Instead of defensively protecting metrics like MQL volume, marketing leaders should proactively question their quality and impact on pipeline. This shifts the conversation from blame to curiosity, builds trust with sales, and positions marketing as a strategic revenue driver.
Stop treating pipeline generation like a game of chance. It should be engineered with the same rigor as a manufacturing assembly line, with clear processes and quality control to create predictable, repeatable outcomes instead of just hoping for the best.
Most B2B companies have a massive blind spot in the poorly tracked period before an opportunity is created. This "black box" of pre-pipeline activity prevents leaders from diagnosing what is truly working, leading to flat growth and inefficient spending.
Traditional lead generation tactics like event badge scans or gated white papers are highly inefficient and expensive. They generate low-quality leads that require extensive, costly nurturing for minimal pipeline conversion, negatively impacting customer acquisition cost (CAC).
Instead of debating multi-touch attribution, first identify the single, independent event that caused a sales rep to engage a prospect. This "trigger" (e.g., demo request, MQL score) reveals the true efficiency of your GTM motions, which is a more fundamental problem to solve.
One company discovered that while MQLs were plentiful, they took 130 days to convert. In contrast, "hand-raiser" leads converted in just 12 days at a much higher rate. Focusing on conversion velocity reveals where to allocate resources for efficient growth.
Many marketing teams invest in attribution tools hoping to justify spend, but these platforms can't provide clear answers if the underlying engine is inefficient. You must first diagnose and fix how your leads convert into meetings before attribution data becomes meaningful.