Difference between Marketing Qualified Leads and Sales Qualified Leads

An MQL is fundamentally a connection that is sales-ready but is still not ready for direct, consideration from sales. On the other hand, SQL  is an active lead for direct sales follow-up and should be given the highest priority for engaging. The discrepancy between Marketing Qualified Leads and Sales Qualified Leads (SQL) is necessary to know the sales funnel, and possibly, the potential bottlenecks within it. However, the exact definitions of MQL v/s SQL differ based on your customer lifecycle and are defined by marketing and sales.

MQLs leads are marketing qualified and are ready for sales follow-up. The sales metric MQL to SQL conversion rate is the rate of Marketing Qualified Leads that get turned to Sales Qualified Leads. It’s one of the best ways to determine lead quality and an excellent indicator of how well your marketing team is qualifying and screening leads to maintain a high-quality pipeline.

Marketing brings clicks to the website landing page and captures leads engaging with content. As marketing engages with these leads and provides relevant information, these individuals can be scored based on the actions they take. These individuals become a Marketing Qualified Lead at the point they are deemed ready to be handed over to the sales development team.

SQLs are prospects that have been vetted to determine if there’s an interest to connect them to the next stage in the buying cycle, sometimes called the Discovery or Demo stage.

SQL has a higher value than an MQL because it has been qualified both by Marketing and Sales. However, you should assume a portion of MQLs to convert into SQLs. Indeed, sales should receive data about the leads they have disqualified through lead rubbing in order to moreover improve Marketing’s Lead Scoring.

Ideally, MQLs should transform easily into high-quality SQLs, but it is normally not the fact.

After the initial contact from the marketing catalyst, the sales development team continues the interaction and vets the customer for interest and capability to purchase. It’s called a Sales Qualified Lead once the contact is “qualified” as a viable prospect with problems that fit the solution offered by the seller.

Now you may be wondering why it’s so crucial to understand whether someone is an MQL or an SQL. Understanding where your leads fall into these two categories can help you understand who should be in charge of that next conversation.

The Significance of the MQL-to-SQL Process

Smooth transitions from an MQL to SQL depend upon how well sales teams and marketing teams share data. Typically, sales teams find leads with invalid information or prospects who are just not ready to buy. The higher marketing learns about end customers, the greater they can help nurture leads before salespeople have to spend time connecting the wrong prospects.

Sales Metrics and KPIs:

Affixing MQL to SQL Conversion Rate to the sales KPI dashboard might need to also consider tracking these related sales metrics for context.

• 1. Average Sales Cycle Length
• 2. SQL to Win Conversion Rate
• 3. Average Purchase Value

Recognizing MQLS and SQLs begins with obtaining the right data and we can help you in that case.

Vsynergize Outsourcing can help you track activity from all of your leads at all stages of the purchase cycle. Schedule a demonstration. We’d love to show you how it works. Shoot us an email at info@vsynergize.com or call on +1-732-481-9424.