Jan 6, 2026
Sales Qualified Lead
SQL
A lead that sales has verified meets qualification criteria (budget, authority, need, timeline) and is ready for active selling.
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Formula:
Lead meeting sales criteria
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Benchmarks
SQL-to-opportunity: 40-60%. SQL-to-customer: 15-30%. Much higher quality than MQLs.
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Why It Matters
SQL is the handoff point between marketing and sales. Track MQL-to-SQL conversion to measure marketing's lead quality. Low conversion = misaligned qualification. Sales blaming marketing for bad leads? Check this metric first.
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