B2B Lead Scoring Glossary
Plain-English definitions for the terms that show up in lead scoring, ICP, and pipeline qualification. No jargon, no fluff, with examples.
Account Scoring
Scoring at the company level rather than the individual contact level, used to prioritize ABM and multi-threaded sales motions.
Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
A precise description of the company and buyer most likely to derive value from your product, used to prioritize sales and marketing effort.
Intent Data
Third-party signals indicating that a company is researching topics related to your product, used to prioritize sales outreach.
Lead Grade
A letter-based classification (A/B/C/D) representing how well a lead fits the ICP, often paired with a numerical score for engagement.
Lead Score
A numerical value assigned to a lead that represents how likely they are to convert, based on a combination of behavioral and profile signals.
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
A lead that marketing has decided is engaged or fit enough to hand to sales.
Product Qualified Lead (PQL)
A lead whose product-usage activity has demonstrated meaningful intent or value, used as a sales-handoff signal in PLG motions.
Sales Accepted Lead (SAL)
A lead that sales has formally accepted from marketing as worth pursuing, before full qualification.
Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)
A lead that sales has confirmed is worth active pursuit, typically meeting BANT or similar qualification criteria.
Score Decay
The mechanism that reduces a lead's score over time so stale activity doesn't keep them artificially hot.