Balance lead quantity and quality

From: Selling Signals Newsletter

Date: October 14, 2025

Oct 14, 2025

Balance lead quality and quantity with ICPs that actually work

In its most recent report, Demand Gen’s Benchmark Survey found that 31% of B2B sales and marketing teams say a top priority in 2026 is shifting from lead volume and MQL generation to creating higher-quality leads. 33% said it was to better nurture leads to avoid missed opportunities.

It’s the eternal tug-of-war: How do you balance lead quantity with quality? Is it possible to have one without sacrificing the other — especially as budgets and teams shrink, and financial stakes get higher?

Over the past few weeks, we’ve written about how lead pipelines and customer journeys are sales and marketing’s shared responsibility. This week, I want to expand that into collaborating on building brand and demand, and setting clear processes for lead filtering and prioritizing.

It’s no secret that for years (decades, even), much of B2B sales and marketing’s focus has been on lead gen and conversion. But if we want to put the lens on lead quality, we’re gonna have to go from the source to the end of the funnel — and keep that feedback loop between both teams tight.

Marketing Signals

🔗 5 ways behavioural science can supercharge B2B marketing - Mark Hauser, behavioral scientist, explains why more B2B marketers are looking to behavioral science to plan more effective strategies when “doing more of the same” isn’t working.

📊 B2B brand growth in 2026: 3 lessons from Kantar data - Aspectus Group outlines why branding is key to fueling demand sustainably in 2026, especially in unwieldy economies.

🔗 Brand building is as important at the bottom of the B2B funnel as the top - We tend to think of brand and demand as opposite ends of the funnel, but this marketer from Marketing Week thinks otherwise.

Marketing Movement

Better brand, better demand

The biggest shift we’ve seen in B2B marketing over the last few years is prioritizing branding in generating better, more accurate demand.

That might not be so novel, but branding doesn’t just mean brand recognition and awareness, but authority and credibility. How well can companies trust your expertise?

Now, building an authoritative brand is more than putting out a few downloadables and blogs or hosting a few webinars. ICYMI, 71% of B2B buyers are now made up of Millennials and Gen Z-ers.

So brand now also means the value and experience you bring on social media, what memes you’re sharing on LinkedIn 👀, how team members are advocating for your brand, and which thought leaders you’re partnering with.

With B2B branding, instead of awareness and recognition, think authority and ongoing conversations.

And branding isn’t just a marketing thing. It’s also important for sales, which is why it’s time to involve sales in defining your ICP and core messaging — not just at the start of the year, but quarterly or biannually.

Get input from sales on client feedback, decision-making dynamics, and losses and wins.

Ask for real language that clients use in defining pain points, and use them to build demand campaigns and thought leadership meant for quality and authority, not just reach.

Sale Signals

📄 B2B sales now require a ‘holistic’ approach, study finds - Today’s B2B buyers are more well-informed than ever, which means salespeople need to step up their game. What’s next? Holistic selling, according to this study by the University of Kansas.

🎧 B2B ideal customer profile: Why defining who not to sell to is just as crucial - Sometimes, the best way to define an ICP is to define what they’re not.

💬 How do you guys qualify leads? - The B2B salespeople of Reddit weigh in on how they generate and qualify leads efficiently.

Sales Action

Don’t kill momentum with perfection

Balancing lead quantity with quality is the story of your life — but how do you find the best middle ground?

Honestly, my best advice is to go for speed, but keep clear guidelines. Prioritize quantity, but keep your core ICP values locked down tight, like company size, industry, location, and annual revenue.

Don’t waste time shooting for the "perfect customer.” Once a prospect checks those key boxes, reach out and move on.

Then, prioritize efficiently. Use lead filters and scores as a starting point, but add a quick qualification call or email to confirm it.

No response to your qualification? De-prioritize and move on, then come back to them later. This keeps leads moving fast — without sacrificing quality or intent.

Finally, close the feedback loop with marketing. Communicate what lead filters and qualifications are working to create a great lead, so marketing can double down on targeting them.

At the same time, define your anti-ICP — the leads you shouldn’t target. The leads that seemed a “good fit” but churned quickly, had the longest sales cycle, or the lowest annual customer value.

Businesses are constantly evolving, thanks to shifting markets and (often tightening) budgets, which means ICPs are also constantly evolving.

Staying agile in an increasingly volatile space is the best way to stay competitive. Scratch that — it’s the only way to stay competitive.

Share this newsletter!

Mixed Signals

Marketing: “We’ve clearly defined our ICP: mid-market tech companies, 200–500 employees, with growth funding. That’s who we’re targeting!”

Sales: “Cool, but half those ‘ICP’ leads don’t have real buying power. The CFOs stall, the users aren’t engaged, and we waste hours qualifying bad fits.”

→ Translation: Marketing’s ICP lives in a spreadsheet. Sales’ ICP lives in real conversations. When those two realities aren’t synced, you end up with perfect-fit profiles that don’t actually buy. Meanwhile, your true best-fit customers might be getting ignored because they don’t “check all the boxes.”

Your ICP isn’t a static document — it’s a living hypothesis. Treat it like a joint project, not a handoff. Run quarterly “ICP audits” together: review which deals were closed, which weren’t, and why. That’s alignment in practice, not just on paper.

Meet Our Writer

Audrey Rawnie Rico

Senior Staff Writer

Audrey has built marketing strategies for startups, small businesses, and agencies—covering everything from websites to social media. She writes about practical marketing tactics for Fit Small Business, Marketing Interactive, and more, helping brands grow their online presence.