Agree on what "qualified" means, in writing

An unwritten definition of "qualified" is an argument waiting to happen, and the cheapest way to keep lead quality honest is one page that says exactly what MQL and SQL mean.

You might think this chapter does not apply to a solo founder. It does, and it is the one most lean founders skip. Right now the definition of "qualified" lives in your head, which feels fine because you are the only one using it. But it drifts. On a slow week you call leads you would have skipped on a busy one, and you have no record of what the bar was, so you cannot tell whether your funnel is improving or you are just being inconsistent. The moment you bring on a contractor, a VA, or your first hire, that head-knowledge becomes a daily argument. Writing it down now is a gift to the version of you that has help.

What a written definition is

It is a one-page document stating, in plain language, the exact criteria a lead must meet to be an MQL and to be an SQL, plus what happens at each stage.

An MQL (marketing-qualified lead) is the bar to earn attention: enough fit and intent to be worth a human looking. An SQL (sales-qualified lead) is the bar to earn a sales conversation: fit confirmed and a buying trigger present. The document names the specific signals, the scoring thresholds, and the action that follows each, so "qualified" stops being a feeling and becomes a checklist anyone can apply identically.

Why writing it down changes the outcome

A definition you can read is a definition you can test, improve and hand off; a definition in your head can only be argued about.

For a lean founder the payoff is consistency: you treat Monday's leads and Friday's leads by the same rule, so your conversion data finally means something. For a growing team the payoff is the end of the "marketing sends rubbish leads / sales ignores good leads" fight, because both sides agreed the definition in advance and signed it. Either way, the written rule is what lets you change one thing and measure the effect, instead of changing your own behaviour invisibly.

How to write it

1. Define the MQL in one sentence of criteria. "Company of 20 to 200 in a target sector, decision-maker or influencer role, fit score above X, at least one intent signal."
2. Define the SQL in one sentence of criteria. "MQL plus a confirmed problem we solve plus a budget or timing trigger."
3. State the action at each stage. MQL: enters nurture and surfaces on the review list. SQL: gets a calendar invite within one working day.
4. Write the SLA, even solo. A service-level agreement is just the promise of what happens and how fast. Solo, your SLA is to yourself: "every SQL gets contacted within 24 hours." It stops good leads going cold.
5. Put it where future-you and any hire will see it, in the CRM or a pinned doc, not buried in your head.
6. Date it and review it quarterly, adjusting the criteria as your best-customer pattern sharpens.

A worked example

A 9-person B2B SaaS founder ran qualification entirely by instinct until she brought on a part-time SDR, at which point lead handoffs became a daily disagreement over which leads were "real". She wrote a single page defining MQL and SQL by exact fit-score and intent criteria, with a 24-hour SLA on every SQL. The arguments stopped within a week, and because the rule was now fixed, she could see that tightening the SQL fit criterion lifted her close rate from 14 to 21 per cent, a change she could never have isolated while the definition lived only in her head.

Pitfalls

• "I'm solo, I don't need this." You do, for consistency and for the hire you will make. Write it now while it is one page.
• Defining stages by feeling. "Seems serious" is not a criterion. Use the scoring thresholds you already built.
• No SLA. A definition with no promised action lets qualified leads rot. Name the response time.
• Writing it once and never revisiting. The definition is a living rule; review it as your ICP sharpens.

With the definition written and agreed, the system runs on rules instead of mood. The last operating skill is the hardest emotionally: saying no early, saying it kindly, and learning from every no.