Applying a single attribution model, like last-touch, to all channels is a mistake. It undervalues top-of-funnel activities and can lead to budget cuts that starve the pipeline. Instead, measure each channel based on its intended outcome and funnel stage.

Board reports often highlight positive top-line growth (e.g., "deals are up 25%") while ignoring underlying process flaws. This "fluff" reporting hides massive inefficiencies, like an abysmal lead-to-deal conversion rate, preventing the business from addressing the root causes of waste and suboptimal performance.

By measuring success on 'last lead source,' the company was incentivized to pour money into paid search for product trials—a clear final touchpoint. This model blinded them to the higher value of other lead types and actively discouraged investment in demand creation activities that build brand and generate higher-quality leads.

Traditional funnels jump from a marketing signal (like an MQL) to an opportunity, creating a blind spot. They miss the 'Engagement' period of initial interaction and the 'Prospecting' phase of active sales pursuit. Ignoring these stages makes it impossible to diagnose performance issues or identify improvement levers.

The critical flaw in most sales tech is its failure to correlate rep behavior with performance outcomes like quota attainment. The real value is unlocked not just by knowing what reps do, but by connecting those actions to who is succeeding, thus identifying true winning behaviors and separating A-players from C-players.

When pipeline slips, leaders default to launching more experiments and adopting new tools. This isn't strategic; it's a panicked reaction stemming from an outdated data model that can't diagnose the real problem. Leaders are taught that the solution is to 'do more,' which adds noise to an already chaotic system.

A modern data model revealed marketing influenced over 90% of closed-won revenue, a fact completely obscured by a last-touch attribution system that overwhelmingly credited sales AEs. This shows the 'credit battle' is often a symptom of broken measurement, not just misaligned teams.

The company had a significant 'prospecting black box.' For 40% of all opportunities, there was no traceable sales trigger or activity log, such as logged calls. This meant they couldn't measure or optimize a huge portion of their pipeline creation process, particularly SDR outbound efforts.

When problems like missed forecasts or high churn recur quarterly, the issue isn't an underperforming team (e.g., sales or CS). It's a systemic problem. Finger-pointing at individual departments masks deeper issues in cross-functional alignment, ICP definition, or process handoffs that require a holistic diagnosis.