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Home Growth MQL to SQL Conversion Calculator

MQL to SQL Conversion Calculator

Calculate the conversion rate from Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL) to Sales Qualified Leads (SQL).

Calculator

Number of leads that the sales team has accepted as ready for a direct sales follow-up.
Number of leads that marketing has identified as having high potential.
MQL TO SQL CONVERSION RATE
20.00%
Average

Standard range for most B2B companies.

Formula

Conversion Rate % = (SQL ÷ MQL) × 100

Worked example

If marketing generated 100 MQLs and sales accepted 30 of them as SQLs, your conversion rate is: Rate = (30 ÷ 100) × 100 = 30%.

Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)
30
Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)
100

Industry benchmarks

High Alignment

Excellent alignment between marketing and sales. Your lead quality is very high.

Average

Standard range for most B2B companies.

Poor Alignment

Marketing is sending too many low-quality leads, or sales criteria are too strict.

FAQ & key takeaways

How to read this metric

What it measures

The MQL to SQL Conversion Rate measures the percentage of marketing-generated leads that are “accepted” by the sales team as being ready for a direct sales conversation. It is the ultimate measure of “Smarketing” (Sales + Marketing) alignment.

Why it matters

A low conversion rate here indicates a massive waste of resources. Marketing may be spending budget to acquire the wrong leads, or Sales may be ignoring good leads due to lack of trust in marketing’s qualification process. Fixing this is often the fastest way to increase B2B revenue.

How to improve conversion

  1. Shared Definitions: Marketing and Sales must agree on exactly what constitutes an MQL and an SQL.
  2. Lead Scoring: Implement a system that automatically scores leads based on behavior and firmographics before passing them to sales.
  3. Feedback Loop: Sales should provide regular, detailed feedback on why specific MQLs were rejected.
  4. Sales Enablement: Provide sales with better context and content to help them convert MQLs into SQLs more effectively.