What is Product-Qualified Lead (PQL)?
A potential customer who has demonstrated purchase intent through actual product usage, not just marketing engagement.
Definition
A product-qualified lead is someone who's used your product (typically through a free trial or freemium plan) and hit behavioral thresholds that indicate they're likely to convert to a paid customer. PQLs are defined by product usage patterns: features used, frequency of login, team members invited, integrations connected, or data volume processed. The concept emerged from product-led growth (PLG) companies where users adopt the product before talking to sales.
Why It Matters
PQLs convert at 2-5x the rate of marketing-qualified leads because they've already experienced the product's value. For PLG companies, PQLs are the primary pipeline source. The challenge is defining the right PQL criteria: which usage patterns actually predict conversion? This requires tight integration between product analytics (Pendo, Amplitude, Mixpanel) and CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce).
Example
A project management SaaS defines a PQL as a free user who has created 3+ projects, invited 2+ team members, and used the product for 14+ days. When a user hits all three criteria, the CRM flags them as a PQL and triggers a sales notification.