The most-cited qualification framework is BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline). More modern frameworks (MEDDIC, GPCTBA/CI) add discovery around metrics, decision criteria, and economic buyers. Each is essentially a checklist for 'is this an opportunity worth working'.
The SQL stage is where pipeline-revenue forecasting starts becoming reliable. Below SQL, the volume is interesting but the predictive accuracy is low. Above SQL, win-rate analysis becomes meaningful for sales-cycle planning.
SQL → close conversion rates typically run 15–30% in B2B SaaS, with significant variation by deal size and industry. Tracking this rate over time and segmenting by source (which marketing channels produce the highest-converting SQLs) is one of the highest-leverage reports in a marketing-sales operation.