Sales-qualified lead (SQL)

A sales-qualified lead is a prospect that both marketing and sales agree is ready for an active sales conversation. It sits one step further down the funnel than a marketing-qualified lead. An MQL has shown enough interest, through downloads, page visits, or other engagement, to be worth marketing attention, but it has not been verified as a real opportunity. To become an SQL, the lead has to clear a higher bar: someone has confirmed the fit and the need, usually by checking that the person matches the ICP, holds relevant buying authority, and has a problem the product can solve, often within a workable timeframe. Many teams use a qualification framework like BANT (budget, authority, need, timing) or a discovery call to make that judgment. The reason the distinction exists is to protect sales capacity. Reps have a finite number of hours, and handing them every interested contact wastes that time on people who will never buy. The MQL-to-SQL handoff is where a lead gets promoted from interesting to actionable. A clean definition of what counts as an SQL, agreed on by both teams, prevents the common friction where marketing claims it sent plenty of leads and sales claims none of them were any good.