How to Qualify Leads

Traffic is growing. Forms are being filled. Campaigns are “working.” Yet conversion rates stall, sales questions lead quality, and marketing struggles to prove pipeline impact.

The root cause isn’t a lack of leads. It’s the absence of a scalable way to decide which accounts deserve attention and when.

A lead qualification engine is not a one-off scoring rule or an MQL definition buried in a CRM. It’s a repeatable, data-driven system that continuously evaluates fit and intent so teams can focus on the right accounts at the right time, using real signals instead of assumptions.

Without that system, marketing and sales are forced to rely on manual reviews, gut feel, and inconsistent criteria. The result is predictable: wasted effort, slower follow-up, and missed opportunities hidden in anonymous traffic.

This Playbook shows you how to build a modern lead qualification engine with Dealfront at the core, so marketing can:

• Qualify accounts before sales ever touches them

• Reduce wasted SDR time

• Improve MQL to SQL conversion

• Create a shared definition of “qualified” across teams

Dealfront provides the firmographic, behavioral, and intent signals needed to make those decisions in real time. By the end of this Playbook, you’ll know how to turn anonymous website traffic into Account Qualified Leads and route the right opportunities to sales with confidence.

What a modern lead qualification engine looks like

Before getting tactical, it’s important to align on the mental model. A lead qualification engine is a system and not a score. A lead qualification engine is a repeatable system that converts raw activity into clear routing decisions using four building blocks:

1. 1.

   ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)

2. 2.

   Data capture and enrichment

3. 3.

   Scoring and stage thresholds

4. 4.

   Routing + workflows + feedback loop

Think of it like this: Inputs → Logic → Outputs → Feedback

Inputs: What the engine consumes

• Firmographic data (industry, size, region, tech stack)

• Behavioral data (pages visited, frequency, recency)

• Intent signals (pricing page visits, repeat product research)

• CRM history (existing accounts, lifecycle stage)

Logic: How the engine decides what matters

• Fit scoring: does this account match your ICP?

• Intent scoring: are they showing buying interest right now?

• Thresholds: what qualifies as AQL vs MQL vs SQL?

Outputs: What the engine produces

• Qualified stages (AQL/MQL/SQL)

• Alerts (Slack/CRM/email)

• Ownership routing (who should act?)

• Prioritized work queues (“Hot accounts today”)

Feedback loop: How the engine improves

• Conversion rates per segment

• Pipeline and win rate by score band

• Time-to-touch performance

• Sales feedback on quality

Where it sits in the funnel

A modern B2B funnel looks like this: Lead → AQL → MQL → SQL → Opportunity

• Lead: Any captured interest or identified account

• AQL (Account Qualified Lead): ICP-fit account showing early signals

• MQL: Account with meaningful engagement or intent

• SQL: Account ready for sales conversation

• Opportunity: Sales-accepted and actively pursued

How it differs from basic lead scoring or “MQL-only” thinking

Traditional lead scoring assumes:

• Every “lead” is a person

• The only way to qualify is through form fills

• One score is enough

In real B2B:

• The buyer is a group

• The journey is messy and non-linear

• Many high-fit accounts research silently

• The best signal isn’t one action, it’s patterns

That’s why a lead qualification engine is more robust: it creates consistent decisions, not just numbers.

Prerequisites: Tools, data, and stakeholders you need

Before building the engine, align on the foundation.

Tooling basics (minimum stack)

Dealfront (core qualification layer)

Dealfront provides:

• Visitor identification at the company level

• Firmographic enrichment

• Behavioral engagement signals

• Built-in qualification scoring

• Segmentation tools like Custom Feeds

CRM (system of record)

You need HubSpot or Salesforce to:

• Store lifecycle stages (AQL/MQL/SQL)

• Assign owners

• Track conversion outcomes

• Enable reporting and process compliance

Optional but recommended

• Marketing automation (nurture + lifecycle transitions)

• Slack (real-time “hot account” alerts)

• Outbound tools (only if your process includes SDR sequences)

Clear stage definitions

Agree on stage definitions tied to ICP + behavior. Here’s a practical, marketing-friendly framework you can use:

• AQL: ICP-fit account showing meaningful behavior (even without form fill)

  • Example: Tier 1 ICP visiting product/pricing pages or repeat visits

• MQL: AQL that meets intent threshold or conversion event

  • Example: repeat high-intent page visits + one conversion action

• SQL: MQL that’s validated for sales outreach

  • Example: strong fit + strong intent + right persona engaged (if known)

These definitions must be documented and shared.

