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Sorting leads: which ones really deserve a call.
What the labels mean, how to write rules your sales team will trust, and why point systems quietly stop working.
The short answer
Sorting leads means deciding, by written rules, which folks get a sales call and which get a slow follow-up instead. An MQL is a lead the ads team thinks is worth a try. An SQL is one the sales team agreed is worth their time. The gap between those two, and whether both teams wrote them down together, is where most set-ups lose trust.
What the labels really mean
These short names are steps of a deal between two teams. They are not traits of a person. Read them that way and they stop being fancy talk.
- Lead
- A name that wants what you sell and said you may reach out. Nothing more is claimed.
- MQL, or a lead the ads team likes
- It meets the rules both teams agreed are worth a sales try. It is a nudge, not a ruling.
- SQL, or a lead the sales team took
- Sales looked and agreed it is worth their time. If few MQLs turn into SQLs, your MQL rule is wrong. Not your sales team.
- A live deal
- A checked deal with a size and a date on it. This is where you can start to plan. All that came before is just an early hint.
Writing rules your sales team will trust
Fancy named systems with clever short names are fine. But they are check lists, not a plan. What makes rules work is that they are written down, shared, and easy to test. Someone can look at a lead and say yes or no with no fight.
Four things cover almost every shop. Write one line for each, in your own words. And be honest that you will only learn some of them on the call.
- Right problem
- Do they have the problem you fix, in the shape you fix it? This is the most common reason to say no, and the easiest to learn before a call.
- Enough money
- Can they pay in the range you work in? You do not need an exact budget. You need to know they are not miles away from it.
- Right time
- Is there a reason to move in a window you care about? "Some day" is a slow follow-up, not a sales call. Treating it as one wastes time on both sides.
- Able to start
- Can this person get things going? They do not have to sign. They have to start. Asking for the signer on the first call rules out most real buying.
When points help, and when they are just show
Point systems give a lead marks for who they are and what they did, then sort by the total. They truly help when you get more leads than your team can call and you need a fair order. They are just show when you get few enough that everyone gets a call anyway. Then the number only describes a choice you were going to make regardless.
The useful split is between fit and want. Fit is who they are. Their trade, their size, their job, where they live. Want is what they did. Pages read, emails opened, forms sent, calls booked. A great fit with low want needs ads. A poor fit with high want is usually a kind no. Mash both into one number and you lose the very thing that told you which call to make.
Four ways sorting quietly breaks
None of these ring a bell when they happen. They show up months later as a sales team that no longer trusts the leads you send.
- Rules that live in one person's head
- If it is not written down, two people sort the same lead in two ways and neither is wrong. Every clash turns personal instead of being about the steps.
- Points no one ever resets
- A system built on last year's buyers keeps giving marks with full confidence while the market moves on. Check it against the deals you really won, on a set date.
- Chasing the MQL count
- The moment that count becomes a goal, the rule loosens to hit it. Track how many MQLs sales takes, next to the count, or the number turns into a story.
- No path for the ones you turn down
- A lead that is not ready is not a dead lead. With no slow path, "not now" and "never" get the same treatment. And you pay twice to reach the same person.
Key takeaways
- MQL and SQL are steps of a deal between two teams. They are not traits of a person.
- Write one clear, testable line each for right problem, enough money, right time, and able to start.
- Keep fit and want as two signals. Mashing them into one score loses the useful part.
- Track how many MQLs sales takes, not how many you made, or the rule will loosen to hit the goal.
- Give the ones you turn down a slow path. "Not now" and "never" are different answers.
