SQL
Sales Qualified Lead
In one line
A sales qualified lead (SQL) is a prospect that sales has independently verified — confirmed intent, budget and authority — making them the real starting point of an active sales motion.
Going deeper
An SQL is an MQL that sales has independently verified. After a discovery call or meeting, the rep confirms the lead has real budget, decision authority, a defined need and a realistic timeline — frameworks like BANT codify this checklist.
The clean rule is: marketing defines MQLs, sales defines SQLs. When that line blurs you get the classic standoff where marketing reports record MQLs while sales complains the leads are unusable.
A common rookie mistake is throwing away every lead sales rejects. The real value is the recycle loop — sending 'not-yet-SQL' leads back into marketing nurture programs rather than letting them disappear.
Related terms
MQL
A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a prospect whose engagement and fit signals indicate they are ready to be handed off from marketing to sales.
MarketingLead Scoring
Lead scoring assigns numerical points to a prospect's behaviours and attributes so you can rank who is closest to a buying decision and prioritise outreach accordingly.
MarketingLead Nurturing
Lead nurturing is the practice of moving prospects who aren't ready to buy yet through a sequence of relevant content until they reach a buying decision.
MarketingDemand Generation
Demand generation is marketing aimed at creating category awareness and intent from scratch — building demand that didn't exist yet, rather than capturing existing search demand.
MarketingABM
Account-based marketing (ABM) flips B2B from 'lead by lead' to 'account by account', concentrating marketing and sales effort on a defined list of high-value target companies.