Relying on Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) from form fills is a legacy approach. The modern strategy is to append MQLs with intent data. Engaging MQLs that are also showing high intent signals drastically increases the likelihood of a successful sales conversation compared to following up on form fills alone.

CloudPay stopped using the word "lead" and adopted "signal" instead. This semantic shift prevents sales reps from chasing a single junior contact and encourages them to research and target the entire buying committee (CFO, CHRO) at the interested account.

Friction between sales and marketing often stems from using separate definitions for a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) and a Sales Qualified Lead (SQL). The most effective approach is to have one unified definition: a potential customer that sales can realistically close. This focuses both teams on the ultimate goal of revenue generation.

Metrics like "Marketing Qualified Lead" are meaningless to the customer. Instead, define key performance indicators around the value a customer receives. A good KPI answers the question: "Have we delivered enough value to convince them to keep going to the next stage?"

To eliminate friction, Snowflake's marketing team, led by CMO Denise Pearson, abandoned MQLs. Instead, they focused solely on delivering qualified meetings for the sales team, treating sales as their primary customer whose success was paramount.

The MQL was originally a contract: marketing provides quality leads, and sales commits to follow-up. The system broke when marketing, judged on MQL volume, lowered the quality bar to hit arbitrary goals. This turned the MQL into a lever for volume, not a filter for quality, destroying sales' trust.

Top-performing companies are abandoning traditional metrics like MQLs. They now focus on understanding the entire prospecting process—from lead creation to BDR/SDR engagement—to generate stronger pipeline, higher win rates, and more revenue with less wasted effort.

In B2B sales with multiple decision-makers, tracking individual MQLs is a "lazy metric" that misrepresents buying intent. Success depends on identifying and engaging the entire buying group. Marketing's goal should be to qualify the group, not just a single lead.

Instead of guessing at MQL criteria, start with your success stories. Analyze your closed-won deals and existing happy customers to find patterns in their firmographics, engagement history, and origin. Use this data to build a framework for what a truly 'qualified' lead looks like.