The Marketing-to-Sales Handoff That Actually Works
Why MQL definitions fail in B2B organisations and what a workable handoff looks like when both teams share revenue accountability.
The marketing-to-sales handoff is where good leads go to die. Not because marketing generates poor quality — though sometimes they do — but because nobody agreed on what “ready for sales” means.
The MQL problem
Marketing Qualified Lead definitions often live in a spreadsheet from a planning offsite two years ago. Sales was not in the room. The criteria made sense for a campaign report but not for a rep deciding whether to pick up the phone.
When we audit pipelines, we frequently find 30–40% of “sales accepted” leads were never contacted within five business days. The handoff failed before qualification even started.
Define handoff with a joint session
Bring marketing, SDRs, and at least one AE together for a two-hour working session. Review twenty leads from the past quarter — ten that converted and ten that did not. For each, ask:
- What information did sales need before first contact?
- What information was missing?
- How long until first outreach?
The answers become your handoff checklist — not a scoring model from a vendor deck.
Agree on a service-level expectation
A simple SLA works better than complex lead scoring for most mid-market B2B teams: marketing delivers leads with minimum fields populated; sales contacts within 48 hours and logs the outcome. Review compliance monthly in a joint meeting, not as a blame exercise.
Measure handoff quality, not just volume
Track acceptance rate, time-to-first-contact, and conversion from accepted lead to qualified opportunity. Volume metrics alone encourage marketing to pass everything over the wall.
Book a pipeline review to assess your current handoff in context.