Lead, qualified lead and sale: agree on the definitions

A practical sequence

1. Start with the raw action: a form, call, reply or purchase. Specify the unit being counted and whether repeat contacts count again.
2. Define qualification using conditions sales can actually check. Include rejection reasons such as wrong market, unsuitable need or duplicate contact.
3. Give a named team ownership of each transition. Record when a lead is accepted, an opportunity is created and revenue becomes reportable.
4. Apply the rules to a small shared sample. Resolve disagreements before using the classification to judge a vendor.

The decision to take away

The deliverable is an agreed dictionary and a tested classification, not a universal definition borrowed from another business.

Sources and review date

Sources read on: 2026-09-11. A source review is not an audit of the agency’s systems.

• knowledge.hubspot.com/records/use-lifecycle-stages ↗