Why does sales reject the leads marketing sends?

Define readiness together

A job title alone does not establish buying intent. Marketing and sales should agree which fit and behavior signals justify a conversation, and which require further nurturing.

Review a real sample

Take recent accepted and rejected leads. Have sales explain the reason using consistent labels: wrong fit, no relevant need, duplicate, unreachable, timing or missing context. Do not accept "bad lead" as the entire diagnosis.

Handoff field	Example
Relevant need	Requested information about branch coordination
Evidence	Submitted question or attended relevant session
Known limitation	Budget and timing not yet discussed
Owner	Named sales contact
Next step	Confirm the business problem

Illustrative editorial image, not a customer result.

Measure both sides

Track accepted leads, response time and progression to agreed stages. Do not reward marketing for volume while sales is measured only on closed business without a shared view of the handoff.

This week's action

Agree on one qualification definition and test it on a small sample. Fix the missing evidence before asking AI to score or route more leads.

Discussion behind the question

This is original practical guidance prompted by a public discussion theme, not a claim that the poster represents all CMOs. Read the source discussion.

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