Data inputs you need

• Customer list (closed-won accounts)

• Revenue / ARR benchmarks

• Funnel stages agreed by marketing + sales

People and ownership

• Process owner: RevOps / Head of Growth / Demand Gen Lead 

• Stakeholders: Head of Marketing, Head of Sales, SDR Manager

• Contributors: marketing ops, sales ops, analytics

Marketing should lead the system design because marketing controls acquisition and qualification standards.

Steps to Qualify Leads in 2026

Step 1: Capture and enrich every lead and website visitor with Dealfront

Most qualification breaks at the top of funnel because teams only qualify submitted leads. But a modern system also qualifies anonymous demand.

1) Install tracking and activate visitor identification

Ensure Dealfront tracking is live across your website. This gives you account-level visibility into website behavior.

2) Use Dealfront’s built-in qualification score as your baseline

Dealfront (Leadfeeder) can automatically qualify companies and surface a qualification score per company based on engagement and signals.

As a marketer, you can:

• Trust this score as your starting point

• Use it to build “first pass” prioritization

• Combine it with your ICP filters

This is powerful because it gives marketing an immediate way to answer: “Is this account worth focusing on?”

3) Treat high-fit visitors as AQLs even without form fills

This is one of the biggest unlocks for pipeline growth. Instead of waiting for forms, you can qualify accounts based on:

• Fit (ICP match)

• Behavior (visited money pages, returned multiple times)

• Intent signals (pricing/product comparisons)

Example: A Tier 1 ICP company visits your pricing page twice this week and reads a product comparison post. They never convert. 

Under a lead-based system: ignored. Under an account-based qualification engine: AQL created, sales alerted, marketing nurtures triggered.

4) Use Custom Feeds to turn qualification criteria into live rules

Custom Feeds let you define what “qualified” means in a reusable, scalable way. Examples of marketing-owned feeds:

• High-fit pricing visitors

  • Tier 1 ICP + visited pricing page in last 7 days

• Repeat solution interest

  • ICP match + 3+ visits in last 14 days

• Content-driven intent

  • ICP match + consumed X resources + viewed product page

Custom Feeds become your always-on qualification engine inputs.

Step 2: Turn your ICP into Dealfront segments and buying committees

Analyze your best customers (marketing-led)

Use closed-won analysis to define patterns like:

• Which industries buy fastest?

• Which company sizes convert best?

• Which regions have better ACV?

• Which tech stacks correlate with wins?

• Which segments churn less?

Then turn those patterns into Dealfront segment definitions.

Build ICP tiers (Tier 1 and Tier 2)

Marketing often needs tiers because not all “fits” are equal.

Tier 1 ICP might be:

• Industries with strongest conversion and ACV

• Company sizes with best LTV

• Regions you can serve effectively

Tier 2 ICP might be:

• Similar firms but smaller budgets

• Adjacent industries

• Longer buying cycles

Create and save these as Dealfront segments so they’re reusable.

Map buying committees and qualified personas

Marketing qualification should consider:

• Who is likely involved?

• What roles typically champion?

• What functions influence purchase?

Define “qualified personas” by:

• department (marketing, revenue ops, sales ops)

• seniority (manager vs VP)

• involvement (decision-maker vs user)

This helps marketing:

• tailor nurture

• decide when to escalate to sales

• craft better messaging at each stage

Step 3: Build a fit + intent scoring model

Scoring is where many qualification systems fail because they rely on one score and vague criteria. Your goal: make it simple, explainable, and aligned to outcomes.

Fit score = “Should we care about this account at all?”

Common fit inputs:

• ICP tier (Tier 1 vs Tier 2)

• industry match

• company size range

• region/serviceability

• tech stack alignment

Example weights:

• Tier 1 ICP: +40

• Tier 2 ICP: +25

• Outside ICP: +0 or negative

Intent score = “Are they showing interest right now?”

