MQL, SQL, and the handover that decides everything

Most arguments between marketing and sales are really arguments about an undefined handover.

The two terms

Plainly:

What each one means

MQL: marketing believes this contact is interested enough to be worth a salesperson's time.

SQL: sales has looked at it and agrees there is a real opportunity here.

Why the line has to be written

Without a written rule, every person applies their own standard on any given day. Marketing counts leads that sales considers worthless, sales rejects leads marketing considers good, and both conclude the other is not doing their job.

The fix is unglamorous: agree the criteria, write them down, and revisit them when the data says they are wrong.

What good criteria look like

Concrete and checkable, not sentiments:

• Matches the ICP on industry, size and role.
• Has shown a specific action or expressed a specific need.
• Has some indication of budget and authority.

Track the rejections

The most useful number is how many MQLs sales rejects and why. That single figure tells you whether your targeting or your criteria need adjusting, and it turns a recurring argument into a data question.

In outbound the line is different

In outbound there is no inbound signal to interpret, so the equivalent question is whether a replying contact is a real opportunity or just polite. The principle holds: write down what qualifies, so it is decided consistently.