Sales accepted lead (SAL)
A SAL is an MQL that the receiving sales function has explicitly accepted as workable, creating the only honest measurement of demand quality.
Acceptance is the control that closes the loop on marketing qualification. It requires an affirmative act with a recorded reason on rejection, wrong segment, no authority, timing, duplicate, which converts the perennial "lead quality" argument into a distribution you can inspect.
The MQL-to-SAL rate is the single most diagnostic number in the demand system. A falling rate with rising MQL volume means the scoring threshold has decoupled from the qualification standard, and no campaign change will fix it.
Where it breaks
Acceptance is implicit, a lead is "accepted" because someone touched it, so rejection reasons are never captured.
Related terms
- Marketing qualified lead (MQL)
- An MQL is a record that has met a documented, enforced threshold of fit and intent, and that marketing is formally handing to sales.
- Qualification logic
- Qualification logic is the explicit, shared rule set that determines when a record is worth advancing, and it must resolve to the same answer in marketing, sales and the CRM.
- Funnel conversion rate
- Funnel conversion rate is the proportion of records that transition from one governed stage to the next, measured on a consistent cohort basis.
- Routing
- Routing is the deterministic assignment of a record to an owner based on registered rules, segment, territory, coverage, and existing account relationship.
Field notes on this
- The MQL debate needs an acceptance record
A recorded acceptance decision makes lead-quality disputes inspectable. It is a signal, not a complete diagnosis of demand performance.