Your Sales Team Isn't Ignoring Marketing Leads (They Just Don't Trust Them)

"Sales never follows up on our marketing leads!"

If you're a marketing leader, you've said this. Probably multiple times. And you're probably blaming your sales team.

But here's the uncomfortable truth: Your sales team isn't lazy or uncooperative. They just don't trust your leads.

And based on what I've seen across dozens of HubSpot implementations, they might be right.

Recently, I analyzed lead follow-up patterns for a B2B client who was convinced their sales team was "dropping the ball." What we found was eye-opening:

Sales reps followed up on 97% of referrals and direct inquiries within 24 hours. But marketing-generated leads? Only 23% got the same treatment. The rest languished for days, sometimes weeks.

When we dug deeper, the reason became obvious. The marketing-generated leads that DID get immediate follow-up shared one quality: they came from campaigns with historical conversion rates above 15%. The ignored leads came from campaigns that had never produced a single closed deal.

Your sales team isn't stupid. They're making rational decisions based on their experience with your lead quality. Yes, they may also trust their gut from past experience. You can bring them around to better habits though.

The problem isn't sales behavior—it's the lack of a unified view of what makes a qualified lead. When marketing and sales look at completely different metrics, misalignment is inevitable.

Here's what actually works:

1. Create a shared dashboard that tracks the full journey from point of entry into the CRM to booked revenue.
2. Analyze which lead sources actually result in closed business.
3. Establish agreed-upon lead scoring that both teams validate quarterly.
4. Hold both teams accountable to the same revenue metrics.

I recently helped implement this approach for a client who had been struggling with "sales and marketing alignment" for years. Within 90 days, lead follow-up rates increased by 64% and pipeline generation jumped by 13%.

Your mileage may vary. The point is diving into your data to track what is converting and pin down the "why".

The secret wasn't changing people—it was giving both teams a unified view of the customer journey that built trust through transparency.

If your sales team isn't acting on marketing leads, let's talk. The solution is probably hidden in your data, not your org chart.

What's your biggest sales and marketing alignment challenge right now?