A lot of giant companies like Grammarly, Meta, Slack, etc, provide a free version of their products to the users to make the audience used to it. This is how the target audience gets habituated with their products, and they become product-qualified leads and give business to them. This is how it works, but for sure, we will discuss PQL in more detail in this article below. So let’s get started.
What is a PQL (Product-qualified Lead)?
A product-qualified lead is a user who has experienced the value of your product’s free or trial version, showing interest in becoming a paid customer to use the full features of your product. PQL has a 25 to 30 percent conversion rate, which is significantly higher than that of other qualified leads. PQL methods have a noticeable importance and ROI.
Companies offer a freemium product with some restrictions on premium features, which can enhance work efficiency, and after using the free version, leads become more interested in purchasing the full version, which is the key factor in making a product qualified lead.
PQL Scoring Model
PQL (product qualified model) scoring model is a strategy that determines a lead’s characteristics that meet an initial criterion to qualify as its PQL. It can be different by a ca strategy, but the actual core intention remains the same, like the scoring model may be different. Let’s discuss the PQL scoring mode, which can boost the sales process.
Product Usage Signals
How users interact with the product or service is a significant observable behavior of a customer. It indicates the customer engagement, interest, their pain points, and preferences, which helps the business understand the customer and directly improve the outreach strategy to close a sales deal.
One more important thing is which features are being used by a potential customer, how frequently they are logging in, and those are the key interactions of a customer’s likelihood to be converted into a paid customer, and those facts represent a high-quality product-qualified lead. Once the prospect has a better usage signal, you can assign a score to it, like +20 (as an instance). If it does not, then assign 0 to the lead.
Firmographic Fit
If your prospect has a requirement for the same product and matches the industry, then it can be considered a product-qualified lead. But some important things to care about are Industry match, company size, role or title relevance, revenue, or funding stage. If the above criteria match, then it’s your high-quality product qualified lead.
If the company size is small, it does not matter; even so, it can be quality, but the buyer persona is significant here. Someone is using your product’s free version, but the prospect has no right to make a purchase for the respective organization; it’s a bad thing, and may not be considered as PQL. Prospects’ role, revenue, or finding stage are all important because a prospect’s company has to keep a revenue that allows it to make a purchase. Let’s see how you can assign a score according to the firmographic fit of a lead.
- Industry match +10
- Company size +5
- role + 15
- Revenue +20
Engagement Signals
A product-qualified lead can be scored before its consideration by marketing interactions like opening emails, attending webinars, etc. Let’s see how you can score a prospect for PQL according to marketing actions.
- Open email +10
- Attended Webinar +20
- Downloads free guide +10
- Demo request +20
- replied email +15
- Booked meeting +25
Engagement is an important issue to understand a prospect’s behaviours and their interest, requirements, pain points, etc, and it helps score a lead and segment, which can be considered.
Negative Scoring (Disqualifiers)
Negative scoring can save you time and effort from putting it somewhere not worth having. If a prospect visits your career page, that means a (-5) score should be assigned, and it’s a disqualifier. Someone in an area you do not offer business is also a disqualifier, and prospects who use your free version but do not match the ideal customer profile are also a disqualifier. You can assign a negative score for not taking part in the further process.
How to Identify and Qualify Product Qualified Leads
Finding and qualifying PQLs involves identifying specific ways users interact with the product, monitoring their behavior, and recognizing when they may be ready for a friendly sales conversation. Let’s see a few basic key things that can filter a PQL out from a bunch of shitty leads.
- Track User Behavior
- Define Product Usage Criteria
- Define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
- Identify Users Showing Buying Intent
- Formulate a Hypothesis
- Test and Iterate
- Lead Scoring
- Align with Sales
Identifying PQL requires careful examination of several factors and the application of methods such as lead scoring or segmentation. Product Qualified Leads (PQLs) are highly engaged potential customers who have actively interacted with a product, indicating a strong likelihood of becoming paying customers.
