A marketing qualified lead is a contact that marketing judges is more likely to become a customer based on their behavior or profile, such as downloading content or matching your target profile. An MQL has shown interest but is not yet ready to buy. It is a marketing signal, not a sales-ready opportunity.

The MQL is the metric most likely to make marketing look busy while the pipeline stays flat. A pile of MQLs that never convert to real conversations is activity, not progress. Ask one question of any MQL report: how many became sales conversations and closed deals? If nobody can answer, the metric is theater.

Example:

 100 people download a guide. Marketing tags them MQLs. Of those, 15 take a sales call and 3 buy. The MQL count was 100, but only 3 mattered.

What is the difference between an MQL and an SQL?

 An MQL is judged ready by marketing based on interest. Sales has vetted an SQL as a real opportunity worth pursuing. SQLs are closer to revenue.

Are MQLs a useful metric?

 Only when tied to conversion. MQL volume alone is a vanity metric. MQL-to-customer rate is what reveals whether marketing is producing a real pipeline.