In sales, some may believe that all opportunities are worth your time. 

However, time is money. Therefore, this is not always the case.

While you can use your resources to market to virtually anyone, the truth of the matter is that you don’t want to market to individuals who are unlikely to convert. 

Otherwise, your bottom line will suffer from wasted resources and lack of conversion.

This is where Sales Qualified Leads come into play. These leads can then be used in your lead conversion process, which should focus on nurturing tactics to convert those leads.

So, what exactly are Sales Qualified Leads, and why are SQLs important for your brand? 

Learn the answers to these questions, as well as how to find and convert SQLs for your company below.

How are SQLs Qualified?

The exact qualifications for a SQL will vary from one company to the next, depending on its size, industry, and offerings. 

However, as a general rule, a sales qualified lead will have:

• A need for your specific offerings.
• Expressed previous interest in your company and/or its offerings.
• The budget to purchase your offerings.

While there is never a guarantee that a SQL will complete a purchase, they are the highest-ranking lead that your sales team will encounter. 

With that being said, properly qualified SQLs have higher odds of converting than other types of leads.

How to Qualify Leads in Sales

The BANT system is a popular method that companies follow to qualify their leads. Here is a brief overview of the process.

1. Budget

Someone can be head over heels in love with your product or service, but if they lack the financial resources to make a purchase, they aren’t a qualified lead for you.

Therefore, it is imperative for your team to weed out the prospects who simply can’t afford your offering. 

This can be done in many ways, but it is often carried out by simply asking prospects how comfortable they are with your price point.

When it comes to budget, you are looking at how much a customer has to spend and how much they’re willing to spend. This data will help you shorten the sales cycle and boost conversions.

2. Authority

It’s fantastic news when you get yourself a quality SQL, but it is less fantastic when the person you have shared half your life story with isn’t even approved to make buying decisions.

Therefore, in order to qualify leads in sales, you must be speaking to a person who has buying power or at least someone with high authority and can influence the main decision-maker.

3. Need

There is no reason to market to prospects who don’t have a need for your offerings. 

If they’re a bad fit for your company, you are wasting time and money by trying to convert them when the chance of this occurring is unlikely.

To ensure your team isn’t wasting resources or making the process more difficult than it needs to be, it is crucial to determine whether potential customers have a need for your product or service.

When you focus on customers that fit with your company, which means you can address a problem they need solving, there is a higher chance that you’ll convert and retain them.

4. Time

It isn’t uncommon to come across a number of prospects who are unable to close a sale at this particular time in their lives. 

There are many reasons for this, including not having the proper funding yet.

Before moving a prospect down the line, it is important to determine their timeline to purchase. Otherwise, your sales team may waste time and effort trying to close a sale with a prospect that isn’t ready for one reason or another.

Ideally, you will want to work with prospects who can and are willing to purchase within the next three to six months. 

If urgency is lacking, then there is likely no immediate need for your offerings.

How to Find and Convert Sales Qualified Leads

When it comes to SQLs, you want to focus more on the quality of the lead than the number of leads coming in. 

Your goal is to shorten the sales cycle overall and produce high-quality leads that will convert.

Of course, this is all easier said than done. Anybody who’s spent more than a month in sales knows the pressure to simply pad the pipeline can be tough to ignore. But when you slow down and really look at where your best deals are coming from, it’s usually the result of thoughtful qualification and not just chasing every shiny new contact that comes across your inbox. You have to resist the urge to treat prospecting like a frantic fishing trip—sometimes less is actually more.

It’s also worth mentioning that tracking your close rates over time can reveal patterns you might not notice in the day-to-day grind. Maybe you’ll spot that certain industries convert better for you, or that leads who come through referrals from happy customers stick around longer. This isn’t magic—it’s just the stuff that happens when you stop treating every lead like they’re equally valuable and start using your history as a filter. If you’re not already doing this, it’s probably leaving money on the table.

Another thing: Don’t ignore the potential of re-engaging with old SQLs who might have gone cold a few months ago. Circumstances change quickly; maybe that company got new funding or there’s been a leadership shakeup (LinkedIn notifications are honestly your best friend here). Sometimes, all it takes is a sincere, non-pushy check-in and you’re back in the conversation. It’s not about being relentless—it’s about being smart enough to know when to resurface at just the right moment.

1. Establish Buyer Personas

To help ensure your marketing and sales team are familiar with what a sales-ready lead is, establish specific buyer personas.

By knowing exactly who your ideal customer is, it will be easier to target and sell to the most appropriate audience, regardless of the stage of the sales funnel that you’re in.

As you receive more data and feedback from customers, make sure to revisit your buyer persona profiles and update them.

And don’t just write up a quick sketch and call it a day. Buyer personas should actually evolve as your business does—market shifts, product updates, or even just changes in the type of feedback you’re getting from clients can all affect what “qualified” means for your team. Neglecting these updates might not seem like a big deal at first, but give it six months and you’ll be wondering why your conversion rates aren’t budging. Stay nimble.

2. Make a Qualified Sales Lead List

Once you have established who your target customer is, it is time to make a list of qualified sales leads. 

This list should contain individuals who you have already researched, vetted, and want to speak to. These individuals should be highly likely to convert.

Make sure your list contains all the most important data points, such as direct phone number, email address, and job title.

By creating a list of quality leads, you will avoid utilizing unhelpful data and wasting money.

3. Create Content with Purchase Intent in Mind

Although you should develop content that is specifically relevant to an individual’s current situation, allowing you to resonate with them, you also want to ensure your content production focuses on addressing a prospect’s pain points and intent on purchasing the most appropriate solution to their needs.

The messaging that you create for prospects who are ready to make a purchase will be different from the messaging you create to lure prospects in.

For instance, at this stage, you will likely develop a more comprehensive offering of videos, eBooks, webinars, and case studies that provides data to back up the claims you’re making.

4. Locate Unsatisfied Customers of Competitors

One of the best places to find new leads for your brand is by checking out your competitors. 

You are looking for people who are unhappy with your competitor, allowing you to sweep in and lure them over to your side.

Social media is a great place to start, as well as Google reviews and other online review sites. 

Find people who have left negative feedback. You can then reach out to them to offer a free trial or demo with your company.

You may also be interested in these articles:

• The 15 Best Sales Prospecting Tools that you need to try
• What is Cold Calling & How to Master This Sales Technique for Success
• Create Sales Copy that Gets the Results You Desire

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Wrap Up

By using the BANT framework and defining your overall criteria for Sales Qualified Leads, you will be able to better locate prospects that should be a priority, deliver a more personalized user experience, and close more sales.

Remember, all leads are not created equally, so it is imperative that your marketing and sales teams work on appropriate messaging and try to convert prospects who are ready to move forward in the sales funnel.