Rethinking Re-Engagement: The Case for a Re-MQL Stage in Lead Qualification
To Stage 0? Or to not Stage 0? That is the question!
The lead qualification process is often treated as a one-way street: a lead is either qualified and passed to sales or disqualified and relegated to a nurture track.
Never to be seen again. (queue in ominous music)
If you forgot what an MQL is don’t worry. Check out the lifecycle article below for a refresher.
There are any number of reasons why an MQL doesn’t convert to an opportunity or a customer: 1/ you can’t get a hold of them, 2/ your lead score shows that they’re a STRONG fit but when the sales team qualifies the lead they just don’t make the bar (i.e. they’re just exploring and timing is far off), 3/ etc.
So what does is a re-MQL?
A Re-MQL stage introduces a practical framework for revisiting leads that previously didn't progress (duh!). Instead of discarding them as lost opportunities, this stage (or don’t use a stage) provides a systematic way to re-evaluate and re-engage based on updated information, context, or intent signals. It’s not about adding complexity for the sake of it but about creating an intentional process to maximize pipeline potential.
Side bar: but isn’t the MQL dead?
Scan LinkedIn very quickly and you’ll probably see this ridiculous headline: "is the MQL dead?
No it’s not.
I can personally attest that bullshit leads come into funnels all the time. Take that to the bank. For example, removing university email addresses because it’s certainly a dead giveaway, for most industries unless you’re selling into education, that they’re looking for a job. Send them an email to look at the careers page!
The MQL score is a tough nut to crack. And after 3 months of several rounds of meetings and approvals, the finally released lead score is stale. Your lead score is highly susceptible to external and internal information gaps. Externally, your buyer profile could constantly be changing. Also, if you lack a product marketing function and you avoid surveying prospects, lost deals, and customers alike you really don’t know who your real customers are or could be. Ever hear of engineers building products because they think that’s what the customer wants? Engineering mindset vs product mindset. Combining the two is a powerful combination. Same thing for Marketing Ops. Product Marketing and MOPs at the same table working out a deep understanding of ICP and personas.
Chef’s kiss.
The lead score, by definition, should be a moving target. Instead of spending months on end designing a score I would instead focus on releasing something into the wild and constantly tinkering with it. Folks talk about A/B testing. Why not A/B test your lead score? You could have 100 leads scored with Lead Score 1 and 100 leads scored by Lead Score 2? Hold all things constant save for one change. Then decisively merge the better feature. Then run another test! Lead Score 1 (Round 2) vs Lead Score 2 (Round 2). See who the winner is! You’re basically setting up a tournament model to identify what works and what doesn’t. Move fast, fail fast, and focus on learning.
Tagging an MQL
So how do you tag your MQL? Here are a few options
Custom field: checkbox
You’ll need to pair this with an MQL counter field to handle a re-MQL
You may also need a timestamp field for every time the lead or contact is an MQL
Dropdown or picklist for lifecycle stage
Again, I think you would need a counter and a timestamp here
Custom object record
The first two options are the easiest to put together. But I think it loses nuance. Instead you could try the custom object approach. Here’s how it would work in Salesforce:
Create a custom object called MQL
Lead Lookup Field: Links to the Lead object.
Contact Lookup Field: Links to the Contact object.
MQL Date: Auto-populated with the current date when the record becomes an MQL.
Status: Optional field to track additional MQL states (e.g., re-engaged, active, etc.).
On the contact and lead record you would show the related MQL list and the following:
MQL Counter: Rollup summary count field of MQL records
Add a rollup summary field to both the Lead and Contact objects to count related MQL records:
Field Name:
MQL CountObject: Lead or Contact
Type: Roll-Up Summary
Summary Type: COUNT
Filter Criteria: None (unless you need to count specific MQL statuses).
Time since last MQL
NULL if 1st time MQL
Days between MQL if 2nd time or more
If you really insist on doing it in Apex (please avoid this if you can!)
