Lead generation is often seen as the golden ticket to success. But, as many businesses are discovering, it doesn’t always work the way they expect. One of the most common frustrations we hear from SaaS marketing and sales teams is: Why isn’t our lead generation delivering the results we need?
The truth is that lead generation often falls short because it’s focused on volume, not quality. Let’s break down why that happens and what you can do to fix it.
The Volume Trap: Why More Leads Isn’t Always Better
One of the biggest pitfalls in lead generation is focusing too much on generating large volumes of leads. SaaS businesses have been conditioned to think that more leads automatically equals more sales, but that’s not always true. A high volume of low-quality leads can do more harm than good.
When marketing teams focus on delivering leads just to meet a quota or satisfy the demands of sales teams, they often overlook the most important factor: relevance. It’s easy to pump out an ebook campaign or throw more money into ads to hit a lead target. But, if those leads aren’t truly qualified or ready to engage with your business, it’s a wasted effort and wasted resources.
As a result, there’s a disconnect between marketing and sales. Sales teams end up chasing leads that aren’t ready to buy, leading to frustration on both sides. Marketing is trying to generate leads, while sales is trying to close deals. However, without a focus on quality, both teams work for different purposes.
Lead Gen and Demand Gen: They’re Not Opposites
Another common misconception is that lead generation and demand generation are two separate strategies. In reality, they work best when they’re integrated. Lead generation helps you build a database and capture interest, while demand generation nurtures that interest and builds trust over time.
Think of lead gen as the way to capture leads and build your audience. Demand gen, on the other hand, is how you take those leads on a journey, educating and engaging them through content until they’re ready to buy. When these two strategies are combined, they create a powerful engine for growth. You’re not just focused on getting leads in the door, you’re also building relationships and trust, ensuring that when your leads are ready to buy, your business is top of mind.
A lead in the CRM doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy. You need to take your leads through a digital sales process across all your marketing channels. Talk to sales and understand all the questions or information prospects want before buying — this needs to be in your marketing. B2B prospects want to do 95% of the sales process before speaking to a salesperson, if you enable them, you’re leaving revenue on the table.
What Metrics Matter?
If you’re still measuring the success of your lead generation efforts purely by volume, it’s time to rethink your approach. The most important metrics to track are pipeline growth and revenue, not the number of leads generated.
For example, you might generate fewer leads one month, but if those leads are more qualified and contribute to pipeline growth, that’s a win. Focus on metrics that reflect the impact your efforts have on the bottom line, not just top-of-the-funnel activity. When sales and marketing teams align around a revenue target rather than a lead target, both sides are working towards the same goal.
The Role of Customer Insights in SaaS Lead Gen Success
One of the most valuable resources that many businesses don’t leverage is customer insights. Your customers and prospects are the people experiencing the problems your products solve. They are a treasure trove of information, and regularly gathering feedback your customers and your sales team can fuel more effective marketing campaigns.
Where can you find such insights? Spend time shadowing sales calls and talking to your customers, Ask them about the pain points they’re facing and how your product is helping or could help solve those issues. This process will help you better understand your audience and fine tune your messaging to reflect their real-world challenges.
With leads in your database, you’ll also get data on their activity with the website and your campaigns. This means that as a SaaS marketer, you’re able to share when a lead is engaging with sales messages or looking at high-intent pages on your website, Which is exactly the type of information needed before reaching out to a prospect.
Closing the Loop
Lead generation doesn’t have to fall short. By focusing on quality over quantity, using lead gen and demand gen as an integrated strategy, and tracking the right metrics, you’ll be on the right path to driving sustainable, long-term growth. Aligning your marketing and sales teams around a common revenue target will also ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal—closing more deals with the right customers.
It’s time to stop chasing leads for the sake of numbers and start focusing on the leads that matter. If you’re ready to transform your lead gen strategy, contact us to learn how we can help
