The modern SaaS buyer is a master of self-service. They research solutions independently, gather internal stakeholders, and only engage with vendors when they’ve meticulously explored their options. Meanwhile, sales teams are under immense pressure to convert qualified opportunities, often prioritizing leads that present immediate buying signals. This creates a disconnect, a gap in Account-Based Marketing (ABM) execution where potentially valuable leads are ignored, creating missed opportunities and wasted resources.
The Observed Pattern: The “Soft” Inquiry Paradox
We see it all the time. A prospect engages with top-of-funnel content – a webinar registration, a download of an ebook, or even a simple form fill on a thought leadership piece. The lead scores well, the account fits the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and yet, sales hesitates. The problem? The initial engagement lacks a clear, immediate buying signal. The inquiry seems “soft,” lacking the urgency or context to warrant immediate sales attention, and potentially jeopardizing a rep’s time and quota.
Why This Approach Fails: Sales Trust and the Incomplete Story
This hesitancy stems from a fundamental lack of trust, fueled by the pressures of hitting targets. Sales teams, tasked with closing deals, are naturally risk-averse. They prioritize conversations that promise quick wins. Leads that require significant nurturing, education, or relationship-building are often deprioritized, even if the account is a perfect fit.
This perspective is, in many ways, understandable. Sales teams are not equipped to be educators or researchers. They are trained to sell. When a lead’s intent is unclear, the sales rep is forced to become a detective, piecing together the buyer’s needs and context. This is time-consuming, inefficient, and often leads to dead ends. The ‘good’ lead, the one that fits the profile, gets left behind, because the story is incomplete.
The core issue lies in the incomplete story. The initial engagement provides a data point, but it lacks the critical context buyers are carefully curating. Without understanding the buyer’s internal conversations, existing solutions, and internal evaluation criteria, sales is left guessing. This guesswork erodes trust and makes it harder to convert qualified accounts.
What Changes Outcomes: Aligning Demand Generation with Buyer Intent
To bridge this gap and unlock the potential of ‘good’ leads, demand generation needs to focus on building a more complete narrative around each account. This means shifting from simply generating leads to understanding buyer intent, internal context, and journey stage.
This requires a few key shifts:
- Beyond the Form: Go beyond simple form fills and content downloads. Implement intent monitoring, account-based intelligence, and progressive profiling to understand what problems the buyer is actively trying to solve.
- Content as Conversation Starter: Design content that encourages deeper engagement and provides insights into the buyer’s challenges. Create opportunities for the buyer to self-identify their needs and pain points.
- Sales and Marketing Alignment: Empower sales with the right context at the right time. Provide insights into the buyer’s research, internal conversations, and evaluation criteria, allowing sales to personalize their approach and establish credibility faster.
The goal isn’t more leads; it’s more context. When demand generation provides sales with a more complete story, the “soft” inquiry transforms into a valuable opportunity. Sales can approach these leads with confidence, understanding the buyer’s needs and positioning the product as the right fit. This alignment reduces wasted effort, increases conversion rates, and ultimately drives revenue.
Conclusion: Building a Bridge of Trust
The ABM execution gap is a symptom of a larger problem: a disconnect between how buyers evaluate vendors and how sales teams are equipped to engage them. By focusing on building a more complete story around each account, demand generation can bridge this gap, fostering trust between sales and potential customers. This shift allows sales to prioritize and convert the ‘good’ leads that are otherwise lost, transforming a missed opportunity into a valuable closed-won deal.