MQL vs. SQL vs. PQL (Quick Comparison)
| Lead Type | Full Form | Definition | Key Focus | Example |
| MQL | Marketing Qualified Lead | A prospect who has engaged with marketing efforts and shown interest but isnât ready for direct sales contact yet. | Marketing-driven interest | Downloading an ebook, subscribing to a newsletter, or attending a webinar. |
| SQL | Sales Qualified Lead | A prospect evaluated by sales as having strong intent and fit, ready for direct sales engagement. | Sales-driven readiness | Requesting a demo, asking for pricing, or scheduling a sales call. |
| PQL | Product Qualified Lead | A prospect who has actively used the product (via free trial/freemium) and shown buying intent based on usage patterns. | Product-driven intent | Signing up for a free trial, using key features frequently, then considering an upgrade. |
How to Generate Product Qualified Leads
Generating product-qualifying leads(PQL) takes several steps of the process. Some companies use lead generation frameworks like BANT, MEDDICC, CHAMP, etc, but it depends on company size, goal, manpower, etc. However, the initial few steps, which are common and effective, are always good for all sizes of companies. Let’s take a look at those steps.
- Offer a Compelling Free Experience
- Optimize Onboarding and User Experience
- Identify and Segment PQLs
- Nurture PQLs Through the Sales Funnel
- Align Sales and Marketing
By implementing the above strategy, you can generate product-qualified leads, but you need to keep your team up to date with industry and competitors. Sometimes you need to make changes to your approach and research deeper inside the data to take yourself one step ahead of others. PQL generation is valuable and high-quality work, so investing your money and intelligence is worth it.
High-intent PQL Triggers and Examples
High-intent product-qualified leads triggers mean that offers or situations can drive a lead to your sales funnel. For example, once a demo user hits the free limit, then the prospect feels cravings to make a purchase to enlarge the usage limit. Let’s see a table below, including a PQL trigger with an example.
| Trigger | Example |
| Usage limit hit | Free email tool users send 500 emails (free cap is 500). |
| Paid feature attempt | The user clicks âDownload CSVâ in analytics (paid-only). |
| High engagement | Users log in daily for 14 days. |
| Team invites | Users add 10 team members in 1 week. |
| Integration | The user connects the product with Slack + Google Drive. |
| Customization | The user creates five custom workflows. |
| Scaling usage | The user uploads 200 files (well beyond the free limit). |
| Pricing interest | The user visits the âPricingâ page multiple times. |
| Support inquiry | The user asks: âHow much is unlimited storage?â |
| Trial near expiry | Users still run 20 queries/day in the last trial week. |
Conclusion
Keeping track of how your leads are performing is a business habit, so you can use AI tools or advanced CRM to monitor your leads’ quality and performance. Product-qualified leads are mostly effective, but even if in your case, they do not return the desired outcome, you can take a product-qualified lead generation service from CallingAgency for better results, which saves your money, time, utility costs, employee costs, and reduces extra responsibilities.
FAQs
How Do You Set PQL Criteria and Thresholds?
To set PQL criteria and thresholds, you need to analyze product usage data to identify patterns that correlate with successful conversion.
Which Product Events Define a Product-qualified Account (PQA)?
A PQA is an organizational account or is used by a team, not an individual. It is defined as having at least three users, logging in at least 3 times a week, and using at least five features.
How Do You Build a PQL Scoring Model?
Defining criteria based on product usage, buyer personas, and data analysis, you can build a PQL scoring model.
What Tools Power a PQL Workflow?
Tools like Microsoft Power Automate or Kissflow, CRM systems for lead management, can improve the work process for product qualification leads.
How Do You Route PQLs to Sales Effectively?
Effectively routing Product Qualified Leads (PQLs) to sales requires a combination of strategic lead qualification, data-driven decision-making, and clear communication between sales and marketing teams.
What Are Good PQL Examples for Saas?
Uses free trials, attended a webinar, and strong buying intent are good examples of PQL.
How Do Freemium Products Create PQLs?
Once a user hits the limit of the free version, they start thinking about buying the product.
How to Align Product and Sales Around PQLs
By defining PQL criteria together, setting clear handoffs, and sharing dashboards to track outcomes
How to Improve Trial Activation to Grow PQLs
Reduce friction, personalize onboarding, and guide users quickly to the âaha!â moment.
How Do You Score and Prioritize PQLs?
Combine firmographic fit, product usage signals, and buying intent into a weighted scoring model.
