Service-Level Agreement (SLA)
A Service-Level Agreement (SLA) is a documented commitment between two teams that defines the expected level of service each will provide. In marketing operations, an SLA most often sets mutual obligations between marketing and sales. For example, it covers how many qualified leads marketing delivers and how quickly sales follows up on each one.
A marketing-to-sales SLA usually contains two halves: marketing commits to a lead volume or quality threshold, and sales commits to a response time and a follow-up cadence for those leads. Both sides are measured against the agreement, with metrics like average lead response time and lead-to-acceptance rate reviewed regularly to confirm the commitments are being met.
A common pitfall is writing an SLA without the shared reporting needed to enforce it, so violations go unnoticed. Effective SLAs depend on a clear, agreed definition of a qualified lead and on tracking that both teams trust. That is what makes them a cornerstone of marketing and sales alignment.
Last updated: 14 June 2026