Glossary
What is an SQL?
A lead that sales has vetted, usually through a conversation, and confirmed as a real opportunity worth pursuing.
Definition
An SQL (sales qualified lead) is a lead that the sales team has vetted and confirmed as a real opportunity worth actively pursuing. It usually means a rep has spoken with the person and confirmed fit, a real need, reasonable timing and a path to the decision-maker. SQLs typically move into the pipeline as deals.
What makes a lead an SQL
Each team writes its own criteria, but they usually cover:
- The company fits the ICP.
- The person has a problem the product solves and wants to fix it.
- There's a timeframe, ideally tied to a deadline or trigger.
- The rep is talking to a decision-maker or has a clear path to one.
Frameworks like BANT and MEDDIC turn these into questions reps ask on a discovery call.
Most teams also record why a lead became an SQL, so the account executive doesn't have to repeat the same questions.
MQL vs SQL
An MQL is based on data, fit plus engagement, and judged by marketing. An SQL is based on a conversation and judged by sales. Not every SQL starts as an MQL. A lead from outbound prospecting or a referral can go straight to SQL once a rep qualifies it. Some teams add a step in between, often called a sales accepted lead, where sales agrees to work an MQL before qualifying it fully.
An example
Say an HR software company gets an MQL: an office manager at a 90-person firm who viewed pricing. On a 15-minute call, the SDR learns the firm opens a second office next quarter, onboarding runs on spreadsheets, and the COO owns the budget and wants options by month end. That's an SQL. The SDR books a demo with the COO and the account executive. If the call had turned up no budget owner and no timeline, the lead would go back to nurture with notes, not into the pipeline.
A note on the acronym
In tech, SQL also stands for Structured Query Language, the language used to query databases. Context almost always makes clear which one people mean.
How Siela AI uses it
When a prospect is ready, Siela AI's AI SDR shares your booking link, and contacts and deals live in the built-in CRM with a visual pipeline, or in HubSpot or Salesforce if you connect one instead.
Questions
What does SQL stand for in sales?
In sales, SQL stands for sales qualified lead: a lead the sales team has confirmed as a real opportunity, usually after a conversation. Outside sales, especially in software and data work, SQL usually means Structured Query Language, which is used to work with databases.
What is the difference between an SQL and an opportunity?
Many companies treat them as nearly the same. Where they differ, an SQL is a lead sales has accepted as worth pursuing, and an opportunity is created in the CRM once there's a defined deal, often after a first meeting, with an estimated value and close date.
Who decides if a lead is an SQL?
Sales does, usually an SDR, BDR or account executive, using criteria agreed with marketing. Writing those criteria down matters, because without a shared definition reps qualify differently and pipeline reports become hard to trust.
Less jargon, more conversations.
Siela AI finds people with a fresh reason to talk, reaches them on LinkedIn, X and email from your own accounts, and keeps your social going.