What is Sales qualified lead?

A marketing qualified lead has shown interest. A sales qualified lead has been examined by someone in sales and judged to be a real opportunity: the right kind of buyer, with a plausible need and some ability to act.

The gap between the two counts is one of the most useful numbers a small company can watch. A large gap means marketing is passing along people sales cannot use, which is a definition problem rather than a volume problem.

The definition should be written down and agreed by both sides. Undocumented, it drifts, and the two teams end up reporting different numbers for the same month.