Common intent inputs:

• pricing page visits

• product page engagement

• multiple visits in 7–14 days

• high-intent resource downloads

• webinar registrations

Example weights:

• Pricing page visit: +20

• Product page visit: +15

• Repeat visit this week: +10

• Contact/demo page view: +25

Define thresholds tied to your funnel stages

Example:

• AQL: Fit ≥ 25 and Intent ≥ 10

• MQL: Fit ≥ 25 and Intent ≥ 30 OR a conversion event

• SQL candidate: Fit ≥ 40 and Intent ≥ 40 OR pricing + repeated engagement

Marketing owns these thresholds, then validates with sales.

This approach is explored in depth in our Playbook on How to Build an Automated Intent Scoring System, which shows a real-world Dealfront implementation from one of our partners.

Note for Europe/GDPR-friendly approach

Account-level qualification is especially valuable in Europe, where:

• you may not always capture personal data early

• consent impacts contact-level targeting

• companies may research silently before converting

Using company-level signals keeps your qualification engine effective and privacy-aligned.

Step 4: Route and alert Sales on high-priority accounts

A qualification engine is only valuable if it creates action at the right time.

Marketing’s job is to:

• surface qualified accounts

• route them correctly

• trigger fast follow-up

Create routing rules that match your org structure

Common routing:

• by territory (DACH, UKI, Nordics)

• by segment (Tier 1 accounts go to senior SDRs)

• by inbound vs outbound ownership

• by account type (new logo vs expansion)

Set up real-time alerts in Dealfront (CRM + Slack)

Sales teams love speed, and Slack is often the fastest channel.

Alert examples:

• Tier 1 ICP visited pricing

• Fit + intent threshold crossed

• New high-fit account identified

• Repeat visits in last 7 days

Send alerts to:

• specific rep channels

• team channels

• Slack + CRM task creation

Build rep views so sales has a daily workflow

Examples:

• “Hot accounts today”

• “New Tier 1 AQLs”

• “Uncontacted MQLs”

• “Returning high-fit accounts”

Set simple SLAs

You don’t need complex rules, just clarity.

Example SLAs:

• MQL contacted within 4 business hours

• AQL reviewed daily

• Pricing visitor followed up within 24 hours

Step 5: Equip SDRs and AEs with Dealfront-powered qualification workflows

Qualification isn’t complete when marketing labels a lead—it’s complete when sales can act confidently. Marketing should give sales a repeatable checklist, fast research context and messaging angles.

SDR qualification checklist (simple and repeatable)

Before outreach, reps confirm:

• does this match Tier 1 ICP?

• what pages did they visit?

• what topic/content interested them?

• have they returned recently?

• what signals suggest buying readiness?

Use Dealfront for pre-call research and personalization

Reps can use:

• visited pages and journeys

• engagement patterns

• tech stack and firmographic context

• company signals

And importantly: reduce research time using Dealfront’s AI Company Insights. 

Example outreach angles marketing can enable

• Behavior-based opener

  • “Noticed your team was looking into [pricing/product] recently…”

• Industry-based angle

  • “We work with similar [industry] teams to solve [pain]…”

• Tech stack hook

  • “Companies using [tool] often run into [problem]…”

Where reps log qualification data

Marketing should map:

• “qualification questions” → “CRM fields” so reporting becomes consistent.

Example:

• “Primary interest area” → solution interest field

• “ICP tier” → company segment field

• “Intent score band” → lifecycle scoring property

Step 6: Measure, learn, and optimize your qualification engine

This is where marketing proves ROI.

Core KPIs (focus on conversion and velocity)

• AQL → MQL conversion rate

• MQL → SQL conversion rate

• SQL → Opportunity conversion rate

• Win rate by ICP tier

• Win rate by score band

• Time to first touch (AQL/MQL)

• Sales acceptance rate

Use Dealfront + CRM to identify what predicts wins

Look for patterns like:

• which pages correlate with SQL conversion?

• which segments have high volume but low win rate?

• which intent signals are noisy?

• what behaviors appear in closed-won journeys?

