Marketers love a good funeral. And every few months, something is declared “dead” - email, SEO, cold calling, you name it. Recently, the target has been marketing-qualified leads (MQLs). The “MQL is dead” narrative gets clicks and conversations flowing; it's the messaging tactic that marketers invented and now love to hate. The irony is though, that MQLs aren’t dead. They’ve just been misunderstood, mismanaged, and occasionally mistreated.
Unfortunately, when we jump on the “death” bandwagon without nuance, we risk damaging our credibility as professionals who (in a vast majority of cases) still measure success through MQLs, MRLs, MALs - or whatever acronym your business prefers. The problem isn’t the MQL itself; it’s the way it’s defined, handed over, and acted upon.
Where the Real Problem Lies
The core issues with unsuccessful lead generation are familiar:
- Poorly defined leads - no shared criteria between marketing and sales.
- No feedback loops - marketing generates, sales ignores; nobody learns.
- Misaligned goals - marketing chasing MQL numbers, sales chasing closed deals, and both left feeling frustrated.
- Tools not fit for purpose - CRMs that don’t support nurturing or tracking.
As marketing consultant, Kate Denham, recently said, “Sales often want the perfect, hot lead ready to buy now… but often don’t see the value of engaging with as many contacts as possible.”
That’s a symptom of a deeper alignment gap. Kate’s experiences are not unique, and this is where confusion can occur. When sales teams see a high volume of MQLs generated and reported by marketing from the same accounts, often with broader job titles than they are looking for, they may fail to recognise the value – but there is SO much value in expanding your footprint inside a high priority account.
Qualified Outbound: An Aligned Alternative
Maybe part of the problem is the language. “MQL” feels transactional and dated, while modern revenue teams thrive on collaboration. What if we reframed the conversation?
Enter Qualified Outbound (QO)- a term that signals a shared standard between marketing and sales. This isn’t just renaming; it’s about redefining success around Sales Accepted Leads (SALs) or pipeline contribution goals rather than standalone MQL targets.
With this shift, marketing is no longer “throwing leads over the wall.” Instead, we’re building a system that both sides own.
The sales team view this as part of their outbound approach, contacts that they would be actively nurturing and trying to sell to, but with the added benefit of marketing having pre-qualified them.
A Process, Not a One-Off
Real alignment comes from habits, not handshakes. To get teams working towards the same goals and understanding each other, try this:
- Run an alignment workshop to define a qualified lead with input from sales, SDRs, and marketing.
- Schedule fortnightly lead review huddles - short, consistent, feedback-focused.
- Create shared KPIs in quarterly OKRs that both teams influence.
- Nurture intentionally - assign a nurture owner, build persona-based sequences, and tag leads for recycling.
It’s about creating feedback loops so MQLs (or QOs) get better over time, not discarded when they’re imperfect.
The LinkedIn Community Has Spoken
When we talk openly about MQLs, the community responds - often with rich, practical insights. Posts on this topic have attracted comments from seasoned LinkedIn voices, sharing how they bridge the sales and marketing gap in their organisations. This is where the real value lies: in the collective experience of practitioners who know that leads don’t live or die in a single stage. They progress when the whole revenue team is aligned.
Before we close the book on MQLs, let’s make sure we’ve given them the chance to thrive in the right conditions. Declaring them “dead” makes for good headlines but reviving them with smarter alignment makes for good business.
TLDR
The “MQL is dead” narrative makes for catchy headlines, but the truth is they’ve been misaligned, mismanaged, and misunderstood - not buried. With clearer definitions, tighter feedback loops, and shared goals, MQLs can thrive as part of a truly aligned marketing–sales strategy.
See Freya Ward, Global Growth Director at Headley Media speak on this topic at the B2B Marketing Live in November!