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It’s time for Lead Qualification 2.0.

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Lead Qualification 2.0 focuses on Fit and Activity through dual scoring, leveraging Product Qualified Leads (PQLs) and Expansion Qualified Leads (EQLs). This approach aligns your efforts with the realities of a product-led world, focusing on leads that are showing genuine buying signals. Let’s dive in to see how this can transform your sales strategy and help your team thrive.

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The Outdated Framework of MQLs and SQLs

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Let’s start with a reality check. For years, MQLs and SQLs were the gold standard for lead qualification. Marketing would focus on engagements—think downloaded eBooks, signed-up webinars, or simple ad clicks—and pass those leads over to sales as MQLs. The sales team would then qualify these into SQLs, and the cycle continued. Lead qualification frameworks, however, provide a more structured and effective approach that can be tailored to meet specific business goals and sales processes.

But here’s the catch: while MQLs and SQLs were great in traditional B2B settings, they don’t really capture what’s happening in today’s SaaS landscape. Here’s why:

• Overemphasis on Engagement Metrics: Old models often overemphasize marketing actions (e.g., ad clicks, eBook downloads) that don’t really show genuine product interest.
• Lack of Product Insights: Traditional models fail to consider whether the prospect is actively using your product.
• Lead Misalignment: Sales teams often reach out to leads that aren’t ready or even a good fit.

The shift to SaaS and self-service models requires something more nuanced—one that aligns better with how users interact with your product directly.

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The Rise of Product-Led Growth (PLG)

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Modern SaaS products allow users to self-serve and experience value on their own terms. Gone are the days when a sales demo was the only way to see a product’s capabilities. Product-Led Growth (PLG) has changed the game.

PLG means that your users can sign up, explore, and realize value independently. As they engage, the data collected provides real insight into whether they’re likely to convert into paying customers. This shift is why traditional MQL/SQL models no longer cut it—engagement-driven decisions are the new way to understand buying signals. For a deeper dive into how Product-Led Sales complements PLG strategies, check out our guide to Product-Led Sales.

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Introducing Product-Led Sales: Meet Product Qualified Leads (PQLs), and Expansion Qualified Leads (EQLs)

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Product-Led Sales (PLS) builds on PLG by strategically involving sales at the right moments. It means sales teams are not cold-calling leads - they’re reaching out to users who are already engaging with the product in meaningful ways. PLS is about enhancing the product-led experience by connecting sales teams with leads at the ideal moment, when their behaviors show genuine readiness. The lead qualification process is crucial in converting leads into qualified prospects and improving overall sales productivity.

The key to PLS lies in effectively identifying Product Qualified Leads (PQLs) and Expansion Qualified Leads (EQLs).

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Product Qualified Leads (PQLs)

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Users whose behavior indicates they’re ready for a sales conversation. Unlike traditional MQLs, PQLs are qualified based on their actual product usage, which makes them much more reliable indicators of readiness to buy. For example, a user might qualify as a PQL if they have completed key milestones during a trial—such as onboarding successfully, inviting team members, or repeatedly using a specific feature that’s core to your product’s value proposition. PQLs demonstrate a level of product engagement that signals they are ready for a conversation with sales about upgrading or purchasing.

• Example: A trial user who logs in every day, explores the main feature set, and invites multiple colleagues might be considered a PQL because their behavior shows high interest and value recognition.

PQLs matter because they allow sales teams to focus on prospects who are already showing that they understand and appreciate the product, thus reducing friction and improving conversion rates. By utilizing a lead score, sales teams can prioritize potential customers based on their likelihood to convert, ensuring timely follow-up and engagement. By utilizing PQLs, PLS ensures that sales teams are reaching out at the most opportune time—when prospects are experiencing the product’s value firsthand.

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Expansion Qualified Leads (EQLs)

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Current customers who show signs that they’re ready for an upsell or an expansion. These signals might include increased activity with features outside their current plan, adding more team members, or exploring advanced functionalities. EQLs are particularly important in the SaaS world because they help drive expansion revenue, which is often more cost-effective than acquiring new customers. Understanding the difference between marketing qualified leads (MQLs) and EQLs is crucial for optimizing the sales funnel and improving conversion rates. While MQLs are prospects who have shown interest in a company's offerings and engaged with the marketing team, EQLs focus on existing customers ready for growth.

