Align Sales and Marketing Around One Operating Model

Why You Need One Version of “Qualified”, Not Two (or Three)

If Marketing, SDRs and Sales each have their own idea of what “qualified” means, your pipeline will always be noisy.

• Marketing optimises for form fills and MQLs.
• SDRs optimise for meetings booked.
• AEs optimise for pipeline coverage.

Everyone can hit their local targets while the business misses its revenue number.

If you want to know how to inject more qualified leads into my pipeline, you need one shared qualification model that everyone recognises, trusts and uses – from the first touch to opportunity creation and beyond.

This article takes Step 3 of our guide on how to inject more qualified leads into my pipeline and goes deeper on how to create and embed that shared model.

Turn Your Qualification Definition Into a Cross-Functional Asset

In Step 1 you defined what “qualified” means using ICP, Ideal Buyer Profiles and observable criteria for fit, pain, intent and value.

Now you need to turn that into something everyone can see and use, not just a slide in a strategy deck.

Create a simple artefact that includes:

• Your ICP summary and examples of good and poor-fit accounts.
• Your key buyer profiles and their roles in the buying process.
• The core qualification questions you expect to be explored early.
• The minimum criteria for a lead to be accepted by SDRs and for an opportunity to be created by AEs.

Make it one or two pages, written in plain language, and design it for use in real conversations – not just for an internal launch.

Bring Sales, Marketing, SDRs and RevOps Into One Working Session

Alignment doesn’t happen via email.

Run a focused working session with representatives from:

• Marketing and Demand Generation.
• SDR / BDR teams.
• AEs and Sales Management.
• RevOps (and, where relevant, Customer Success).

In that session:

1. Share the current reality
   Show data from Step 2: conversion rates, channel performance, ghost deals.
2. Walk through the qualification definition
   Explain ICP, buyer profiles and observable criteria.
3. Stress-test with real examples
   Bring a sample of recent leads and opportunities. Classify together: genuinely qualified, borderline, not qualified.
4. Capture disagreements and edge cases
   Use these to refine definitions and clarify how you want people to behave.

The goal is not to win arguments; it’s to build a model people feel they co-own.

Define Clear Entry and Exit Criteria for Key Stages

A shared qualification model needs to be visible in your stages and criteria, not just in a PDF.

For each major stage – for example:

• Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL).
• Sales Accepted Lead (SAL) / Sales Qualified Lead (SQL).
• Opportunity created.
• Opportunity qualified.

Define:

• Entry criteria – what must be true for a record to enter this stage.
• Exit criteria – what must be true before it can move on.

Use observable statements such as:

• “Account meets ICP criteria and at least one Ideal Buyer Profile has engaged with relevant pain.”
• “Problem, impact and priority have been discussed and documented.”
• “At least one member of the buying group has confirmed there is a real initiative or trigger.”

Avoid vague labels like “interested” or “good conversation”. If a criterion can’t be observed or documented, it won’t be applied consistently.

Align SLAs and Handoffs With the Qualification Model

Alignment on paper is meaningless if handoffs are messy.

Use the shared model to define service-level agreements (SLAs) and handoff rules such as:

• Response time
  How quickly SDRs should respond to high-intent leads that meet ICP and IBP criteria.
• Information capture
  What SDRs must record before passing a lead to Sales (e.g. pain, context, key stakeholders).
• Acceptance rules
  When AEs can reasonably reject a lead as unqualified, and how that feedback loops back to Marketing and SDRs.
• Recycling rules
  How and when poorly timed but good-fit leads are nurtured rather than closed and forgotten.

Document these in a simple one-page SLA that Marketing, SDR and Sales leadership sign off together.

Embed the Model in CRM, Playbooks and Training

To move from alignment to adoption, bake the model into the tools and routines your teams already use.

Review and update:

• CRM fields and picklists
  Align with ICP/IBP, stage criteria and qualification questions.
• Lead routing rules and scoring
  Ensure high-fit, high-intent leads are prioritised and sent to the right people.
• Sales and SDR playbooks
  Update messaging, email templates and call guides to reflect who you’re targeting and how you qualify.
• Onboarding and training
  Make the shared qualification model a core part of how you onboard SDRs, AEs and marketers.

Where possible, simplify. Remove legacy fields and stages that encourage workarounds or contradictory behaviour.

Use Real Pipeline Reviews to Reinforce the Model

Pipeline reviews are where your qualification model either lives or dies.

Use them to:

• Challenge opportunities that don’t meet the standard
  Ask, “Which ICP criteria does this account meet?”, “Whose pain have we validated?” and “What initiative is this attached to?”
• Celebrate good qualification decisions
  Highlight examples where reps disqualified early or re-framed opportunities based on the model.
• Spot patterns
  Notice segments where leads consistently fail qualification and feed that back to Marketing.

Make it clear that moving deals backwards or out of the pipeline is an acceptable and sometimes celebrated outcome if it makes the pipeline more truthful.

Create Feedback Loops Between Sales and Marketing

Alignment isn’t a one-off event; it’s a loop.

Establish regular touchpoints where Sales and Marketing review:

• Lead and opportunity quality by campaign and channel.
• Examples of great and poor-fit leads – with real CRM records and call snippets.
• Where the qualification model needs refinement – new segments, new buyer roles, new pain patterns.

Keep these sessions practical and grounded in current pipeline, not theoretical debates.

Over time, this creates a shared language and muscle memory around what “qualified” looks like.

Watch Out for Incentive Misalignment

Even the best model will fail if incentives pull people in different directions.

Check whether:

• Marketing is rewarded purely on volume (MQLs, leads, impressions) rather than quality and revenue impact.
• SDRs are rewarded mainly on meetings booked, regardless of opportunity creation and progression.
• AEs are penalised for having smaller, cleaner pipelines.

If so, consider shifting metrics towards:

• Pipeline created that meets qualification standards.
• Progression and win rates for ICP opportunities.
• Shared revenue or opportunity targets across Sales and Marketing.

When incentives support the shared qualification model, alignment becomes much easier to sustain.

How Step 3 Supports Injecting More Qualified Leads

Aligning Sales and Marketing around one qualification model is a pivotal step in how to inject more qualified leads into my pipeline.

It turns the work you did in Step 1 (defining “qualified”) and Step 2 (diagnosing breakdowns) into:

• Clear stage definitions and SLAs.
• Consistent handoffs and expectations.
• Shared ownership for lead and opportunity quality.

Use this article alongside the main guide on how to inject more qualified leads into my pipeline to structure your next Sales–Marketing alignment session and move from polite agreement to a genuinely shared way of qualifying.