From MQLs to SQLs: Streamlining Your Lead Nurturing Process in HubSpot
28 July 2025
Having spent over a decade implementing and managing HubSpot for businesses across various industries, I’ve seen first-hand the challenges marketing and sales teams face when transitioning leads from Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) to Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs). This handover is a crucial step in the sales journey, ensuring that the right leads are passed to sales at the right time. However, without a streamlined and automated process, businesses risk losing high-value prospects due to misalignment and inefficiencies.
In this blog, I’ll share insights from my experience on how to optimise the MQL-to-SQL process using HubSpot, the challenges of automation, and the benefits of a well-structured lead qualification process.
Exploring the HubSpot Lead Qualification Process
Understanding how to streamline the process of moving leads from MQLs to SQLs starts with understanding the full lead process - how a visitor becomes qualified as an opportunity, and eventually a valued client. This process, and the qualification for each stage, is likely to be different from business to business and even across industries, but the below is one example of what it could* look like for a Professional Service brand:
Visitor Engages with content, clicks CTA
↓
Lead Fills form, downloads resource
↓
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) Lead scoring achieved, completes key conversion actions
↓
Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) Requests demo, engages with sales
↓
Opportunity Negotiation, proposal sent
↓
Customer/Client
*if only all lead gen & sales processes were this linear, wouldn’t that be the dream?
Alternative Lead Paths
Of course, not every user who interacts with your content will convert. So what happens to those leads in HubSpot? Here are some alternative paths leads might take, and the HubSpot features that streamline these journeys.
Lead Recycling (SQL → MQL or Lead)
Scenario: The lead isn't ready to convert but has potential to do so in the future.
Action: Moves back to an earlier lifecycle stage for further nurturing (e.g., more content, automated email campaigns, etc.).
Next Step: Streamline your lead nurturing process to reduce pushback from SQL back to MQL - read on for more insight into this.
Inactive Leads (MQL/SQL → Subscriber)
Scenario: Lead stops engaging, no response to outreach for over X amount of days.
Action: Moves to a "Cold Lead" list and gets Subscriber status.
Next Steps: Periodic re-engagement campaigns (e.g., new services, new content, personal offers). Implement data cleaning with automatic unsubscribing of contacts when email is no longer valid (hard bounces/repeated soft bounces) - this leads to increased email health overall and better engagement from your database.
Closed-Lost (SQL/Opportunity → Lead)
Scenario: Lead chooses a competitor, delays decision, or is disqualified.
Action: Their Deal moves to Closed-Lost in the CRM.
Next Steps: Sales can follow up after 3-6 months for a potential re-engagement.
Reactivated Lead (Lead → MQL/SQL)
Scenario: A cold lead re-engages (e.g., signs up for a webinar, responds to a follow-up email).
Action: Moves back into MQL or SQL pipeline based on activity.
Upsell/Cross-Sell (Customer → Evangelist)
Scenario: Previous customer shows interest in additional products/services, or they’ve recommended you to one of their contacts who would be a good customer for you
Action: Moves forward to Evangelist for new deal discussions.
Of course, every business works differently, so journeys will vary. One of HubSpot's strongest features is its flexibility - no matter how you categorise customer lifecycle stages or how many stages your customer journey typically has, HubSpot's CRM and automation can be tailored to work for you.
Benefits of Streamlining the MQL to SQL Process
A well-structured MQL-to-SQL process offers significant benefits to businesses looking to improve sales efficiency and revenue generation. Here’s how streamlining this process can create a competitive advantage:
1. Increased Sales Productivity
By ensuring that only high-quality leads are passed to sales, teams can focus their efforts on closing deals rather than chasing unqualified prospects. Alongside automated reminders and tasks for the sales team, this leads to shorter sales cycles and higher conversion rates.
2. Stronger Sales and Marketing Alignment
A refined MQL-to-SQL process fosters collaboration between marketing and sales teams. By defining clear qualification criteria and leveraging shared data in HubSpot, both teams can work towards common revenue goals with greater efficiency.
3. Higher Conversion Rates
Streamlining the lead qualification process ensures that leads are engaged at the right time, increasing the likelihood of successful conversions. Automated nurturing and timely handovers prevent leads from slipping through the cracks.
4. Better Customer Experience
Leads receive relevant content and timely engagement based on their position in the buyer’s journey. This results in a smoother, more personalised experience, leading to improved brand perception and customer loyalty.
5. Data-Driven Decision Making
An optimised MQL-to-SQL transition provides valuable insights into lead behaviour and conversion trends. By analysing the behavioural data of their customers in HubSpot, businesses can refine their marketing strategies and improve ROI.
6. Reduced Back-and-Forth Communication
An automated and structured lead qualification process minimises inefficiencies caused by unclear handover criteria. Sales teams receive well-vetted leads, reducing the need for multiple qualification discussions and follow-ups.
Automating the Handover Process: Challenges and Solutions
A seamless transition from MQL to SQL requires a structured handover process that identifies key touchpoints and conversion steps. HubSpot provides the perfect toolkit to automate this process, using workflows, lifecycle stages, and lead scoring models.
Key HubSpot Features for an Automated Handover:
Lifecycle Stage Automation – Automatically progressing leads through the pipeline based on predefined conditions & contacts taking certain actions.
Email Sequences & Nurturing Campaigns – Sending tailored content based on user behaviour to encourage conversion.
CRM Notifications & Task Assignments – Alerting sales teams when a contact meets SQL criteria and assigning follow-up tasks.
Lead Scoring System – Assigning point values based on engagement levels, demographics, and firmographics.
Challenges of an Automated Handover:
While automation improves efficiency, I’ve seen businesses struggle with common challenges that need to be addressed:
Incorrect Lead Qualification – Rigid automation rules may lead to premature handover or missed opportunities.
Poor Data Quality – Incomplete or inaccurate lead data can result in ineffective handovers.
Lack of Alignment Between Sales and Marketing – Miscommunication about lead criteria or not agreeing on your brand ideal customer personas can lead to back-and-forth exchanges that slow down the process. The keys to solving this are refining conversion actions, continuously reviewing lead scoring models, and optimising qualification criteria to ensure leads progress smoothly without unnecessary reclassification.
Over-Automation Risks – Too much reliance on automation may remove the human touch required for high-value accounts.
Optimising Lead Scoring for a More Effective Process
Lead scoring is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to refine the MQL-to-SQL process. It assigns numerical values to leads based on specific behaviours and attributes, helping businesses prioritise high-value prospects. You can then send contacts forward or back through the pipeline automatically, as their lead score changes, triggering associated workflows and actions appropriate to their position in the pipeline.
Best Practices for Lead Scoring:
Behavioural Scoring – Track key engagement activities such as email opens, report downloads, callback requests and webinar participation.
Firmographic Scoring – Prioritise leads based on industry, company size, and job title.
Negative Scoring – Deduct points for disengagement, such as unsubscribes or inactive periods.
Threshold Adjustment – Regularly evaluate and refine scoring thresholds based on conversion data.
By implementing lead scoring alongside lifecycle stage automation, businesses can ensure a smooth and strategic lead progression, minimising manual interventions and improving overall sales efficiency.
Next Chapter™: Delivering Sales & Marketing Alignment with HubSpot
The transition from MQL to SQL is a crucial component of the sales flow, and optimising this process can drive significant business growth. At Next Chapter, we're specialists in implementing HubSpot CRM, Marketing, Sales and Service Hub for B2B & professional service brands, including leading UK property consultancy firm, Sanderson Weatherall.
Ready to streamline your lead management and align your sales and marketing teams? Get in touch with us today to explore how HubSpot and our expert team can help you.
