Service Level Agreement (SLA)

A service level agreement (SLA) is a formal commitment that defines expected performance standards between two parties. In GTM operations, SLAs exist in two contexts: external SLAs between your company and customers (uptime guarantees, support response times) and internal SLAs between teams (lead follow-up times, handoff procedures).

Internal SLAs are where most GTM teams see the biggest operational impact. The most common is the marketing-to-sales SLA, which defines: what constitutes a qualified lead, how quickly sales must follow up (typically within an hour for inbound demo requests), how many contact attempts are required before a lead can be dispositioned, and what feedback sales must provide on lead quality.

Without an internal SLA, handoffs between teams become inconsistent. Marketing sends leads that sales considers unqualified. Sales takes three days to follow up on demo requests. Nobody tracks whether commitments are being met. The result is finger-pointing and pipeline leaks.

A good SLA is specific, measurable, and tracked automatically. “Sales will follow up on leads quickly” is not an SLA. “Sales will make first contact with all MQLs scoring above 80 within 60 minutes during business hours, with a minimum of five contact attempts over seven days” is an SLA you can actually measure and enforce.

External SLAs with customers typically cover product uptime (99.9% is standard for SaaS), support response times by severity level, and resolution timeframes. These SLAs often have financial penalties attached for non-compliance, making them contractual obligations. Monitoring SLA compliance through workflow automation ensures your team meets commitments consistently and catches violations before they become customer escalations.