Lead grades and lifecycle stages

Two different signals describe a lead in KudosCRM, and it helps to keep them straight. The grade (A–D) is a measure of quality — how well the lead fits and how engaged it is, derived from its score. The lifecycle stage (lead → MQL → SQL) is a measure of progress — where it sits on the path from raw inbound to a deal sales is actively working.

This article explains how the grade is calculated, what the thresholds mean, and how lifecycle stages work — including the guardrails that stop a lead from skipping straight from a brand-new lead to a sales-qualified one without passing through the gate in between.

Who this is for

Reps, marketers, and managers who want to read a lead's grade and stage correctly — and admins deciding how the two should drive their process.

Before you start

• Lead scoring rules set up, so leads have a score to grade (see 'Set up lead scoring rules').
• A shared definition, between marketing and sales, of what 'qualified' means at each stage.

What's live vs. coming soon
A–D grading and the lead → MQL → SQL lifecycle (with enforced legal transitions and manual or automatic promotion) are live today. Automation that fires on a stage change or a score crossing a threshold — for example auto-enrolling a new MQL in a sequence — is on the roadmap and shown with a 'Soon' pill, so treat promotion as a tracked stage change for now.

How grades and stages work

1. The score becomes a grade
   Every lead's 0–100 score maps to a grade band: A at 80+, B at 60+, C at 40+, and D below 40. The bands are identical front to back and kept up to date automatically, so the grade on the leads list always matches the one on the detail.
2. Read the grade as 'who to call first'
   The grade is the at-a-glance read: A and B leads are your best-fit, most-engaged prospects and deserve attention first; C and D leads are lower priority or poor fit. Reps sort by grade to work top-down instead of by arrival time.
3. Understand the lifecycle stages
   Lifecycle stages track progress, not quality: lead (raw, just captured) → marketing qualified lead (MQL — cleared marketing's bar) → sales qualified lead (SQL — sales has accepted it as worth active selling) → and onward toward opportunity and customer. A lead can be grade A and still sit at the 'lead' stage if no one has qualified it yet.
4. Promote a lead through the stages
   Move a lead forward when it crosses your bar — for example promote it to MQL once it's grade B or above and has shown intent, then to SQL when a rep accepts it. Promotion can be manual or driven automatically as the lead qualifies.
5. Rely on the legal-transition guardrails
   KudosCRM enforces a map of legal transitions on the server, so a lead can't jump to an invalid stage — the MQL → SQL hand-off stays an explicit step both teams can see, rather than someone quietly flipping a field. Invalid moves are rejected, keeping the funnel honest.
6. Use grade and stage together
   Combine the two for a sharp view: a grade-A lead still at the 'lead' stage is a hot one no one has picked up yet; a grade-C lead that's already an SQL is worth a second look at whether it really qualified. The pair tells you both how good a lead is and how far along it is.

What you'll understand

• Exactly how a 0–100 score maps to an A–D grade, and what each band signals.
• The difference between a grade (quality) and a lifecycle stage (progress).
• How the lead → MQL → SQL hand-off is enforced as an explicit, legal transition.
• How to read grade and stage together to spot hot leads no one has worked yet.

Frequently asked questions

What do the A, B, C, and D grades mean?

They're score bands: A is 80 and above, B is 60–79, C is 40–59, and D is below 40. A higher grade means a better-fit, more-engaged lead based on the scoring rules you set. The grade is the quick read reps use to prioritize; the underlying score is for tuning the model.

What's the difference between a grade and a lifecycle stage?

A grade measures quality — how good the lead is, right now, from its score. A lifecycle stage measures progress — how far it's moved from raw lead toward a customer (lead → MQL → SQL → opportunity → customer). A lead can be a top grade and still sit at an early stage if no one has qualified it yet.

What is the difference between an MQL and an SQL?

An MQL (marketing qualified lead) has cleared marketing's bar — it's worth sales' attention soon. An SQL (sales qualified lead) has been accepted by sales as worth active selling now. The move from MQL to SQL is the formal marketing-to-sales hand-off, and KudosCRM makes it an explicit, enforced stage transition so both teams agree on what 'qualified' means.

Can a lead skip a lifecycle stage?

No. KudosCRM enforces a map of legal transitions on the server, so a lead can only move to a valid next stage. That keeps the funnel honest — the MQL → SQL hand-off can't be quietly bypassed, and reporting on each stage stays meaningful.

Does promoting a lead trigger automation?

Not yet automatically. Promotion is a tracked stage change today; automation that fires on a stage change or a score threshold — like enrolling a new MQL in a sequence — is on the roadmap (marked 'Soon'). For now, pair promotion with a routing rule or a manual follow-up.

Learn more

• MQL vs SQL and the hand-off — A deeper guide to the marketing-to-sales hand-off and how to define each stage.
• Lead Qualification overview — The full journey stage — score, grade, route, and hand off to the pipeline.