Demand & Lead Gen
What is Demand Waterfall?
A Demand Waterfall is the staged model B2B marketing and sales teams use to track a prospect’s progression from initial awareness through to closed revenue — typically moving through stages like Lead, MQL, SQL, Opportunity, and Customer.
Who Is It For?
The demand waterfall is built and maintained by demand gen and revenue operations, and used by CMOs to forecast pipeline and report on funnel health.
How Is It Used?
It’s used to standardize how a lead’s progress is defined and measured at each stage, so marketing and sales agree on what counts as qualified before a lead moves forward.
- Define clear, agreed-upon criteria for each stage — what makes a lead an MQL, an SQL, and so on
- Track conversion rates between each stage to spot where prospects drop off
- Use waterfall data to forecast pipeline and set realistic targets
- Revisit stage definitions periodically as the business and ICP evolve
Related Terms & Concepts
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all companies use the same demand waterfall stages?
No — while Lead, MQL, SQL, Opportunity, and Customer are common, many teams add or rename stages to match their specific sales process and deal complexity.
What’s the most common breakdown point in a demand waterfall?
MQL-to-SQL is often where the biggest drop happens, usually because marketing and sales disagree on what actually counts as sales-ready.
