Growth is NOT a marketing problem.

When revenue stalls, the knee-jerk reaction in most SaaS management groups and sales leaders is to blame marketing.

"We need more leads!" "Our pipeline isn’t strong enough!" "We’re not generating demand!"

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: Marketing is not your problem.

Your sales team is.

If your win rates are tanking, deal cycles are stretching out longer than ever, and forecasting has become a fantasy exercise, the issue isn’t leads. It’s sales execution. And unless SaaS companies start holding sales teams accountable for revenue outcomes, no amount of marketing spend is going to fix it.

Let's look at what you can do about it as a revenue leader. 👇🏻

1. The data tells a brutal story.

Marketing is doing its job. Sales isn’t.

- B2B buyers are more educated than ever. By the time they speak to sales, 60-80% of their decision-making process is complete. (Gartner, 2024)

- Inbound leads aren’t converting. According to Forrester, only 22% of marketing-generated leads ever turn into closed-won deals. Why? Bad sales execution.

- Outbound isn’t working either. LinkedIn’s B2B Trends Report found that cold outbound response rates are at an all-time low of 3.1%. Spray-and-pray tactics aren’t getting it done anymore.

Sales teams are getting high-quality leads. They just aren’t closing them.

2. Low win rates? That’s a sales Problem, not a lead problem

A healthy B2B SaaS win rate should sit between 30-35%. But most teams are struggling to hit 15-20%. Here’s why:

- Reps don’t know how to run effective discovery. Instead of uncovering real business pain, they’re running glorified demo calls. Your team really don't know what they are doing. The question is: What will you do about it?

- Sales processes are a mess. Many teams don’t even have structured playbooks, leaving reps to "wing it" on every deal.

- Multi-threading is non-existent. They’re relying on one contact per deal instead of navigating buying committees.

If your win rate is under 25%, you don’t need more leads. You need better sales execution.

3. Long sales cycles? That’s a sales problem, too

Deals that should close in 90 days are taking 4-8 months, and it’s not because of slow buyers. Here’s what’s happening inside your sales team:

- Reps don’t control the next steps. Instead of driving urgency, they leave buyers and themselves in limbo.

- Sales teams aren’t aligning with CFOs. Finance has more influence on deals than ever, but reps aren’t engaging them early.

- Deals get stuck at proposal stage. Instead of driving commitment, sales sends a proposal and "hopes for the best."

Slow sales cycles kill revenue momentum. The fix? Stronger deal control, better multithreading, and process discipline.

4. Forecasting is a joke (Because sales teams are guessing)

How many times has your VP of Sales said, "We’re on track!" - only to miss the number?

If your forecast isn’t 85%+ accurate, it’s because:

- Pipeline reviews are a waste of time. Sales teams are updating deals based on gut feeling instead of data.

- No one is enforcing exit criteria. Deals stay in "commit" with no real buying intent.

- Reps don’t know how to qualify properly. If your sales team doesn’t know what a real deal looks like, your forecast is fiction.

A bad forecast is a leadership problem. Sales leaders need to enforce qualification rigor and data-driven forecasting: or accept that missed targets are their fault.

5. "We need more leads" is a lazy excuse

Let’s be real: most SaaS companies don’t have a lead problem. They have a conversion problem.

If marketing is generating hundreds or thousands of MQLs per month, but revenue isn’t growing, you have two options:

1. Keep blaming marketing and watch pipeline waste skyrocket

2. Fix your sales process so you convert more of the leads you already have

SaaS companies are spending millions on demand generation, only to let sales teams burn those leads with bad discovery, poor follow-up, and weak deal execution.

The solution isn’t "more leads." It’s sales accountability.

6. What sales leaders should do tomorrow

If you’re serious about fixing revenue, here’s where to start:

✅ Enforce qualification discipline. Every deal in commit should have real buying intent.

✅ Fix discovery calls. Train reps to uncover real pain and multithread deals early.

✅ Shorten deal cycles. Stop letting buyers "think about it" - drive urgency and control the process.

✅ Build sales playbooks. Stop "winging it" and start running structured sales processes.

✅ Align with marketing on ICP. Make sure sales and marketing agree on what a good lead actually looks like.

Final Thought: Stop wasting good leads....

Your marketing team isn’t failing you.

Your sales team is failing itself.

If your revenue isn’t scaling, fix the sales process, sales execution, and sales leadership.

The leads are there.

The revenue isn’t—because your sales team is the weak link.

See you in Oslo at Nordic Growth Summit 27th of march to talk about this live. 😉

PS. If you want a good deal to join us, email me.

Let’s make sure your sales org stops wasting marketing’s hard work.

With Fierce Support 🧡 Sara Storm