trigger UpdateMQLCount on MQL__c (before insert) {
Set<Id> leadIds = new Set<Id>();
Set<Id> contactIds = new Set<Id>();
// Collect Lead and Contact IDs from the new MQL records
for (MQL__c mql : Trigger.new) {
if (mql.Lead__c != null) {
leadIds.add(mql.Lead__c);
}
if (mql.Contact__c != null) {
contactIds.add(mql.Contact__c);
}
}
// Update Lead MQL Count
if (!leadIds.isEmpty()) {
List<AggregateResult> leadCounts = [
SELECT Lead__c, COUNT(Id) totalMQL
FROM MQL__c
WHERE Lead__c IN :leadIds
GROUP BY Lead__c
];
Map<Id, Integer> leadMQLCounts = new Map<Id, Integer>();
for (AggregateResult ar : leadCounts) {
leadMQLCounts.put((Id)ar.get('Lead__c'), (Integer)ar.get('totalMQL'));
}
// Update Lead rollup fields
List<Lead> leadsToUpdate = new List<Lead>();
for (Id leadId : leadMQLCounts.keySet()) {
Lead lead = new Lead(Id = leadId);
lead.MQL_Count__c = leadMQLCounts.get(leadId);
leadsToUpdate.add(lead);
}
update leadsToUpdate;
}
// Update Contact MQL Count
if (!contactIds.isEmpty()) {
List<AggregateResult> contactCounts = [
SELECT Contact__c, COUNT(Id) totalMQL
FROM MQL__c
WHERE Contact__c IN :contactIds
GROUP BY Contact__c
];
Map<Id, Integer> contactMQLCounts = new Map<Id, Integer>();
for (AggregateResult ar : contactCounts) {
contactMQLCounts.put((Id)ar.get('Contact__c'), (Integer)ar.get('totalMQL'));
}
// Update Contact rollup fields
List<Contact> contactsToUpdate = new List<Contact>();
for (Id contactId : contactMQLCounts.keySet()) {
Contact contact = new Contact(Id = contactId);
contact.MQL_Count__c = contactMQLCounts.get(contactId);
contactsToUpdate.add(contact);
}
update contactsToUpdate;
}
}
If a lead re-MQLs should you send it back to the previous rep?
Yes if the lead was contacted in the last 30 days. Totally up to you on what rules you have in place.
Yes if the lead belongs to an account that’s owned by a rep or, by extension, an SDR paired 1-1 with the sales rep.
No, if none of the above apply. Give another rep a shot! Well at least that’s my opinion.
You’re the Head of Marketing Ops. How do you report this out to the CMO?
Hypothetically…
“I’ve implemented a streamlined approach to distinguish and report on MQLs and Re-MQLs to provide clearer insights into lead performance and re-engagement effectiveness. Each MQL is categorized as either a first-time MQL or a Re-MQL, based on whether the lead or contact has previously reached MQL status. This distinction is tracked using a custom field on the MQL object and reflected in reports. Our reporting structure segments these categories to show total counts, trends over time, and conversion outcomes for each. For example, dashboards now highlight the percentage of Re-MQLs in our pipeline and their conversion rates compared to new MQLs. This enables us to evaluate the ROI of our re-engagement strategies, optimize scoring models, and ensure alignment with sales on prioritization. By clearly distinguishing between these two cohorts, we can refine our efforts to drive higher-quality leads through the funnel.”
Boom. I love it. Hopefully the CMO buys it too. 😅
What if Re-MQLs perform worse than MQLs?
Sales would likely raise concerns about the quality of Re-MQLs, noting that these leads take up valuable time and resources without producing sufficient conversion rates. They might ask marketing to either:
Send fewer Re-MQLs by applying stricter qualification criteria.
For example, the first time around you might have a score of 90 for an MQL but a re-MQL would need to reach 93
Provide better context or additional insights to help sales prioritize which Re-MQLs to engage with.
Sales might also suggest reallocating focus toward new MQLs or higher-quality segments, as these have demonstrated better performance.
Hopefully the sales team dispositioned the lead correctly when they disqualified the lead in the first place. See an example lead status map below. When the lead is an MQL and the sales team connects with the prospect and “disqualifies” the lead then it should never become an MQL again.
If it ends with Qualified but loses in the sales stages then it can re-MQL
If they become a customer and churn then it can re-MQL again
If it nurtures then it can re-MQL
Remember the 95-5 Rule and perhaps the Re-MQL is FINALLY in the 5%
When it comes to re-MQLs, it’s easy for sales teams to dismiss them as recycled leads with no real potential. But this is where the 95-5 rule comes into play. While ninety-five percent of these re-MQLs may indeed be revisiting out of curiosity or habit, the remaining five percent could represent leads with far better timing. The first time around, their interest may have been purely exploratory. Now, circumstances could have shifted:
Budget freed up
Priorities clarified
Challenges heightened
Now they MIGHT be more ready to engage seriously. Ignoring the five percent risks leaving real opportunities on the table.
I say never give up on a lead BUT… make sure you build trust with the sales team too. Burning them too many times with the same lead that never converts is a recipe for distrust.
My two cents!