In many B2B organizations, marketing is still seen as the department responsible for generating leads—not revenue. The goal is often volume over value: fill the top of the funnel, hand off the MQLs, and let sales figure out the rest.
But here’s the truth:
When marketing stops at the MQL, the funnel breaks.
The disconnect isn’t always obvious at first. Teams might be hitting lead targets. Sales might be closing some deals. But behind the scenes, pipeline quality suffers, buyer experiences feel disjointed, and no one’s quite sure who owns what after the handoff.
That’s not a revenue engine.
That’s a broken system.
The Cost of Stopping at the MQL
When marketing is only measured by lead quantity—not revenue contribution—several things start to break down:
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The wrong buyers enter the pipeline, forcing sales to waste time qualifying instead of closing.
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Messaging misfires, because what worked in a top-of-funnel campaign doesn’t support the conversations sales needs to have later.
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Teams misalign, because each side is optimizing for different outcomes.
And while shared dashboards and alignment meetings might mask the issue temporarily, they don’t fix the underlying problem.
Marketing Must Step Into the Revenue Conversation
Fixing this isn’t about asking marketing to do more. It’s about asking marketing to do the right things—things that move pipeline, accelerate deals, and support revenue generation from start to finish.
That means:
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Owning parts of the pipeline, not just the top
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Collaborating on sales stage messaging, not just persona decks
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Reporting on contribution to revenue, not just MQL volume
The best marketing teams today think in terms of conversion, not just campaigns. They know how to influence pipeline health, partner with sales, and use data to prove their impact.
This Is the Future of B2B Marketing
Many marketing leaders are already making this shift. But if your organization still sees marketing as lead gen only, alignment will always be fragile. And revenue performance will always hit a ceiling.
Marketing doesn’t stop at the MQL.
It helps build and sustain the pipeline—because that’s where growth happens.
If this resonated, you’re not alone.
Join a growing community of revenue leaders rethinking how sales and marketing work together to drive sustainable growth.
Until next week,
Jeff
RevEngine™ | Built for Revenue Leaders Driving Alignment and Growth—Together
