How to hand off leads from marketing to sales
The marketing-to-sales handoff is where hard-won leads are most often lost. Fixing it is less about tools and more about a shared agreement: what qualifies, how fast it moves, and what feedback flows back. Get that contract right and conversion jumps.
Short answer
Hand off leads cleanly by agreeing on shared MQL and SQL definitions, setting an SLA for how fast sales works a lead and how marketing feeds volume, passing full context with each lead, and running a closed-loop feedback process so rejected leads improve the model. The handoff is a contract, not a toss.
Step by step
Agree on shared definitions
Marketing and sales jointly define MQL and SQL so a "qualified lead" means the same thing to both teams. Ambiguity here causes most handoff friction.
Set a two-way SLA
Commit to how fast sales works each MQL and how much qualified volume marketing delivers. Both sides carry a number.
- Sales: first touch within a defined SLA window
- Marketing: agreed MQL volume and quality
- Both: a shared dashboard on the handoff
Pass full context with the lead
Hand over engagement history, source, and score so the rep's first touch is relevant instead of a cold restart.
Close the feedback loop
Every rejected lead gets a reason that flows back to marketing, so scoring and targeting improve instead of the same weak leads repeating.
Review the metrics together
Meet regularly on acceptance rate, speed-to-lead, and conversion. Shared metrics turn finger-pointing into joint problem-solving.
How Ardovo helps
Ardovo passes the full lead context to the rep automatically, enforces the speed-to-lead SLA, and logs rejection reasons back to the scoring model. Both teams watch one dashboard, so the handoff is measured, not disputed.
Frequently asked questions
Why do marketing and sales fight over leads?
Usually because they never agreed on what "qualified" means, there is no SLA, and no feedback loop. Marketing sends volume, sales rejects it, and neither has data to resolve it. Shared definitions and a closed loop fix most of the tension.
What is a lead handoff SLA?
A mutual agreement on service levels: how fast sales must work an MQL (often minutes to hours) and how much qualified volume marketing commits to deliver. It makes the handoff a measurable contract instead of a hopeful toss.
What should be passed with a lead at handoff?
The lead's source, full engagement history, and score, plus any qualification detail captured. Context lets the rep open with relevance rather than starting cold and re-asking what marketing already knows.