Lead, MQL and SQL
Three labels that become useful only when everyone agrees what earns them.
A lead is a recorded enquiry or potential customer under your organisation's definition. An MQL, or marketing-qualified lead, meets agreed criteria for a marketing-to-sales handoff. An SQL, or sales-qualified lead, has been assessed by sales against its criteria for a meaningful commercial conversation. These are operating definitions, not universal standards.
Define the transition, not just the label
For a hypothetical B2B service, an MQL might require a serviceable company, a relevant need and usable contact information. An SQL might additionally require sales confirmation of the need and an agreed next step. Another business may use different stages or skip MQL entirely. Choose distinctions that change work, not distinctions that decorate a funnel.
Document who owns each decision, which fields support it and when the status is recorded. “Workable” may mean something different from “qualified.” Do not combine them in a report without checking the actual rules.
A practical check
Give marketing and sales ten anonymised example enquiries. Ask them to classify the records independently. Discuss disagreements and rewrite the definition until both teams can apply it consistently. Add rejection reasons such as outside service area, duplicate, no relevant requirement or unable to contact. The last reason is not automatically evidence of poor fit.
Report stage progression using the same cohort and enough follow-up time. Today's SQLs may come from last month's leads. Comparing the totals without that context creates a persuasive but unreliable rate.
The takeaway: a stage is useful when it tells someone what happens next. If it only tells the dashboard which colour to use, the definition needs another pass. Preserve stage history so later analysis can distinguish slow progression from a genuinely lost opportunity.