# Product qualified lead (PQL)

A product qualified lead (PQL) is a user or account that has shown buying intent through how they use the product, such as reaching a key outcome, hitting a plan limit or inviting teammates. It is scored on product behavior rather than on marketing engagement.

## What is a PQL?

A PQL is a lead that qualified itself inside the product. Instead of downloading an ebook or attending a webinar, the person signed up, used the product and did something that predicts a purchase.

PQLs matter most in self-serve and freemium models, where thousands of people try the product and sales can only talk to a few. The PQL definition decides which few.

## PQL vs MQL: what's the difference?

A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is scored on interest: page visits, content downloads, email clicks, form fills. It tells you someone is curious about the category.

A PQL is scored on use. It tells you someone already got value from your product, or is close to it.

| | MQL | PQL |
|---|---|---|
| Based on | Marketing engagement | Product usage and intent |
| Shows | Interest in the problem | Value from the product |
| Typical handoff | Sales development outreach | Sales assist or upgrade prompt |
| Main risk | Curious people who never buy | A definition that leaves out account fit |

Most teams use both. The MQL brings people in; the PQL tells sales who to call now.

## Which signals make a user a PQL?

Good PQL definitions combine three kinds of signal.

- **Value reached:** the user completed the action that marks real value, such as publishing a first report or sending a first campaign.
- **Breadth and depth:** several teammates invited, usage across more than one feature, repeat use over a few weeks.
- **Buying moments:** hitting a plan limit, visiting the pricing page, trying a paid-only feature, asking about SSO or security reviews.

Then filter by fit (company size, industry, role), because heavy usage from a student account isn't a sales opportunity.

Here is a concrete version. A team-scheduling tool might define a PQL as: a workspace at a company with 50 or more employees, where at least three people have booked meetings in the last 14 days and someone has opened the admin settings. Each part is easy to measure, and together they describe a team that looks ready for a paid plan.

Start simple, then test the definition against your own history: of last quarter's accounts that matched it, how many converted, and how many paying customers would it have missed?

## How do user questions change PQL scoring?

Usage shows what people did. What they ask shows what they are about to do. "Can I connect this to Salesforce?", "How do I add five more seats?" and "Do you support SAML?" are buying signals that rarely show up as clicks.

Teams that capture these questions, from support conversations, sales chats or an in-product agent, can add them to the PQL model as intent signals next to usage. With Foldspace, those questions come to the Product Agent as users work, and Conversational Analytics [shows the intent behind each request](https://docs.foldspace.ai/whats-new/conversational-analytics/), keeping the user's wording, so a question about seats or SSO shows up as a signal the team can score.

## Learn more

- [Conversational Analytics](/platform/conversational-analytics)