Marketing reports that lead volume is up. Sales says the leads aren’t good. The founder wants to know why more money isn’t producing more customers.
This argument is common because the teams count different things. Marketing counts completed forms. Sales counts people who are eligible, responsive and ready to move forward. Both can be right about their own numbers and still disagree about the business. The answer isn’t to take sides. It’s to follow the journey.
1. Agree on what makes a lead qualified
Location, need, budget, authority, eligibility: write the definition down so marketing and sales aim at the same target.
2. Check the expectations set before the inquiry
What did the ad promise? What did the page explain? What did the person think would happen next? An inquiry can be genuine and still come from unclear expectations. That’s an acquisition problem, even if the person matches the targeting.
3. Look at what happens after the form
How fast does someone reply? Are leads routed correctly? Are contact attempts consistent? Is the outcome recorded? A good inquiry becomes a lost opportunity when follow-through fails.
4. Stop using one label for every lost lead
“Unqualified” is too broad. Separate outside the service area, wrong need, not eligible, unreachable, not ready, price objection, missed appointment, chose someone else and lost interest. Each points to a different fix: targeting, messaging, operations, or simply normal buyer behavior.
5. Build a feedback loop
Sales should record why opportunities move or stall. Marketing should read that next to campaign and conversion data. The conversation should be about what to improve, not which team’s report wins.
So instead of asking “are these bad leads?”, ask: where in the journey are we losing qualified customers, and what evidence explains why?
Want a second opinion on your own numbers? Book a free 20-minute fit call, or see how a Growth Diagnostic works.
Milton Rahman, Growth & Marketing Leader