KnowledgeSales Qualified Lead Rate
SQL rate · The share of leads that sales accepts as worth pursuing.
Understand SQL rate in context.
Simply explained explanation
The share of leads that sales accepts as worth pursuing.
Professional explanation
Percentage of eligible leads advancing to a sales-qualified stage under agreed sales criteria.
Analytical explanation
Use as a cross-team quality signal. Low SQL rate may reveal targeting issues, weak lead data or mismatched marketing/sales definitions.
Technical explanation
SQL rate = distinct leads reaching SQL stage / distinct eligible leads × 100. Some organisations instead define an MQL→SQL acceptance rate; label the denominator.
Four complementary explanations — choose your level. Technical definitions are platform-specific where noted.
↗ How to use it
Track stage progression and rejection reasons.
⚠ Common interpretation mistake
SQL rates vary strongly with the denominator definition.
Metric calculator
Adjust the inputs to see how the metric is calculated.