Link to the research report →
About this survey:
Survey question: Does your business generate enough qualified leads to fill the sales pipeline and reach your growth goals?
Survey period: March 2021 - April 2021
Notes on data:
According to an Ironpaper survey, 56% of B2B companies can regularly fill their sales pipeline and meet growth goals. While this number is higher than we expected, it’s cold comfort to the 44% of companies that aren’t able to fill their sales pipeline and meet growth goals consistently.
Thirty-five percent of respondents indicated that the success of their lead nurturing efforts fluctuates over the year. This means they can meet growth goals and fill their sales pipeline at least some of the time. The fact that they aren’t able to do that consistently points to a few possible issues.
The most likely scenario is that these respondents aren’t using data to drive their decision-making. They may be building and executing campaigns using only their gut instinct or direction from executives, which results in unpredictable and inconsistent results.
This survey also found that 44% of B2B companies said more competition in the market is impacting their ability to generate revenue. For B2B marketers and salespeople to consistently keep up with — or surpass — their competitors, they must truly understand their buyers, their industry, and how to engage them successfully.
A relatively small percentage of respondents (6%) said they can fill their sales pipeline but cannot meet growth goals consistently. For these companies, something is keeping the leads in their pipeline from becoming customers. It could be a snag in the marketing-sales handoff or in how salespeople handle the leads, but it could also be the quality of the leads themselves.
Unfocused or unclear messaging can generate leads who don’t fit a company’s ideal customer profile, making them a bad match for sales. If the marketing team is under pressure to generate more leads, they may water down their messaging to appeal to as many people as possible, filling the pipeline with leads unlikely ever to become customers.
Understanding where leads are falling out of the pipeline empowers marketers and salespeople to address those areas and consistently improve their ability to fill the pipeline and meet their growth goals.
