Why Your MQLs “Suck” (Spoiler: It’s Not the Leads - It’s You!)

Ah, the Marketing Qualified Lead. Once the star of pipeline meetings, now the broken office coffee machine - everyone grumbles about it, nobody wants to fix it, yet we’re all still using it. Scroll through the LinkedIn feed and you’ll see the drama: “THE MQL IS DEAD!” they shout, as if a beloved pet just wandered off at Dreamforce and never came back.

It’s time for a reality check: your MQLs didn’t just wake up, stretch, and decide to sabotage your pipeline on a whim. They’re not unionizing for fresher bagels or lobbying for summer Fridays (although, honestly, who could blame them?). The real culprit is much closer to home. It's the person blinking back at you from your own Zoom thumbnail - the one who once decided that anyone with a pulse and a Gmail address deserved a spot on the qualified list. Yes, your MQLs “suck” because, somewhere along the line, YOU lost sight of what “Qualified” - and even "Lead" - were supposed to mean.

Your MQLs “suck” because, somewhere along the line, YOU lost sight of what “Qualified” - and even "Lead" - were supposed to mean.

Once upon a time, “Marketing Qualified Lead” meant scheduling a conversation, sharing real business needs, or showing clear buying intent. I know, wild. There was rigor behind the label - a lead had to earn that Q. Now? If someone downloads an ebook, half-listens to your webinar, or - my personal favorite - accidentally clicks your retargeting ad while closing a pop-up, suddenly they’re an MQL.

The result? A pipeline filled with names rather than prospects, and frustrated sales teams. If your MQLs aren’t converting, it’s not because they’re unqualified by nature - it’s because you’ve allowed the criteria for “qualified lead” to erode. The solution isn’t to blame the MQL, but to return to a disciplined, collaborative definition of qualification.

The Real Villain: Misaligned Incentives

So what’s really at play here? Incentives. Leadership wanted “more leads,” so marketing delivered. Few things spark more creativity than a marketer staring down an MQL quota with four days left in the month. Once “more MQLs” became the metric to parade at all-hands meetings, the scramble began. Every marketer with a HubSpot login started pulling stunts just to inflate their numbers.

• The Free eBook Download: Because nothing says “enterprise buyer” like someone who can’t resist a PDF about “Cloud Security Trends 2022.”

• The Event Booth Visitor: Stopped by for the free swag, scanned their badge, and vanished before you could say “qualified lead.”

• The Webinar Attendee: Sit through our webinar and win…another webinar!

And just like that, your “qualified” leads list fills up with interns, job seekers, and your roommate’s cousin eyeing the Starbucks card. We’ve all seen it. The finger-pointing begins. “MQLs are useless!” someone complains. Marketers sigh dramatically and post another LinkedIn rant about the death of the MQL. But here’s the truth: the MQL isn’t dead - it’s just hidden beneath a pile of participation trophies.

The whole point of the MQL was straightforward: let’s agree on what “ready for sales” looks like so we’re not just tossing random names over the fence and hoping for miracles. But between quarterly board meetings and martech vendors promising to automate away any trace of human judgment, that shared definition vanished.

The whole point of the MQL was straightforward: let’s agree on what “ready for sales” looks like

What went wrong:

• Lead scoring models designed by committee (no one wants to be the bad guy)

• “Engagement” defined as any click

• Criteria that have zero overlap with what Sales needs to close deals

The MQL was never out to ruin your GTM engine. But treat it as a shortcut instead of a strategy, and don’t be surprised when your pipeline fills with people who have no intention of buying anything.

Stop Blaming, Start Fixing

You don’t need to throw out the MQL like last quarter’s pipeline forecast or start googling “should I become a barista?”. Instead, give the MQL some respect. Reclaim it. Start fresh with your lead scoring.

So how do you bring some sanity back to lead qualification?

Focus on signals that actually indicate buying intent. Get together with your Sales team and clarify what that really means. And resist the temptation to chase those dashboard spikes that only look impressive for five minutes at the next board meeting.

The MQL isn’t disappearing. You can rename it or bury it under ABM dashboards - but you’ll always need a way to separate true prospects from freebie hunters. The difference now? You’re ready to do it with real intent - and less denial.

When marketing and sales finally sit down together and define what an MQL truly is, the pipeline transforms from a flea market of one-time ebook downloaders into something that actually drives revenue. With everyone speaking the same language, handoffs stop feeling like a game of hot potato; there’s less eye-rolling and more closed deals.

When your MQLs are based on actual buying signals and not just “opened our email!”, forecasting becomes reliable. Conversion rates stabilize, resource allocation makes sense, and leadership stops proposing wild contests just to hit this month’s numbers. Use MQLs as an early warning system in your revenue engine, not as shiny badges for vanity.

When your MQLs are based on actual buying signals forecasting becomes reliable.

How to Rehab Your MQL Process in 5 Steps

Ready to restore credibility to your MQLs? Let's do this!

1. Reexamine Your Lead Scoring Model

Pull out that neglected spreadsheet and scrutinize which behaviors and traits actually move deals forward. Hint: “Clicked unsubscribe” isn’t it.

2. Collaborate—Truly Collaborate—with Sales

Not just a polite email asking for input. Get in the same room. Debate if necessary. Define “qualified” together: industry, job title, urgency, budget signals. Document it so there are no creative interpretations next quarter.

3.Everything Should Point to Revenue

Treat MQLs as mile markers - not endpoints. Track them through SQL, opportunity, closed-won, and actual revenue. If your MQL-to-pipeline ratio drops off a cliff, it’s time to reassess.

4. Audit Lead Quality Regularly

Don’t wait until Q4 panic mode to realize half your pipeline is bots and undergrads. Set up regular reviews where sales and marketing dissect closed-won deals and reverse-engineer what made them real contenders.

5. Embrace Relentless Learning (and Unlearning)

B2B buying habits shift rapidly. Stay curious about what truly signals intent. Share stories with peers, focus on the data, and don’t hesitate to abandon tactics that no longer serve you.

Still Blaming MQLs? Maybe Check the Mirror

Roasting the MQL has become SaaS comfort food - it’s far simpler to toss up another meme than confront how we turned a solid buying signal into a punchline. But before launching another Slack thread full of eye-roll gifs, consider who’s really steering this ship.

The MQL hasn’t died; it’s just been neglected and misunderstood. It deserves another shot, as an actual signal that someone in your ICP wants to buy something, not just another number in a dashboard.

That takes discipline and honesty - the uncomfortable kind. Next time someone trashes MQLs on LinkedIn or in team chat, hand them a mirror and ask what they’re really optimizing for.