When we’re conducting a sales and marketing assessment, one of the first questions we ask is, “How do you define a sales qualified lead (SQL)?” The typical response is about five minutes of explanation that basically comes down to, “I can’t quite tell you what it is, but I know it when I see it.” As we dig deeper into the assessment, we learn that most companies have no formal SQL process and often go to proposal without ever completing a defined qualification process.
