What is Lead Qualification?

Definition

Lead qualification is the critical process of vetting a potential customer (a lead) to determine how likely they are to become a paying customer. This process involves evaluating two main factors:

1. Fit: Does this lead match your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)? (e.t., right industry, company size, location).
2. Intent: Is this lead showing genuine interest or experiencing a pain point that indicates they are actively considering a purchase?

This process acts as a filter, ensuring that the sales team’s valuable time is spent only on the most promising and relevant opportunities.

Examples

• Using a Framework: An SDR uses the BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) framework during a discovery call to qualify a lead.
• ICP Research: A BDR researches a new lead on LinkedIn and finds their company is in the right industry and has the right number of employees, thus qualifying them as a good fit.
• Automated Scoring: A marketing automation system uses lead scoring to automatically qualify a lead as an MQL once they’ve visited the pricing page and downloaded a case study.
• Form Questions: A « Contact Us » form asks, « What is your biggest business challenge? » to help pre-qualify the lead’s need before anyone even makes a call.

Advantages/Benefits

• Increased Sales Efficiency: Prevents Account Executives from wasting time on unqualified, dead-end leads.
• Higher Conversion Rates: By focusing on high-quality, well-vetted leads, the sales team can achieve a much higher closing rate.
• Better Sales & Marketing Alignment: Creates a clear, agreed-upon definition of a « good lead, » improving the handover from MQL to SQL.
• More Accurate Forecasting: A pipeline filled with qualified leads makes sales forecasting far more reliable and predictable.

Related terms

• BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline)
• MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)
• SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)
• Discovery Call
• Lead Scoring
• ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)