• Example: A customer currently on a basic plan starts frequently visiting pages or using features related to premium offerings. They may also add more team members, indicating that their needs are growing. This behavior signals that they are likely ready for a plan upgrade.

EQLs help sales teams focus on existing accounts that are primed for growth, allowing them to effectively capitalize on opportunities for increasing customer lifetime value. In PLS, EQLs are crucial for ensuring that your existing customers continue to grow with your product, deepening their investment in your solution. This approach leverages PLS to turn satisfied users into long-term advocates and higher-value customers.

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Why Dual Scoring Wins in Product-Led Sales - Fit and Activity Together

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To successfully implement Product-Led Sales, you need a way to identify when a lead is not just a fit for your product, but also ready to engage. That’s where dual scoring—based on Fit and Activity—comes in. A systematic qualification process is crucial for assessing leads' suitability for sales and optimizing sales efforts.

• Fit Score evaluates whether a lead looks like your ideal customer. This can include attributes like company size, job title, and industry.

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• Activity Score measures a lead’s behavior—are they engaging with your product in meaningful ways? Are they logging in often, using features, or performing key actions?

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Why This Works for Product-Led Sales:

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• It prioritizes leads that have both a high Fit and high Activity, ensuring that sales teams focus on leads most likely to convert.
• It gives a holistic view of lead readiness, avoiding the pitfalls of relying solely on traditional MQL engagement metrics or gut feelings.
• It perfectly aligns with PLS goals: Sales teams step in only when meaningful, making the process efficient.

Let’s illustrate this with an example: A high-fit/low-activity lead might be from a company that’s a perfect match in size and industry but hasn’t used the product much yet—maybe they need nurturing. Meanwhile, a low-fit/high-activity lead might be an eager user who's using advanced product features but doesn’t match your ICP. By combining Fit and Activity, you can be sure you’re focusing on the right opportunities.

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Fit & Activity Scoring with Intempt

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Using Intempt, you can evaluate your leads through custom Fit & Activity scoring. It’s all about creating a matrix that uses fit attributes (like job title and industry) and activity events (like signups and logins). Leads are scored as “Low,” “Medium,” or “High,” ensuring you always have actionable insights. Qualifying leads early on is crucial to avoid wasted resources and improve sales success.

• Fit Criteria include things like company size, role, and budget authority. The goal is to make sure this lead could be a good long-term customer.
• Activity Criteria look at how users are engaging—what features are they exploring, and are they using the product consistently?
• Score Decay Ensure your scores are up to date by implementing decay for inactivity. Leads that have not interacted in a set period should see a reduction in their activity score, ensuring your sales team only focuses on leads with ongoing interest.

Scores are updated dynamically as user behavior evolves, which means your sales team always knows when it’s the right time to reach out.

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Example PQL models

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Example EQL models

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Effectively managing sales leads is crucial to enhance conversion rates and improve sales efficiency.

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How to Implement Dual Scoring

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Here’s how you can get started with dual scoring:

1. Define Your Fit Criteria: Who is your ideal customer? Look at demographics and firmographics.
2. Map Product Behaviors: Identify which actions indicate engagement and potential value.
3. Assign Weights and Decay: Remember, recent activities matter more—so assign weights accordingly and set decay for inactivity.
4. Align Teams: Ensure marketing, sales, and product teams are on the same page.
5. Integrate into PLS: Use product-led data to optimize when sales engage, leaving lower-priority customers to self-serve.

Consistent qualification at each stage of the sales process is crucial to enhance overall efficiency and conversion rates. Consider using Intempt to enable Fit & Activity scoring effortlessly, making the process easier and more effective.

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Wrapping up

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The old ways of lead scoring don’t work in a product-led world. By embracing PQLs, EQLs, and dual scoring based on Fit and Activity, you’ll align your sales efforts with the true readiness of your users. Modern SaaS growth is all about smart engagement, not just more leads.

It’s time to rethink how you qualify leads—those that make the shift to Product-Led Sales will see better conversions, growth, and ultimately happier customers. Nurturing sales-qualified leads (SQLs) is crucial to convert them into customers and improve overall sales success.

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Ready to take the next step? Sign up for Intempt and start building a lead-scoring model that fits today’s reality.