MQL → SQL Definition & Handoff Kit
“The leads are bad” usually means the leads were never defined. Score your MQL and SQL definitions and your handoff in one spreadsheet, and find out whether your funnel is tight, leaking, or broken.
instant download · .xlsx · yours to keep
The problem
A vague definition leaks leads no scoring model can recover.
Two teams, two definitions
Marketing's “qualified” and sales' “qualified” rarely match. Leads die in the gap between them.
“Feels ready” isn't a rule
A definition built on judgment can't be handed off, audited, or improved. It just generates arguments.
No SLA, no loop
Without an owner, a response time, and a rejection feedback loop, handed-off leads quietly vanish.
What's inside
Two scorecards and a gate, in one workbook.
Definition scorecard
Score your MQL and SQL definitions on the same six criteria — objective & measurable (the gate), threshold-defined, behavior-based, agreed by both teams, documented, and actionable. The weaker definition caps your score.
Handoff-health scorecard
Score the handoff process: a named owner on each side, a response SLA, a rejection feedback loop, a single shared system, a review cadence, and end-to-end conversion tracking.
The standard
Rigor has to be real, not a high number.
Measurable or it fails
The gate forces BROKEN on any definition that scores low on “objective & measurable,” no matter the total.
The weak link caps it
A great MQL definition can't rescue a vague SQL one — the lower of the two sets the definition score.
Your inputs, your number
Every score derives from the 0-5 ratings you enter. No baked-in benchmark, no invented figure.
How it works
Score it yourself — watch the gate decide.
MQL definition
73/100SQL definition
54/100Handoff process
47/100Workable, but losing leads at the seams. Fix the weakest criterion first.
Mid-maturity (leaky): Definitions mostly measurable, but the SQL definition is one-sided and the handoff has no SLA or rejection loop.
This is the live engine. The full workbook scores both definitions and your handoff, with the gate built in. Start Here, Dashboard, and a live MQL-SQL Scorecard — opens in Excel, Sheets, or Numbers.
Get the kit — $49What you'll see
One verdict, and the weakest seam to fix first.
Measurable, agreed definitions and a handoff with owners, an SLA, and a feedback loop. Leads won't leak here.
Workable but losing leads at the seams — a missing SLA, a one-sided definition, no rejection loop. Fixable.
No shared, measurable definition or no real handoff. Rebuild before you spend another dollar on leads.
Who it's for
Anyone where marketing hands leads to sales.
Built for
- Founders refereeing the “the leads are bad / sales doesn't follow up” argument.
- Marketing and demand-gen leads defining an MQL that sales will accept.
- Sales leads who want a defensible SQL bar and a real SLA.
- RevOps standing up or auditing the handoff.
Not for
- Scoring individual leads — that's the Lead Nurture Decision System.
- Teams with no marketing-to-sales handoff at all.
- Anyone wanting a benchmark of “good” numbers — this grades your own definitions.
Pairs well with
Agree on qualified, then fix the handoff around it.
A shared definition is step one. The Lead Response-Time Revenue Calculator shows what slow follow-up on those leads costs, the Lead Source ROI Scorecard tells you which sources send the qualified ones, and the CAC & Payback Calculator proves the whole motion pays back.
Common Questions
Straight answers before you buy.
It grades two things in one spreadsheet: how good your MQL and SQL definitions are (objective and measurable, threshold-defined, behavior-based, agreed by both teams, documented, and actionable) and how sound your marketing-to-sales handoff is (named owner each side, response SLA, rejection feedback loop, single shared system, review cadence, and end-to-end conversion tracking). It returns one combined verdict — TIGHT, LEAKY, or BROKEN. It grades your own definitions and process; it does not score individual leads.
Because of the vague-definition gate. If either definition scores at or below 1 on “objective & measurable” — the rigor criterion — the verdict is forced to BROKEN no matter how high everything else scores. A definition built on a feeling can’t be handed off, audited, or improved, so a high total can’t paper over it. In the worked example a setup scoring 87 overall is still BROKEN when its SQL definition is subjective.
Each scorecard rates six criteria 0–5 against weights that sum to 100, and the score is the sum of (rating ÷ 5 × weight). The weaker of your two definitions (the minimum of MQL and SQL) becomes the definition component, and the overall score is 60% definition + 40% handoff, rounded. Bands map the overall to TIGHT (75+), LEAKY (45–74), or BROKEN (under 45) — then the vague-definition gate is applied. The number comes from your own ratings; there’s no baked-in benchmark.
Because leads leak at the weakest seam, not the average one. A textbook MQL definition can’t rescue a vague SQL definition — the two have to agree for a lead to pass cleanly between teams, so the kit takes the minimum of the two definition scores rather than averaging them. A high average with one soft side hides exactly the gap where leads fall through.
Different layer. The Lead Nurture Decision System scores individual leads (advance, keep nurturing, recycle, or drop). This defines the rule that decides what an MQL or SQL even is, plus the handoff around it. It’s the upstream fix: no per-lead scorer downstream can fix an undefined input. Natural order — tighten the definition and handoff here, then score leads against it there.
One .xlsx with three tabs — Start Here, a live Dashboard with the verdict, and the MQL-SQL Scorecard where you rate each criterion. It ships with a worked example pre-filled so you can see how it scores, then overwrite it with your own answers. It opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers with no install, and every number recalculates live as you type. $49, one-time.
Get the kit
Define it once. Stop the leak.
- Both definitions and your handoff, scored with the gate built in.
- A live verdict and the weakest seam named.
- Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers — no install.