What are product qualified leads (PQLs)?

Does your current marketing campaign include a blueprint for identifying PQLs, or product qualified leads? Consumers in this category have a higher probability of becoming loyal and long-term users. This is a must-tap-into demographic for improved conversions and active customer engagement. Find out how to nurture them to take them further along the sales funnel process.

What is a Product Qualified Lead (PQL)?

PQLs are people in your demographic who have used your product or service. They have not made any purchases yet, but they tested your product/service through a free trial or freemium signup. They used a limited or beta version and have direct experience with the product.

Why PQL marketing matters

Why are PQLs so integral for conversions? They’re a model of your ideal customer profile. These people have already used your product first-hand, and you can gauge their buying intent with far greater accuracy. Plus, since they’ve already invested the time to test your product, they’re quite far in the sales funnel process. This equates to a shorter sales cycle. This demographic may also have a smaller churn rate, making them easier to retain through loyalty programs.

PQL vs. MQL

The PQL meaning is specific to users who have used your products. The term shouldn’t be confused with marketing qualified leads (MQLs). The latter is a potential consumer that has expressed some form of initial interest. They have taken some sort of desirable action, such as signing up for your subscriber list, opening your email newsletter, or contacting your company with a question.

MQLs, though, have not used your product yet, so they’re in the earlier phases of the sales funnel than PQLs.

PQL vs. SQL

A sales qualified lead (SQL) is a user who has expressed a high intent to make a purchase or become a paid member. They are typically a step or two farther in the sales funnel than MQLs. SQLs have taken action that warrants a sales representative to step in and make a pitch. An example is a user who has proceeded to the checkout page but stopped short of finalizing the purchase.

SQLs and PQLs are similar in that they both express high buyer intent. SQLs, however, have not tried any version of your product yet.

MQL to SQL vs. MQL to PQL

Traditional marketing campaigns utilize an MQL-to-SQL model. However, some companies, especially those in the SaaS industry, are developing an MQL-to-PQL model as free trials and freemiums become standard practice.

Let’s say a segment of MQLs signs up for a free trial. However, this demographic hardly touched the product, using it once or twice before letting the trial expire. Under an MQL-to-PQL model, you can determine that this demographic is unlikely to convert, so you don’t waste resources ushering them along the sales funnel.

Under an MQL-to-SQL model, the fact that the users signed up for a trial would qualify them as high-quality leads, even though we see that this isn’t the case. A PQL model provides a whole new set of metrics not available under conventional SQL practices.

How to identify PQLs

You’ll have to come up with your own criteria to determine PQLs’ meaning or significance as it pertains to your unique business model. In most cases, it goes beyond users who have signed up for a trial service or downloaded a beta product. After all, a good percentage of users in this category may use the product once and never touch it again. PQLs are those who use the product extensively and experiment with the available features.

Here are some boxes users should check off to meet the PQL designation:

• Used the product for a minimum of X hours
• Used X number of features in the demo product
• Used a specific feature X number of times
• Contacted support service regarding product use
• Visited the membership upgrade page
• Filled out the profile page of their trial account
• Earned X number of digital trophies

How to convert PQLs

You’ve identified your PQLs. You may be tempted at this point to send a promotional email with a call to action. However, this is a time to help or give the PQLs more value rather than to sell. Here’s how you can do this:

• Unlock an additional feature or two so the demo product now more closely resembles the paid product.
• Send an invitation to a free live Q&A webinar
• Sign up the users to a community discussion forum where they can interact with other like-minded PQLs.
• Provide a number that users can call for immediate assistance and bypass standard callers.

Optimize PQL engagement with Lytics

Every product qualified lead is an opportunity. Maximize each opportunity by optimizing the customer journey. With the help of Lytics, easily segment your audience, identify PQLs, and nurture them to get them to become high-value customers. Sign up for a free demo today and become our PQL!