MQL to SQL Conversion Rate: What the Number Measures
Online version: https://funneleconomics.ai/resources/glossary/conversion-rate
Conversion rate is a family name: at Funnel Economics, four different quantities carry the word – the win rate (decided-row or qualified), the stage win rate, stage-to-stage conversion, and the rates at the class gates of the lead funnel (MQL, SQL and SAL). A conversion rate is readable only once the quantity meant is named.
What does the MQL to SQL conversion rate measure?
The MQL to SQL conversion rate is a rate of the lead funnel. The rate gets no name here; it is named by its steps.
It usually means the share of leads that gets from the MQL step (marketing qualified lead) to the SQL step (sales qualified lead). The usual calculation is the number of SQLs divided by the number of MQLs. The calculation alone does not say which leads are in the denominator.
MQL, SQL and SAL (sales accepted lead) are steps before the opportunity. Leads in these steps are demand that is not yet an opportunity.
Funnel Economics carries MQL, SQL and SAL as fixed classes that are the same in every organisation. Which stage of its own sales process belongs to MQL, SQL or SAL is set by each company.
Each company also sets the steps' order. “MQL to SQL” therefore names two steps, not necessarily neighbours: another step can lie between.
Which four quantities are called conversion rate?
Four quantities carry the words conversion rate. None of the four carries the name without a qualifier; for the gates of the lead funnel, the named steps are the qualifier.
| Name | Question | Calculated on |
|---|---|---|
| Win rate | What share of the decided deals was won? | depending on the name: decided-row win rate / qualified win rate |
| Stage win rate | Of the deals that stood in a stage and were decided, what share was won? | the decided deals of a stage, per sales rep |
| Stage-to-stage conversion | Which deals moved from one stage to another? | the transitions of a period; read as a volume (count and amount), not as a rate |
| Rates at the class gates of the lead funnel (MQL, SQL and SAL) | Does a lead reach a further named step? | the named steps; the rate alone does not say which leads are in the denominator |
The rule: write the distinguishing name, or name the population in the same sentence.
The stage win rate is measured from the company's own history, per sales rep, opportunity type, stage and period. It is never assigned as a fixed percentage per stage. Funnel Economics weights bEFV with it.
Decided-row win rate and qualified win rate = number won ÷ (number won + number lost)
Open deals are not counted in either population. See Win rate, formula and what it leaves out.
How do you read a conversion rate?
Every conversion rate needs a statement of what it is calculated on; for a rate of the lead funnel, that is the named steps. Without it, nobody can say what the percentage means.
The conversion rate from MQL to SQL shows what share of leads moves on. It does not show how long leads stay in a step or how often they fall back across a handoff. The dwell time against that step's entered SLA and the number of demotions across the handoff show that. Handoff Shell Game describes the pattern at a handoff.
Related terms
FAQ
What does the MQL to SQL conversion rate mean?
The MQL to SQL conversion rate is a rate of the lead funnel. It usually means the share of leads that gets from the MQL step (marketing qualified lead) to the SQL step (sales qualified lead). The usual calculation is the number of SQLs divided by the number of MQLs. Which stages belong to MQL and SQL, and what lies between the two steps, is set by each company. The rate can therefore be read only with the steps named.
What is a good MQL to SQL conversion rate?
This entry names no benchmark for a good MQL to SQL conversion rate. Which stages count as MQL and as SQL is set by each company. A rate from the market can therefore rest on different definitions. A comparison with the company's own prior periods is closer than a market figure.
Is conversion rate the same as win rate?
No. Conversion rate is a family name: at Funnel Economics, four different quantities carry the word. One of them is the win rate: the share of won deals among the decided deals, counted by number, without open deals. It is kept on two populations: the decided-row win rate and the qualified win rate. The other three quantities are the stage win rate, stage-to-stage conversion and the rates at the class gates of the lead funnel (MQL, SQL and SAL).
Why are two MQL to SQL conversion rates from two companies not comparable?
Two MQL to SQL conversion rates are comparable only if the steps and the way of counting are the same. Which stage belongs to MQL and which to SQL is set by each company, and so is the order of the steps. In one company a further step can lie between MQL and SQL, in another it does not. Then there is the question of which leads are in the denominator. The same percentage can therefore describe two different paths.
Does SAL come before or after SQL?
Each company decides that for itself. MQL, SQL and SAL (sales accepted lead) are steps before the opportunity. The order of these steps is not a fixed rule; it belongs to the sales process of the individual company. Where a sequence is named, it is the example of one organisation. Whoever quotes a conversion rate between two of these steps therefore also says what lies between the two steps in their own process.