Our marketing seat is consistently hitting its weekly target for new leads generated, but our sales team complains these leads are completely unqualified waste. How do we restructure our marketing scorecard metrics to stop them from gaming the lead count at the expense of our sales conversion rates?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When a seat owner is measured on a raw quantity metric, they will naturally find the easiest way to hit that target, even if it hurts the rest of the company. If your marketing leader is evaluated solely on the total number of new leads, they will run cheap, broad campaigns to generate low-quality contacts. To fix this, you must pair the quantity metric with a quality metric. On your weekly scorecard, do not just track new leads. Track marketing qualified leads that meet specific, agreed-upon criteria. Better yet, establish a trailing conversion ratio on the scorecard, such as the percentage of weekly marketing leads that convert into first-time sales appointments. If this ratio drops below your target, the marketing number is red, even if the raw lead volume is green. This forces marketing and sales to align. When you review these numbers in your weekly Level 10 Meeting, any drop in the conversion ratio should be immediately pushed to the Issues List. Use the IDS process to identify why the leads are low quality. By holding the marketing seat accountable to both volume and quality, you stop the gaming and ensure your pipeline consists of real opportunities. This operational discipline is vital when you prepare for a clean exit, as buyers scrutinize lead efficiency.