Qualification rate
Why it matters
Calls are the scarcest resource in a small sales team. At a higher qualification rate, the same number of calls produces more real opportunities. The figure is also shared between marketing and sales. A falling rate means one of two things: the leads are getting weaker, or the bar has moved. The number starts the conversation about which, without blame.
How to apply it
- Divide qualified opportunities by completed discovery calls for the same period.
- Split it by lead source, seller and discovery call type. An average can hide one weak channel.
- Read the calls that failed to qualify and record the reason, such as no budget, wrong timing or no authority.
- Move the most common disqualifying question earlier, onto the booking form, so mismatches are screened out before a call is spent.
- Keep the qualification rule the same for a quarter before comparing periods.
What it is
After a first call with a prospect, the seller decides whether the deal is worth pursuing. Qualification rate is the share of calls where the answer is yes. If a team completes 50 discovery calls in a month and 20 prospects qualify, the rate is 40 per cent.
The figure only means something when the rule for "qualified" is fixed in advance. Most teams use a framework such as BANT or MEDDIC, so a call either clears the bar or does not.
Common mistakes
- Chasing a high rate by being too strict, which starves the pipeline.
- Changing the definition of qualified part-way through and comparing old and new figures.
- Counting booked calls instead of completed ones. No-shows are a different problem.