Run a quarterly optimization loop

Marketing should own a quarterly rhythm:

• review performance by segment and score band

• adjust ICP definitions if needed

• re-weight scoring signals

• refine stage thresholds

• align with sales feedback

Optional example insight: You might find that one industry generates many MQLs but converts poorly so you reduce its weight or adjust nurture instead of pushing to sales.

Step 7: Use your qualification engine to power targeted outbound 

The same engine can support outbound.

Marketing can:

• Build outbound lists from ICP + intent signals

• Sync qualified segments to CRM or outreach tools

• Enable personalization at scale

This replaces spray-and-pray with signal-driven outbound.

Steal our free template: 90-Day lead qualification roadmap

Use this as your rollout plan. It’s designed to help marketing lead implementation without requiring a full RevOps rebuild.

Days 1–30: Foundations (Visibility + ICP + AQL)

Goals

• Turn on full-funnel visibility (including anonymous visitors)

• Make ICP executable inside Dealfront

• Create your first “AQL engine” using feeds and scoring

Checklist

Tracking + data setup

• Install Dealfront tracking on all key pages (pricing/product/resources)

• Validate visitor identification is working

• Ensure CRM is connected and lifecycle fields exist

ICP groundwork

• Pull your closed-won list

• Identify Tier 1 vs Tier 2 ICP criteria

• Save Tier 1 and Tier 2 segments inside Dealfront

Qualification v1

• Decide AQL definition (fit + behavior-based)

• Create Custom Feeds for:

  • Tier 1 pricing visitors

  • repeat visitors (7–14 days)

  • product page researchers

• Align with sales on what should trigger attention (even before MQL)

Deliverables by Day 30

• Tracking live, visitor ID verified

• Tiered ICP saved as segments

• AQL definition documented

• 2–4 Custom Feeds live and monitored weekly

Days 31–60: Scoring, Routing, Enablement (Make It Operational)

Goals

• Implement fit + intent scoring that aligns with funnel stages

• Make handoffs fast and clean

• Enable sales workflows so insights turn into action

Checklist

Scoring model

• Define fit score factors and weights

• Define intent score factors and weights

• Set thresholds for AQL, MQL, SQL candidates

• Document logic in a shared scoring sheet

Routing + alerts

• Define routing rules (territory/segment/ownership)

• Set Slack notifications for key triggers:

  • Tier 1 pricing visitor

  • score threshold crossed

  • repeat visits surge

• Build rep views:

  • “Hot accounts today”

  • “New AQLs this week”

  • “Uncontacted MQLs”

Enablement

• Train SDRs/AEs on:

  • how to use Dealfront insights

  • how to interpret scoring

  • how to personalize outreach based on behavior

• Create quick checklists and sample outreach angles

Deliverables by Day 60

• Fit + intent scoring implemented

• SLA expectations agreed (even simple ones)

• Slack + CRM alerts live

• Sales workflows trained and documented

Days 61–90: Optimization + Reporting + Light Outbound Activation

Goals

• Prove the engine works using conversion metrics

• Refine scoring and ICP definitions based on results

• Expand usage into targeted outbound where relevant

Checklist

Measurement

• Report on:

  • AQL→MQL conversion

  • MQL→SQL conversion

  • speed-to-lead performance

  • win rate by ICP tier

• Build a simple dashboard or recurring report

Optimization

• Identify which signals predict SQL conversion

• Remove noisy signals

• Adjust thresholds for better quality

• Refine Custom Feeds based on what’s converting

Outbound 

• Export Tier 1 segments showing intent patterns

• Sync to CRM for SDR targeting

• Use Dealfront insights to personalize at scale

Deliverables by Day 90

• First performance review completed

• Scoring + ICP refined at least once

• Dashboards or reporting cadence established

• Optional: first targeted outbound list created from the engine

What’s next

A lead qualification engine is one of the highest leverage systems marketing can build because it improves everything downstream:

• Better conversion rates

• Better marketing ROI

• Cleaner handoffs

• Faster speed-to-lead

• More sales trust

• Less wasted spend

• More pipeline from the same traffic

Your next best step is simple: Start by turning on Dealfront tracking, define Tier 1 ICP, and build your first Custom Feeds for high-intent behavior. That alone will start surfacing qualified accounts your current process is missing.