#Entry Criteria
The entry criteria for each lead lifecycle stage will vary depending on your business and sales process. However, here are some general guidelines:
* Marketing lead: There are two main ways to qualify a lead as a marketing lead:
* Action-based criteria: This is when a lead takes a specific action, such as downloading a white paper or registering for a webinar.
* Scoring model: A more intricate approach that considers various factors like website activity, content engagement, and firmographics to qualify leads.
* Marketing engaged lead: These are the leads that have interacted with your content, for example, by downloading a white paper, watching a video, or attending a webinar.
* Marketing qualified lead: These leads have shown a more serious level of interest, perhaps by requesting a demo, signing up for a free trial, or directly contacting your sales team.
* Sales accepted lead: Leads that have been accepted by a salesperson and are now being actively worked.
* Sales qualified lead: These are the leads that your sales team has deemed a good fit for your product or service and are ready to move to the next stage of the sales process.
The lead lifecycle stages are a powerful resource for sales pipeline management and lead progress tracking. By grasping the nuances of each stage and their respective entry criteria, a more effective sales and marketing strategy can be developed.
**Lead Stages**
<table><thead><tr><th width="273">Stage</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Anonymous Visitor</strong></td><td>Leads who have visited your website but have not provided identifiable information yet.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Lead</strong></td><td>Any person added to your database who is not automatically identified as a non-prospect (e.g. existing customer, competitor, repeated junk, etc.).</td></tr><tr><td><mark style="background-color:green;"><strong>MQL</strong></mark> <br>(Marketing Qualified Lead)</td><td>The handoff point from Marketing to Sales. It is a lead that has been automatically qualified based on ICP fit and intent-level. This is often informed by a Lead Scoring Model.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>SAL</strong> <br>(Sales Accepted Lead)</td><td>Sales has received the MQL, has not immediately disqualified it as junk, and has begun reaching out to the MQL.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>SQL</strong> <br>(Sales Qualified Lead)</td><td>Stage 0 opportunity. A discovery call or product demonstration has been scheduled between the prospect and a sales rep.</td></tr></tbody></table>