An SQL is a lead that has been vetted by sales and meets the criteria to enter the active pipeline. The SDR or AE has confirmed: they're the right company, right person, have a real problem, and are willing to take a meeting. The gap between MQL and SQL is where most B2B marketing pipelines leak — either marketing is sending bad leads or sales isn't working them.
For example, if marketing sends 100 MQLs to sales in a month and sales qualifies 30 into active opportunities, your MQL-to-SQL rate is 30% — which is healthy; below 20% usually means an MQL definition problem.
We track MQL→SQL conversion rates as a leading indicator of funnel health on every demand gen engagement.
Relevant Cactus Services
We implement Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) 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.