SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)

"Sales Qualified Lead" is a potential client (lead) who:

1. Has been evaluated and approved by the marketing department as quality.
2. Has been further validated and qualified by the sales department as real and ready to purchase.

In other words, this is a lead who doesn't just show interest (like downloading an e-book), but demonstrates clear intent and ability to buy your product or service.

This lead has passed the initial screening and is ready for a serious conversation with a sales representative who will guide them toward closing a deal.

Key characteristics of SQL

For a lead to be considered "Sales Qualified", they must meet a set of criteria defined by the company. These are usually grouped into three main models:

BANT (The most widespread model)

• Budget: Does the client have a budget allocated for purchase?
• Authority: Does this person have the authority to make a purchase decision?
• Need: Do they have a real need for our product that solves a specific problem?
• Timeline: Is there a specific timeline by which they want to solve the problem?

GPCTBA/C&I

A more modern approach, popular in the SaaS sector, focused on client goals rather than just budget and authority.

Goals, Plans, Challenges, Timeline, Budget, Authority, Consequences & Impacts.

CHAMP

• Challenges: What problems is the client solving?
• Authority: Who makes the decision?
• Money: What's the budget?
• Prioritization: How important is this problem to them?

The Process: From anonymous user to SQL

To make it clear, here's how the lead goes through the funnel:

• Lead: Someone signs up for something (e.g., subscribes to newsletter, downloads resource). We only have contact information.
• MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead): Marketing determines that this lead matches the "buyer persona" and shows interest. They "hand over" to sales with a note: "Hey, this one looks good, call them."
• SQL (Sales Qualified Lead): The salesperson calls, does research (qualification) and confirms: "Yes, this client has real budget, need and timeline. It's worth working with them." This lead is now SQL.
• Opportunity: A serious sales process begins - presentations, offers, negotiations.
• Customer: The deal is closed.

Why is the SQL concept so important?

• Improves sales efficiency: Salespeople don't waste time with unready clients. They focus only on the best opportunities.
• Improves the relationship between marketing and sales: Creates a common language and clear criteria between the two departments. Marketing knows what leads to look for, and sales knows what to expect.
• More accurate forecasting: When you have clearly defined SQL criteria, you can forecast revenue more accurately because you know how many of these high-quality leads turn into customers.
• Better marketing ROI: You see exactly how much money from the marketing budget generates leads that sales actually use.

Example:

Marketing generates a lead from a webinar: "Ivan Ivanov, IT Director at a company with 50 employees".

He is MQL because he matches the target audience.

A salesperson calls Ivan and learns the following:

• Budget: They have allocated budget for a new software system for the next quarter.
• Authority: Ivan leads the vendor selection and makes the final decision.
• Need: Their current software is outdated and can't calculate necessary reports, which wastes employees' time.
• Timeline: They want to implement the new software within 6 months.
• Result: Ivan is now SQL. The salesperson adds him to the CRM system as such and begins an active sales process with him.

In summary: SQL is a lead who doesn't just potentially need you, but a lead for whom you have established that they have need, budget, authority and timeline to buy. This is the bridge between marketing interest and real sales.