Guide · 8 min read

The marketing-sales SLA: a filled-in example of agreements that work.

By Carlijn Hofland and Nona Stabel · 30 October 2026

In short: A marketing-sales SLA is a short set of agreements between marketing and sales: what a good lead is, when marketing hands it over, how fast sales follows up, who owns it, how sales feeds back and when you review together. It only works once both teams use the same ideal customer profile.

Marketing thinks sales does nothing with the leads. Sales thinks marketing delivers the wrong leads. Both are a bit right, because nobody agreed what a good lead is and what should happen next.

An SLA (service level agreement) between marketing and sales sets that down. This guide shows which parts belong in it, with a fully filled-in example, and how to make sure it doesn't become a document that disappears into a folder.

What is a marketing-sales SLA?

An SLA between marketing and sales is an agreement about the handover: what marketing delivers, what sales does with it, and how they keep each other informed. It isn't a contract, but a one-page working agreement that both teams write and maintain together.

First the shared choice, then the SLA

An SLA doesn't settle a disagreement about who the customer is. If marketing delivers leads that fit on paper but sales doesn't think they're good enough, the problem usually sits one step earlier: there's no shared ideal customer profile. Set that first. Then the SLA translates that choice into the day-to-day handover.

The six parts

Lead definition: when is someone ready for sales? Combine who they are (fits the ideal customer profile) with what they do (a concrete question, a demo request, a conversation at an event).
Handover: how and where does marketing hand over? For example automatically in the CRM, with the question and the source attached.
Response time: within how long does sales get in touch? Short enough that the question is still warm.
Owner: who is responsible for each lead, and who steps in during holidays or busy periods?
Feedback: what does sales report back to marketing, and when? For example whether the lead fitted, and if not, why not.
Review: when do you look together at whether the agreements work, and who can change them?

A filled-in example

A made-up example for the fictional software company of sixty people working mainly in logistics, from the guides How to build a commercial strategy and Ideal customer profile. All details are made up.

Part	Agreement (made-up example)
Lead definition	Logistics provider with 100 to 500 employees and more than one site, and a concrete question: a demo request, a question about implementation, or a conversation at a trade fair about a new warehouse.
Don't hand over	Students, suppliers, companies with one site and fewer than 50 employees, and downloads without a further question. Those stay with marketing.
Handover	Automatically in the CRM, as a task for the regional account manager, with the question, the source and the pages visited.
Response time	Personal contact within one working day. If that's not possible, the sales lead takes over.
Owner	The regional account manager. When absent, the sales lead.
Feedback	Within five working days in the CRM: fits or doesn't fit, and if not, the reason from a fixed list.
Review	Half an hour once a month, marketing manager and sales lead together: how many leads, how many fitted, how many conversations and opportunities, and what do we adjust?

How to put it in place

Write it together: in one session with the marketing manager and the sales lead, not by one of them alone.
Keep it to one page: what doesn't fit on one page won't get used.
Put it in the CRM: fields for the reason a lead doesn't fit, a task on handover, and an alert when the response time runs out.
Start with a trial period: three months, then adjust.
Measure a few things: the share of leads that sales says fit, the time to first contact, and how many leads lead to a follow-up conversation.

Common mistakes

Starting with the SLA instead of the customer. Without a shared ideal customer profile, every review turns into who's right.
Only agreements for marketing. An SLA works both ways: sales promises something too, namely to follow up and feed back.
Too many rules. A score with twenty criteria nobody understands. Start simple.
No reason when rejecting. Without a reason, marketing can't improve anything.
Never reviewing. Then the SLA is out of date after three months, and nobody uses it any more.

The test: does your SLA work?

Can marketing and sales say the same thing in one sentence about what a good lead is?
Is the handover in the CRM, with the question and the source attached?
Does everyone know who the owner is, including during holidays?
Does sales give a reason for every rejected lead?
Is there a fixed moment each month to look and adjust together?

Do it yourselves, or together?

You can draw up the SLA yourselves, if marketing and sales already agree on who they work for. If the conversation keeps getting stuck on who's right, the problem runs deeper. In the Alignment programme marketing and sales agree together, over eight to twelve weeks, how they recognise, hand over and follow up opportunities, and put a fixed rhythm in place to keep it going.

Frequently asked questions about a marketing-sales SLA

What does SLA mean?

Service level agreement: an agreement about what one party delivers and what the other does with it. Between marketing and sales it's about handing over leads, following up and feeding back.

What's the difference between an MQL and an SQL?

An MQL (marketing qualified lead) is someone who meets the agreements according to marketing. An SQL (sales qualified lead) is someone sales sees as a real opportunity after first contact. A good SLA makes the step between the two clear.

Do we need special software for this?

No. A CRM in which you record the handover, the owner and the reason for rejecting is enough. HubSpot, Salesforce or another system all work.

What if sales doesn't meet the response time?

Agree who takes over in that case, and discuss it in the monthly review. If the response time is structurally not achievable, adjust it, or check whether too many leads come in that don't fit.

How often do you change the SLA?

Look at the numbers together every month, and adjust the agreements after the first three months. After that only for a clear reason, such as a new offer or a different target group.

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