Sales Qualified Lead

Also called SQL

A sales qualified lead: a lead that sales has vetted, budget, need, timing, and accepted as a real opportunity worth actively pursuing. One step past a marketing qualified lead.

Why it matters

SQLs are where real selling begins, so their volume and quality drive the pipeline. A clear bar for qualifying, often via a framework like BANT, keeps reps focused on deals that can actually close.

For example

After a discovery call confirms budget and timing, a marketing lead is upgraded to a sales qualified lead worth actively pursuing.

Go deeper

The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO Amazon · article This is the book that made MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Identify pain, Champion) a household framework for enterprise selling, written by a five time CRO. As a tiny unknown startup, your problem is not charisma, it is navigating a complex buying committee you cannot see, and this book teaches you exactly how to find and arm a champion who sells for you on the inside. Treat it as a starting point on qualification: it is dense and enterprise heavy, so read for the champion and pain chapters first. Open amazon.com →

Related terms

Marketing Qualified Lead BANT Prospect

Also in Starting Up

See how founders actually handle this on Getting your first customers, part of the Starting Up hub.

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