What Are the Signs of Lead Leakage Between Teams?
Lead leakage happens when qualified buyers fall through the cracks between marketing, SDR/BDR, and sales. Spot it early by monitoring handoff SLAs, status hygiene, and stage progression—not just volume.
The clearest signs of lead leakage between teams are slow or inconsistent follow-up, missing ownership, and stalled stage progression after a handoff. You’ll see leads marked “qualified” but sitting untouched, CRM records with no next step, opportunities created late (or not at all), and growing “recycle” or “no decision” outcomes. Operationally, leakage shows up as low acceptance rates (MQL→SQL), high time-to-first-touch, duplicate outreach, and conflicting statuses that break routing and attribution.
High-Confidence Signals of Lead Leakage
How to Diagnose Lead Leakage (RMOS™ Operating Sequence)
Use this quick diagnostic to find where leakage occurs—marketing → SDR/BDR → AE—and fix it with SLAs, routing, and closed-loop governance.
Instrument → Trace → Validate → Repair → Govern
- Instrument the handoffs: Require lifecycle stage, owner, timestamp of assignment, first-touch timestamp, and disposition reason codes.
- Trace a lead sample end-to-end: Follow 25–50 leads from high-intent sources through MQL→SQL→meeting→opportunity; document breakpoints.
- Validate routing logic: Check assignment rules, territories, account matching, duplicate prevention, and suppression when sales owns a lead.
- Repair SLA execution: Add task automation, queue alerts, auto-escalation, and recycle rules when SLAs are missed.
- Standardize disposition: Replace vague outcomes (“no response”) with actionable codes (timing, no fit, competitor, wrong contact, stalled internal).
- Fix visibility and reporting: Build a simple dashboard: speed-to-lead, acceptance, recycle rate, meeting rate, opp creation rate, and stage conversion by source.
- Govern monthly: Review leakage hotspots by team and segment; tune thresholds, plays, and handoffs based on outcomes.
Lead Leakage Detection Matrix
| Leakage Symptom | Most Likely Cause | Where It Breaks | What to Measure | Fast Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High time-to-first-touch | No SLA, no alerts, poor queue hygiene | MQL → SDR | Speed-to-lead by segment/source | Auto-create tasks + escalation after SLA |
| Low lead acceptance | Definition misalignment, weak scoring/fit rules | Marketing → Sales | Acceptance rate + rejection reasons | Tighten MQL criteria + require dispositions |
| Orphaned leads | Broken assignment rules, duplicates, routing conflicts | Any handoff | Unowned leads count + age | Default queue + nightly exception report |
| Stalled lifecycle stages | No next-step definition, weak plays, poor enablement | SDR → AE | Stage aging + meeting rate | Standard next steps + meeting SLAs |
| Duplicate outreach | No suppression rules, no account matching | Marketing + Sales overlap | Multiple owners/touches per lead | Ownership rules + marketing suppression |
| Attribution gaps | CRM hygiene issues, missing campaign/source tracking | Reporting layer | % of opps missing source history | Enforce required fields + tracking governance |
Client Snapshot: Where Leakage Really Hid
A team blamed “lead quality,” but a handoff audit found the real issues: no SLA enforcement, inconsistent dispositions, and duplicates creating conflicting ownership. After fixing routing, adding escalation, and standardizing reasons, meeting rates improved without increasing lead volume. Explore results: Comcast Business · Broadridge
If you want a fast benchmark, start with three numbers: speed-to-lead, acceptance rate, and stage aging. Lead leakage almost always shows up there first.
Frequently Asked Questions about Lead Leakage Between Teams
Stop Lead Leakage and Recover Pipeline
We’ll identify where handoffs break, enforce SLAs, and rebuild routing and governance so qualified leads don’t disappear between teams.
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