Why Your B2B Leads Are Up, but Sales Are Still Unhappy

A while back, I started working with a B2B software business that, on paper, looked like it had cracked it.

Leads were coming in consistently, the monthly reporting looked healthy, cost per lead was in a profitable range, and everyone could point to a nice upward line on a chart.

But then you get into the real conversations.

The person doing the sales was frustrated. They felt like they were spending half their week on calls that went nowhere.

And trust me, it’s a horrible place to be, because it can create some tension, marketing feels like it’s doing its job focusing on lead volume, but sales feels like their time is being wasted, and meanwhile, the business still isn’t growing in the way it needs to.

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking,

 “How can leads be up and yet everything feels worse?” this post is for you.

The uncomfortable truth, lead volume isn’t the same as lead value

In B2B marketing, lead volume generation is often the headline KPI. More contact forms, more demo requests, more trials, more downloads, more webinar sign-ups.

It’s not a bad goal; it’s just incomplete, and making it your only focus can send you down a road that looks ok but doesn't grow your business.

Because it’s entirely possible to increase lead volume while making the commercial side of the business harder.

Why? Because platforms are really good at finding the easiest conversions, not necessarily the right people.

If you optimise for leads without defining what a good lead looks like, you can accidentally train Google Ads or LinkedIn to bring you the cheapest leads, not the best quality ones.

So yes, your lead numbers go up, and sales still feels like it’s wading through treacle.

The tell tale signs you’ve got a lead quality problem

If any of these feel familiar, you’re not imagining it:

• You’re getting more leads, but demo attendance is poor
• Trials are started but never go anywhere
• Calls feel like “nice chats” rather than sales conversations
• People are the wrong seniority level, too junior, not decision makers
• You’re attracting adjacent job roles, not the roles you actually need
• The businesses are too small to afford you, or not set up for what you offer
• Sales is saying, “These aren’t our people”, and you don’t have a great answer

It’s a big clue that the issue isn’t lead generation, it’s lead selection.

Why this happens (and it’s usually not because your ads are “bad”)

There are a few common patterns I see across B2B industries, whether we’re talking software, services, manufacturing, professional services, you name it.

1) Your targeting is pulling in “adjacent” people

This is one of the most common.

You might want Heads of IT, Ops Directors, Procurement, Finance leads, or whoever your decision makers are.

But your ads are attracting people who sit next to that role, or beneath it, or people who are curious, researching, or trying to learn.

On LinkedIn this can happen when targeting is too broad, job functions are too wide, seniority isn’t filtered properly, or exclusions aren’t strong enough.

On Google, this can happen when keywords are broad enough to capture learners rather than buyers.

Don’t’ get me wrong – there can be value in adjacent people, but this needs to be on purpose with the right content and message.  

2) Your offer attracts interest, not intent

Sometimes the lead magnet is genuinely good, useful, well written, solves a pain point.

But it also attracts people who were never going to buy.

If your guide, webinar, or download sits at a very early research stage, you’ll get more volume, but you’ll also get more people who just want information.

Which is fine, as long as you’re not measuring those leads like they’re sales ready.

3) You’re not qualifying leads early enough

If your form asks for name, email, company, done, you’ve basically said, Anyone can convert.

And they will.

Some will be perfect, some will be totally wrong, and you won’t know the difference until someone spends time chasing them.

A tiny amount of friction in the right place can save you a lot of wasted time later.

4) Your KPI is accidentally steering the whole strategy

This is the big one.

If marketing is measured on lead volume, you’ll get lead volume.

Platforms will help you get it.

You’ll hit the number.

And then everyone looks around wondering why revenue hasn’t moved.

A practical way to fix it, do a 30, 60, 90 day lead quality review

This doesn’t need a fancy CRM setup or a massive overhaul. It just needs a bit of honesty and a bit of structure.

Here’s what I typically do with clients.

Step 1, pull your leads for the last 30, 60, 90 days

Export them from wherever they live, CRM, website forms, LinkedIn Lead Gen forms, trial sign ups, booked calls, call tracking.

If you can, include:

• Source (Google Ads, LinkedIn, organic, referral)
• Campaign, ad group, asset (which guide, which webinar, which landing page)
• Any notes on outcome if you have them

Step 2, tag each lead with basic “fit” signals

You’re looking for patterns, not perfection.

