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TG3 SaaS/Glossary/MQL
SaaS metrics glossary

Marketing qualified lead (MQL).

The most argued-over handoff in SaaS. Here is what a marketing qualified lead actually is and why a loose definition quietly wastes your sales team.

Definition
A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a lead that both fits your ideal customer profile and has shown enough buying intent that marketing decides it is worth a salesperson's time.

The key word is both. Fit without intent is a tyre-kicker. Intent without fit is someone who will never buy. An MQL needs the two together and the bar you set decides whether sales trusts your leads or ignores them.

How an MQL is defined

How a marketing qualified lead is defined.

Fits ICP  +  shows intent  =  MQL
Fits ICPright industry, size, role and region for your product
Shows intentdemo request, pricing visit, repeat engagement or a high-intent action you define

There is no universal formula. The point is to write the definition down, agree it with sales and hold the line, see SQL for the next stage.

Benchmarks

What a healthy MQL bar looks like.

There is no magic number but a useful sanity check is the MQL to SQL acceptance rate. If sales accepts well under half your MQLs, the bar is too loose and you are passing noise.

Acceptance rates vary a lot by motion and ACV. The trend that matters is your own over time, on a definition both teams agreed, not a benchmark borrowed from a company at a different stage.

How to improve it

How to tighten your MQL definition.

01

Define fit and intent separately

Score them on two axes so a high-intent bad-fit lead never sneaks through as an MQL.

02

Agree the bar with sales

An MQL definition marketing sets alone is one sales will ignore. Write it together.

03

Review acceptance monthly

Track how many MQLs sales accepts. A falling rate means the definition drifted.

04

Kill vanity actions

An ebook download is not intent. Tie MQL status to actions that actually predict a buy.

Common questions

Questions about marketing qualified lead.

What is a marketing qualified lead?+

A lead that fits your ideal customer profile and has shown enough buying intent that marketing decides it is worth passing to sales.

What is the difference between an MQL and an SQL?+

An MQL is marketing's judgment that a lead is worth sales time. An SQL is sales accepting that judgment after its own review.

How do you qualify an MQL?+

On two axes, fit (does it match your ICP) and intent (has it taken actions that predict a purchase). A lead needs both.

Why are most MQL definitions too loose?+

Because they count low-intent actions like content downloads. That floods sales with leads that never buy and erodes trust in marketing.

Sales qualified leadLead scoringMarketing-sourced pipelineHow we run ABM

Leads sales actually wants?

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