_Marketing_Qualified_Lead.pngA Marketing Qualified Lead, commonly referred to as MQL, is a contact who is more deeply engaged than a typical lead, but requires additional nurturing before becoming sales ready. It is important to keep MQLs warm, so to speak, by continuing to foster interest in your products or services until they are ready to make a purchase decision.

The Marketing Qualified Lead stage brings about a crucial handoff between marketing and sales, so it is critical that both teams are in lockstep when it comes to identifying and defining an MQL.

related article: What is SQL – Sales Qualified Lead? 

Sales and marketing teams need to collaboratively determine the demographics, activities and behaviors representative of a MQL at your company. Based on the definition you create, develop a lead scoring system with assigned point values for various MQL qualifications.


Expert Tip:

The marketing and sales funnel is not always linear. There may be instances when a Marketing Qualified Lead is passed to sales, but after accepting the lead, sales finds that the contact isn’t ready to buy. It is important that sales return the lead to the marketing team, so the prospect can continue to be nurtured.


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