
What is the difference between an SQL and an MQL?
An MQL is passed on by marketing because of fit and behavior. An SQL has been spoken to by sales and confirmed against criteria such as need, authority and a booked next step. The SQL is the later and stricter stage.
What is the difference between an SQL and an opportunity?
Many teams treat them as the same moment: when a lead is sales qualified, an opportunity is opened in the pipeline with a value and a stage. Others open the opportunity one step later, after a demo.
How do you calculate the SQL rate?
Divide sales qualified leads by the leads or meetings you started with and multiply by 100. For example, 15 SQLs from 34 held meetings is 15 ÷ 34 × 100, about 44%.
Who decides whether a lead is sales qualified?
A salesperson, after a conversation with the lead. In outbound, a sales development representative or an agency books the meeting, and the account executive who takes the call makes the final decision.
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