Definition
Checking whether a lead fits your ideal customer profile and has a real need, budget, authority, and timeline, so sales only spends time on prospects who can actually buy.
Lead scoring ranks leads by how likely they are to convert; qualification is the yes-or-no decision on whether one is worth pursuing at all. Frameworks like BANT (budget, authority, need, timeline) give it structure, but the most common failure is simpler: qualifying too late, after a closer has already spent an hour on a prospect who was never a fit.
Where this comes from
Read the related term: Lead Scoring