← DictionaryQualification
also called lead qualification
Determining whether a prospect fits the offer, budget and timeline.
Deciding early whether this is a real fit.
What It Is
In the BWH map, Qualification lives under Business — Sales. The working definition is simple: determining whether a prospect fits the offer, budget and timeline.
It is an idea you reason with rather than a deliverable you hand over, so two teams can both hold it correctly and still apply it differently. Keep it that plain and it will still be true in twelve months.
How It's Used
Qualification comes up in commercial decisions, pricing conversations and how the business runs. It is usually discussed together with Discovery Call, Marketing Qualified Lead and Ideal Customer Profile. The practical test is whether a decision changes because of it.
Why It Matters
Getting Qualification wrong is expensive in a quiet way. When it is unclear, margin leaks in places nobody is looking. It is worth pinning down before anyone builds on top of it.
It is a way of thinking, not a thing you can hold. Deciding early whether this is a real fit.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Practitioners use Qualification as shorthand and expect no explanation — determining whether a prospect fits the offer, budget and timeline.
Outside the industry, most people would just say: deciding early whether this is a real fit.
The Bottom Line
Keep Qualification plain: deciding early whether this is a real fit. That is the version that holds up in a real project.