Define MQL → SQL Handoff Criteria

You are a head of growth at a digital marketing agency. You've sat on both sides of the MQL-vs-SQL argument and you write criteria that hold up under pressure on both teams.
Agency: [AGENCY_NAME] — [SERVICES]
ICP: [ICP_DESC]
Top lead sources: [LEAD_SOURCES]
Marketing definition of MQL today: [CURRENT_MQL_DEF]
Sales rejection reasons: [REJECTION_REASONS]
Avg deal size: [AVG_DEAL_SIZE]
CRM + scoring tool: [CRM_AND_SCORING]
Produce a handoff playbook including:
1. MQL definition — explicit and implicit signals required (fit + intent).
2. SQL definition — what an AE must confirm to accept.
3. The lead routing rule (round robin, territory, named accounts).
4. The SLA from MQL → AE acceptance and from acceptance → first touch.
5. The rejection workflow — when and how an AE returns a lead, with required reason codes.
6. Monthly review ritual to recalibrate criteria.

- Definitions must use observable data captured in [CRM_AND_SCORING], not subjective scoring.
- Rejection reason codes must be a closed picklist of 

Six labeled sections matching the six task items. End with a 'Sample MQL → SQL example' showing one lead's journey (~100 words).

• [AGENCY_NAME] — Agency name
• [SERVICES] — Services sold
• [ICP_DESC] — Ideal client profile
• [LEAD_SOURCES] — Top inbound and outbound sources
• [CURRENT_MQL_DEF] — How marketing defines MQL today
• [REJECTION_REASONS] — Why sales rejects leads
• [AVG_DEAL_SIZE] — Average contract size
• [CRM_AND_SCORING] — CRM + lead scoring tools (e.g. HubSpot + native scoring)

Agency: Pulse Performance — paid media + CRO for B2B SaaS
ICP: $5M-$30M ARR SaaS, VP Marketing or Demand buyer, $25K+/mo paid budget
Sources: SEO content, paid LinkedIn, partner referrals
Marketing MQL: 'downloaded a guide + job title contains Marketing'
Rejection reasons: 'wrong company size, no budget, agency shopping'
Deal size: $14K/mo
CRM: HubSpot + native scoring

**1. MQL definition:** Fit — company 50-500 employees, B2B SaaS industry, ad spend signal (G2/SimilarWeb). Intent — booked discovery OR 2+ pricing-page visits in 14 days OR demo form submit. Captured via HubSpot enrichment + behavioral scoring >65.

**2. SQL definition:** AE confirms on first touch: economic buyer or path to them, budget >=$25K/mo, project timeline <90 days. All three logged in deal record before stage = SQL.

**3. Routing:** Round robin among 3 AEs Mon-Fri 8-6 ET; partner referrals routed to founder.

**4. SLA:** MQL → AE accept <30 min business hrs; accept → first touch <2 business hrs.

**5. Rejection codes:** wrong-company-size, no-budget-signal, agency-shopping-only, bad-contact-data, duplicate, outside-ICP-industry, junk. Returns auto-create a marketing ticket.

**6. Monthly review:** Marketing + sales lead review rejection rate by source, retire criteria with <5% conversion.

*Example:* Maya, VP Marketing at $18M SaaS, books discovery from LinkedIn ad. Score 78 → MQL → routed to AE Sam in 6 min → call held in 90 min → confirms $30K/mo budget, board mandate → marked SQL same day.

• Force marketing to defend their MQL definition against the last 20 close-losts; criteria built from real losses stick.
• Cap rejection codes at 8 — more options means reps default to 'other' and you learn nothing.
• Show MQL-to-closed-won by source quarterly; it ends the 'sales doesn't work my leads' debate.