The essentials
- MQL: Marketing Qualified Lead, a contact who matches your target and has shown enough interest to be passed to sales.
- SQL: Sales Qualified Lead, an MQL the salesperson has contacted and judged workable, with an identifiable need, budget and timeframe.
- 2026 benchmarks: 20 to 40% of MQLs become SQLs, 20 to 30% of SQLs become opportunities, and 20 to 30% of opportunities close.
- The condition: a written, shared definition — without which marketing delivers volume and sales declares the leads worthless.
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) and SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) name two qualification stages for a contact in a B2B sales journey. The MQL is a lead marketing judges mature enough to pass to sales; the SQL is a lead sales, after contact, agrees to work. Between the two lies the main source of friction between marketing and sales: without a shared definition, the first delivers forms and the second ignores them. The overall metrics are set out in the KPIs to prioritise in B2B.
The stages of the journey
| Step | Definition | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| Visitor | An anonymous person on the site | Nobody |
| Lead | An identified contact: a form, a download, a sign-up | The form |
| MQL | A lead matching the target and sufficiently engaged | Marketing, against written criteria |
| SQL | An MQL contacted and judged workable by the salesperson | Sales |
| Opportunity | A deal opened in the CRM with an amount and a date | Sales |
| Client | A signed deal | The contract |
Some organisations add the PQL (Product Qualified Lead), a trial user whose actual usage signals purchase intent; that is the self-service software model.
The qualification criteria
An MQL is defined by two families of criteria. The profile criteria describe the fit with your target: sector, size, revenue, the contact's job title, geographic area. The engagement criteria describe intent: a demo request, a quote, repeated visits to the pricing page, a decision-stage download, attending a webinar. A contact who ticks the profile without the engagement isn't ready; a highly engaged contact outside your target never will be. The combination of the two is formalised in Lead scoring, which assigns points and sets a handover threshold.
The progression rates in 2026
| Progression | Typical rate | What a gap signals |
|---|---|---|
| Lead to MQL | 25 to 50% | A low rate points to advertising targeting that is too broad |
| MQL to SQL | 20 to 40% | Below 20%, the MQL definition is too loose or the response time too long |
| SQL to opportunity | 20 to 30% | Below 15%, the need isn't ripe at the moment of contact |
| Opportunity to customer | 20 to 30% | Depends mostly on price, competition and your sales process |
| Lead to customer (end to end) | 2 to 8% | The figure you need to calculate a cost per customer |
Response time weighs more than anything else: an MQL contacted within the hour is two to three times more likely to become an SQL than the same lead called back 24 hours later.
The agreement between marketing and sales
- A written definition of an MQL: profile and engagement criteria, agreed by both teams and reviewed each quarter.
- A response commitment: sales contacts every MQL within 24 hours and records the status in the CRM, including rejections with a reason.
- A mandatory rejection reason: off-target, no budget, wrong time, a competitor; that list is what lets you improve your targeting.
- An expected volume: a number of MQLs per month consistent with your revenue objectives, calculated backwards from the progression rates.
- A shared monthly review: volumes, rates, rejection reasons, response times; it replaces arguments about judgement with figures.
- Feedback into the campaigns: the sources producing rejected MQLs have their budget cut; the measurement comes through the reconciliation described in tagging your digital campaigns.
How GreenRed helps
Rather than juggling several tools, GreenRed's return on investment module brings these metrics together in a single dashboard, compares them over time and tells you which actions come first. You can try it free, with no card, from the Pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an MQL and an SQL?
The MQL is a lead marketing judges to match the target and be engaged enough to pass to sales. The SQL is an MQL the salesperson has contacted and agreed to work, having identified a need, a budget and a timeframe. Marketing decides the first, sales the second.
What MQL to SQL progression rate should you aim for?
Between 20 and 40%. Below 20%, the MQL definition is too broad or the leads are called back too late. Above 50%, the definition is probably too restrictive and marketing is holding back contacts sales could have converted.
How do you define an MQL?
Through two families of criteria agreed with sales: profile (sector, size, job title, area) and engagement (a demo or quote request, a visit to the pricing page, a decision-stage download). Lead scoring formalises the combination and sets the handover threshold.
Why does sales say marketing's leads are worthless?
Almost always because the MQL definition isn't written down or shared, or because rejection reasons aren't recorded in the CRM. Without that list of reasons, marketing can't correct its targeting and the argument stays a matter of opinion.