A simple set of tags is enough:

• Job title and seniority
• Company size (or turnover if you have it)
• Industry
• Location (if relevant)
• Outcome (no show, disqualified, progressed, won)

Step 3, ask one blunt question

If you could only speak to ten of these leads again, which ten would you choose, and why?

That question usually cuts through the noise very quickly.

Create a simple lead scoring system (no tech needed)

You don’t need to overcomplicate this. I like splitting it into two scores:

Fit score (1 to 5)

How close is this person to your ideal customer profile?

Think:

• Right industry
• Right company size
• Right job role
• Right seniority

Intent score (1 to 5)

How likely is this person to actually buy?

Think:

• Demo request beats guide download
• Specific “we need to solve this now” beats general curiosity
• A clear project beats “just exploring options”

Now you’ve got a quick way to separate:

• 8 to 10, prioritise, these are the leads you want more of
• 5 to 7, nurture, qualify, don’t throw them away but don’t treat them as hot
• Under 5, exclude or route into low touch content, do not spend sales time here

This alone can change the whole conversation between marketing and sales, because you’re no longer lumping every “lead” into the same bucket.

What to change once you’ve spotted the pattern

Once you’ve done the review, you’ll usually see one of these situations.

If the job titles are wrong

• Tighten LinkedIn targeting, seniority, job titles, job functions, exclusions
• Call out the right role in the ad copy, so the wrong people self-select out
• Add one or two form questions that quickly filter, job role, seniority, company size

If the company size is wrong

I’ve seen this loads, especially with SaaS.

Leads look healthy, but you’re attracting businesses that are too small to afford the product, or not operationally ready for it.

Fixes can include:

• Adjust targeting toward bigger organisations (LinkedIn firmographics, Google intent plus qualifiers in copy)
• Update your landing page messaging so it’s clear who it’s for
• Mention pricing bands, or at least a “starts from” to stop bargain hunters

If your content is attracting researchers

Keep the content, but stop treating it like a sales ready conversion.

Then add a more buyer intent offer alongside it:

• Cost calculator
• Implementation checklist
• Switching guide
• “What it costs to do this properly” type content
• A short “speak to an expert” assessment with proper qualification

You’re basically creating a path for the right people to raise their hand properly.

If Google Ads is pulling low intent searches

• Tighten match types and structure
• Separate “research intent” from “buying intent”
• Build a strong negative keyword strategy
• Track deeper actions if possible (qualified lead, booked meeting, not just a form fill)

A quick example of what “better” can look like

The software company I worked with where lead volume was decent, but sales were still unhappy – here’s what I did.

After digging in, it became clear they needed to target organisations with higher turnover, because smaller businesses simply weren’t in a position to pay for the product, even if the pain point was real.

We tightened the targeting, adjusted the messaging, and made it clearer who the product was built for.

Lead volume dropped, which always feels scary for about five minutes (or more).

But the quality improved, sales conversations improved, and the business started moving in the right direction again.

That’s the trade off you want, fewer leads, better leads, better outcomes.

What to measure instead of raw lead count

If you only take one thing from this post, make it this:

Lead count is a starting point, not the goal.

Better metrics to anchor on:

• Sales accepted leads rate
• Lead to meeting rate
• Meeting attendance rate
• Meeting to opportunity rate
• Opportunity to win rate
• Cost per sales accepted lead (not just cost per lead)
• Pipeline value influenced by paid campaigns

You don’t need all of these, but you do need something that connects marketing activity to commercial reality.

Quick checklist, what to do next

1. Export the last 30, 60, 90 days of leads and include source and campaign where possible
2. Tag leads by job title, seniority, company size, and outcome
3. Pick the “best ten” leads and write down what they have in common
4. Create a simple Fit score and Intent score, even if it’s just in a spreadsheet
5. Decide what you want more of, specific roles, specific company sizes, specific use cases
6. Tighten targeting and messaging so the wrong people self select out
7. Add light qualification to your forms, enough to filter, not enough to kill conversions
8. Change reporting, stop leading with “leads”, start leading with “sales accepted” and “pipeline”

If you’re in that awkward stage where marketing is saying “look, we’re generating loads of leads” and sales is saying “yes, but they’re rubbish”, it’s usually fixable.

You just need to get clear on what “good” actually looks like, then build your paid strategy around that, not around a number on a dashboard.

If you like help identifing what a good lead really looks like and adjust your strategy to bring in more of the right people, you can book a free chat with me here.