sales qualified lead

Sales Qualified Lead

A prospect that the sales team has reviewed and confirmed meets the criteria for active pursuit — typically verified budget, authority, need, and timeline (BANT). The SQL (Sales) stub entry also exists; this entry provides full context.

When you'd see it: B2B sales pipelines and CRM systems. The stage immediately after MQL — sales reviews the lead, confirms it's a genuine opportunity, and converts it to SQL (or rejects it back to marketing as not ready). SQL count and MQL-to-SQL conversion rate are both key metrics in revenue reviews.

Why it matters: SQL is the count of real sales opportunities — the pipeline that can actually close. MQL-to-SQL conversion reveals the quality of the lead handoff from marketing: low conversion means either marketing is sending weak leads or sales isn't effectively qualifying. SQL-to-close rate then reveals sales execution quality.

Common mistakes: Treating 'interested' as synonymous with 'qualified.' A prospect who responds to an email is interested; one who confirms they have budget, a real need, a Q3 timeline, and can make or influence a decision is qualified. Premature SQL conversion inflates pipeline, overstates the forecast, and eventually produces a pattern of pipeline that doesn't close.

Related marketing qualified lead, MQL, CAC, BANT, ICP