Most B2B organizations and their leaders always seem to think growth starts with generating oceans of leads. “We need more leads!” and “Generate more pipeline” are all
familiar cries heard from CEOs and business leaders.
But often, that’s not the real problem. Why? Because the problem likely isn’t lack of lead volume, but a system that
can’t convert what’s already there.
In addition to lead generation, focus on lead conversion. First, it’s well documented that a very small number of leads are
ready to buy when they first engage with you. In fact, studies show that only about 5%-10% of target customers are in-market at any moment. Which means a lot of effort is expended in lead-volume
chasing that drains time and distracts your marketing and sales teams without generating a lot of sales.
Second, early-stage and SMB companies honestly don’t need to close hundreds and
hundreds of deals to drive success. So, focusing on and tracking lead volume is incentivizing the wrong behaviors and outcomes. Instead of relying on an all-out lead-gen spring, focus on building a
system that converts leads more predictably.
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Think about leads as a long game. Stop thinking about leads as the end goal; start thinking about them as a long game of fit, timing and
relevance. That means spending more effort qualifying existing leads, nurturing them through the right content over time, and coordinating the right cadence and collaboration across marketing and
sales to facilitate conversions.
So rather than simply demanding more new leads, here’s a foundation for a better converting engine:
Define your buyers and map their
buying journey. Be as precise as you can at framing who buyers are, who are other influencers, and what contexts or business triggers put them in motion. Understand what questions they ask at
awareness, evaluation, and decision stages, and what their objections and decision-making criteria are.
Map content and nurture assets to journey stages. Create specific
assets—blogs, email sequences, webinars, FAQs, and beyond—to meet prospects where they are. Since an overwhelming majority of conversions happen months after first contact, you need to
recognize that you won’t win with a single interaction, but instead need to stay relevant over many via a sustained nurture plan.
Agree on the definition of a qualified
lead. You don’t need thousands of leads—you need the right ones, clearly defined. Work across the team to agree on what signals real potential: business context, engagement
behavior, decision-making power, and urgency indicators. This shared clarity helps your team prioritize whom to focus time and effort on—and prevents wasted energy chasing every name that fills
out a form.
Measure motion, not just volume. Your key metrics should include engagement and conversion rates across phases, not just raw lead
counts. Be obsessive about finding low-performing assets and seeking any leaks in the funnel to improve conversion rates.
Why this approach matters—especially in early-stage and lower
mid-market B2B
Lead gen isn’t dead—but lead gen without strategy is just waste. If you’re not mapping the journey or aligning messaging to buyer needs, you’re
feeding a broken pipeline with weak, early-stage leads that drain time and distract your team.
Focus on quality over quantity: fewer leads, better fit, stronger nurture structure, and an
engine that converts reliably. That’s how marketing becomes strategic, not transactional—and growth becomes systematic rather than reactive.