Qualified Leads

In simple terms, a qualified lead is someone who has shown some interest in your product or the services that you offer by willingly providing his/her details. This person may turn into a potential customer. There is no standard set for leads to qualify, it is unique and depends on the business. Qualified leads are not paid leads. There are two types of qualified leads- marketing qualified leads and sales qualified leads. 

Marketing qualified leads(MQL)‍

Are leads that have voluntarily shown interest in what you offer and are likely to become a customer. Although they have taken the first step themselves, there is no surety of them turning into a customer and buying something. Examples of marketing qualified lead actions are filling out online forms, submitting email ids, adding items to the cart, spending time on your website, requesting more information, etc. 

A sales qualified lead(SQL)

A person who has been reviewed by the marketing team of the organization and the person will possibly turn into a customer. The sales team can contact the interested person and answer their queries and close the sale.  When communication takes place between the sales team and the prospective customer, then the customer should already be familiar with the organization and its product. The question of “Who” shouldn’t arise at this stage. 

Most of the organizations consider the following points to score their leads. Depending on their business, they give weights to the following components:

• Demographic information
• Company information
• Online behavior
• Email subscription status
• Email engagement
• Social engagement

In all, marketing qualified leads should be understood as quantity while sales qualified leads should be thought of as quality. MQLs subsequently become SQLs. To avoid losing leads, the marketing and sales team should work in collaboration with each other. They should work towards common goals and have proper communication between the two teams.