Lead qualification, explained
Lead qualification is the step between an enquiry arriving and a salesperson spending serious effort on it. Not every enquiry is a buyer. Some people are comparing prices for later, some are students researching, some are competitors, and some typed the wrong number. Qualifying separates the ones worth a proposal from the ones worth a polite message.
The best-known framework is BANT: Budget (can they afford it), Authority (are they the person who decides, or who can get a decision), Need (does your product solve their problem) and Timing (are they buying this month or next year). Many teams also use two labels. A marketing qualified lead (MQL) looks promising on paper, for example because it filled in a detailed form. A sales qualified lead (SQL) has been spoken to and confirmed as a real opportunity, and usually becomes a deal in the pipeline.
In India, qualification often happens on the first phone or WhatsApp call, so the questions need to be short and asked in the same order every time. A travel agency might ask destination, dates, number of travellers and budget per person; a B2B manufacturer might ask quantity, delivery location and whether the enquiry is for a confirmed order. Record the answers on the lead, not in a notebook, so the next person can see why a lead was marked qualified or not.