Glossary

What is a marketing qualified lead (MQL)?

A marketing qualified lead, or MQL, is a lead whose actions meet a rule marketing set for interest, such as downloading a guide, attending a webinar or visiting the pricing page, and whose profile fits the target market. It is handed to sales to check. An MQL shows interest in content, not necessarily in buying.

Published by Sellinger AI. Numbers and settings checked on 24 October 2026 against the fact register. Report an error.

How are MQLs scored?

Most teams combine fit and behaviour. Fit is the company and role. Behaviour is what the person did. An example with made up points: a director at a target company scores 20 for fit, a pricing page visit adds 15, a webinar adds 10, and anything over 40 becomes an MQL. See lead scoring for how scores are built.

Why do many teams move past MQLs?

Because an MQL counts activity, and activity is easy to inflate. A team that is rewarded for MQLs can hit its number with downloads from students and competitors, while sales sees nothing it can work. Many teams now track buying signals at the account level, or simply count the conversations and meetings that come from marketing.

How should sales handle an MQL?

Follow up fast, while the interest is fresh. See speed to lead.
Refer to what the person did, plainly, without pretending it was a coincidence.
Ask one question about the problem behind the download.
Send the lead back to marketing with a reason if it does not fit.

How Sellinger handles it

Sellinger does not score MQLs. It answers inbound leads quickly: Facebook lead form leads are polled from a sheet every 60 seconds and Google Ads leads every 300 seconds, then created as leads and contacted by the campaign (Google Ads leads default to WhatsApp as the first channel). The live chat agent answers website visitors, and the inbound lead qualification use case shows the setup.

Common questions

What is the difference between an MQL and an SQL?

Marketing decides an MQL from rules about interest. Sales decides an SQL after checking fit and need.

Is a form fill an MQL?

Only if your rule says so. Many teams require fit as well as the form.

Are MQLs dead?

The label is used less, but the idea of handing over interested leads is not. What matters is that the handover is fast and the definition is shared.

Sources and method

General marketing practice; the scoring example is illustrative. Sellinger behaviour from the fact register, checked 24 October 2026.