An MQL is a lead that marketing has flagged as sales-ready based on behavior or firmographic fit. Common triggers: downloaded a high-intent piece of content, attended a webinar, requested a demo, or hit a lead score threshold. The problem: MQL definitions vary wildly, and at many companies they're a vanity metric — lots of MQLs, few that sales actually wants to work. Define MQLs by behaviors that actually predict purchase intent.
For example, if someone from a target-account ICP company visits your pricing page three times, downloads your ROI calculator, and opens 4 emails in a week, that's a strong MQL signal.
We help clients rebuild MQL definitions around intent signals rather than arbitrary lead scores — dramatically improving the sales team's trust in marketing-sourced pipeline.
Related Terms
Relevant Cactus Services
We implement Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) strategies for B2B tech startups every day. Book a free 30-minute call to get a concrete plan for your situation.
Book a free strategy call →Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
Your ICP is the precise description of the company most likely to buy, stay, and expand.
Sales Development Representative (SDR)
An SDR is the outbound hunter on your sales team — their job is to generate qualified meetings, not close deals.
Business Development Representative (BDR)
A BDR is similar to an SDR but often focuses on larger, more strategic accounts or outbound into new markets rather than a defined territory.
Total Addressable Market (TAM)
TAM is the total revenue opportunity if you captured 100% of your target market.
Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM)
SAM is the portion of TAM you can actually reach with your current GTM motion.
Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM)
SOM is the slice of SAM you can realistically capture in the next 12–24 months given your resources, competition, and execution capacity.