SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)
The point where marketing hands a lead to sales, with confirmation that it’s worth a real pitch.
…An SQL is only created once your sales team has personally confirmed the lead is ready for a proposal, keeping the pipeline honest.…
What it means
An SQL, or Sales Qualified Lead, is an MQL that has been vetted and confirmed by the sales team as ready for a direct sales pitch or proposal.
This is the formal handoff moment — a lead stops being “marketing’s job” and becomes a live opportunity a rep is actively working to close.
Confirms real intent
Human vetting filters out leads that only looked promising on paper.
Aligns the two teams
A shared SQL definition ends the perennial fight over lead quality between marketing and sales.
Cleaner pipeline math
Counting only true SQLs in the pipeline gives you a forecast you can actually trust.
DNA's Take: We track MQL-to-SQL conversion rates closely, because a gap there usually means the wrong leads are being generated — and that’s exactly the kind of signal we use to refine targeting.
Talk to our team