Marketing and sales: agree on a lead worth pursuing

Marketing announces new leads. Sales replies that they are not worth pursuing. Meanwhile, inquiries go unanswered and each team defends its numbers. In a B2B SME, this disagreement does not necessarily stem from a shortage of prospects or the wrong software. It often reflects a lack of shared rules: who deserves follow-up, who should handle it, when should it happen, and what information is needed?

Start with a shared definition

An identified contact is not automatically a lead ready for sales. Downloading a guide may indicate curiosity, professional research or a genuine need. Conversely, a meeting request deserves a response even when the form does not yet reveal the prospect’s budget.

Bring marketing and sales together to review a few recent inquiries: accepted, rejected and left unresolved. For each one, ask what action would have been appropriate. The aim is not to redesign the entire buying journey, but to distinguish three situations:

• A contact to nurture with useful content.
• A prospect to qualify before deciding on follow-up.
• An inquiry to pass directly to a salesperson.

Separate target-market fit from intent

Two questions should guide qualification. Does the company fit your target market? Does the contact show a sufficiently concrete need? Confusing the two leads teams to overvalue a familiar company name or, conversely, dismiss an inquiry too quickly because it lacks detail.

Fit criteria

• The industry and use case match your offering.
• The company’s size or complexity justifies your involvement.
• The location and delivery requirements are compatible with your capabilities.
• The contact’s role provides a useful starting point for a conversation.

Intent signals

A demo request with context, a described problem or a stated deadline provides more information than an email open. However, a single signal does not prove that a project exists. Record what is known, what is missing and what needs to be checked in conversation.

Create a short handoff record

A salesperson should not have to reconstruct the prospect’s journey before making contact. A concise CRM record is often enough. Prioritize information that supports action rather than an exhaustive interaction history.

• Company, contact and their role in the issue identified.
• Inquiry source and content viewed, where this helps explain the need.
• The problem expressed, in the prospect’s own words.
• Any known deadline and information still to be confirmed.
• The follow-up owner and expected next action.

Avoid making every field mandatory. An unknown budget should not block an explicit inquiry. The form should make the conversation easier, not require the prospect to complete the entire qualification process themselves.

Define follow-up before increasing volume

A lead handed over without an owner is work that has not actually been assigned. Set a response timeframe that reflects your capacity and the type of inquiry. Also designate cover for absences: a rule that depends on one person will be fragile.

Distinguish between the initial response, an attempt to make contact and a qualification conversation. These are not equivalent steps. An automated email can acknowledge receipt, but it does not replace a response tailored to the expressed need.

For every handoff, the CRM should show the owner, status, next action and its due date. There is no need to add software if your current tool already supports this tracking.

Make rejections useful to marketing

“Poor lead” is not actionable feedback. Agree on a few shared rejection reasons, with room for a free-text comment when the context requires it:

• Company outside the target market or a need you cannot address.
• Project too early, to revisit on an identified date.
• Contact unreachable after the agreed attempts.
• Duplicate or an opportunity already being managed.

Do not confuse a lack of response with a lack of potential. An unreachable contact may reflect incorrect details, poor timing or unsuitable follow-up. Examine the context before changing your targeting or discontinuing a channel.

Measure progress toward a real conversation

Lead volume alone cannot tell you how well this process works. Also track the share of leads accepted, the time taken to respond, qualification conversations secured and opportunities created.

Define the denominator for each rate and what counts as an opportunity. Compare similar types of inquiries: an event registration is not equivalent to a request for a quote. Also allow for the time a recent inquiry needs to develop into an opportunity.

Test the rules over one month

1. Week one: review recent leads and document the shared criteria.
2. Week two: configure the necessary fields, owners and statuses.
3. Week three: test the handoff within a limited scope.
4. Week four: review ambiguous cases and adjust the rules.

A fractional CMO can structure this work with the sales leader and help resolve competing priorities. But the criteria must remain shared, not imposed by marketing. The useful deliverable fits on one page: the lead definition, information to hand over, responsibilities, timeframes and feedback reasons. Before investing in more acquisition, check that every relevant inquiry actually reaches the right person.