By now, you are hopefully bought in on the benefits of a defined sales process and having, or improving, a sales system. One place that trips up even the most sales savvy kitchen and bath design businesses is how to clearly define Marketing Qualified and Sales Qualified Leads, also known as MQLs and SQLs. If these terms are new to you, check out episode 3 of the season that discusses the sales process lingo and helps to demystify these terms. While there are many other stages a lead goes through, the qualification stages can be the muddiest, when you haven't taken the time to clearly define them for the organization. In episode 3, we also laid out the entirety of the sales process, moving someone from prospect or lead, through qualification, into the design consultation. From there, a proposal is presented in the form of a design and quote, and then the sale is closed, when the client agrees and pays the deposit. That's it. Why does it matter that we segregate MQLs from SQLs? Isn't a lead a lead? Well, yes and no. It's true that this delineation is more of an advanced level of sales process, and a good sales system can help with making this delineation. But it isn't a requirement. However, you do want to do it, because having it means the valuable resources of your designer's time and attention are able to be used most effectively. That is, when you have MQLs and SQLs, designers can prioritize engaging with SQLs, knowing they are more likely to be ready to buy now. With MQLs, you can use systems or other resources to nurture them into SQL status. Great! About now you might be wondering... Yeah, but how do I do that? Good thing you tuned into this episode because we're about to break it down. First, define what a sales qualified lead is in your business. This might feel a little counterintuitive to start with the SQL, but most of the time we are more in tune with what makes a contact ready to buy than what makes them worth nurturing. A SQL is a vetted lead deemed ready for the next stage in the sales process. So, let's start with the obvious action first. They booked a design consultation. That's a contact ready to talk about buying. Check! Okay, now, is there anything else that would make them an SQL? Maybe they provided their budget information in an interest form, and it matches the type of projects you do. Perhaps they were referred by a partner, like a builder or interior designer, that only sends over contacts that they are working with. Basically, Who would make it to the top of the list to get in touch with if you only had 10 minutes to spend on sales? Great. Okay, now two, define what a marketing qualified lead is in your business. This is the lead that isn't yet sales qualified, but have taken actions to show they have interest and that suggests potential for becoming a paying client. One way to think about this is, what are the qualifications of a contact that would make it worth paying money to get in contact with them? This could be an action as simple as signing up for your list or calling in to ask about setting up an appointment. If they've actually booked the appointment, they are an SQL. If they just inquire about it, they are an MQL. The key here is to make it specific to your business and what actions your leads take. And typically, there's a list of possible MQL qualifications. The value in defining this status is knowing that they are more than tire kickers. Putting the effort in to define the qualifications for MQLs and SQLs in your sales process means you can use your sales system to better cater to the needs of each of these types of leads. And you can automatically prioritize leads for your designers. This is where you reap the benefits of effectiveness and efficiency. Another reason to make this improvement for your sales process is it can also help your marketing team. They can tailor their efforts to get MQLs and put nurture campaigns in place to support moving leads from the MQL stage to the SQL stage. In the next episode, it's all about what to track when it comes to leads. Beyond the obvious capturing of contact information, What else do you need to know when it comes to leads in your sales system? Tune in to find out. Hire help my book on how to use experts to shortcut improvement, growth and capacity is now available. Get all the details and buy it by going to higher help book. com. If you enjoyed this episode, you can head over to listen to elevated. com to subscribe, leave us a review or share with a friend. Everyone deserves to have less stress and more impact.