Stop Measuring MQLs. Start Measuring Revenue Velocity.

Most marketing teams are addicted to MQLs. They’re easy to count, easy to grow, and easy to put on a slide. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: MQL volume has almost no correlation with revenue outcomes in most B2B companies.

The MQL problem

When your primary metric is “leads generated,” you optimize for volume. More gated content. More form fills. More names in the CRM. But your sales team is drowning in unqualified noise, and your pipeline-to-close rate is cratering.

Sound familiar?

What to measure instead

The shift isn’t complicated, but it requires courage:

1. Pipeline velocity — How fast do qualified opportunities move through your funnel?
2. Marketing-sourced pipeline value — Not leads. Dollars in qualified pipeline.
3. Win rate by source — Which channels produce deals that actually close?

Sample elements (remove before publish)

The best marketing teams don’t optimize for leads — they optimize for revenue outcomes. When you shift the conversation from volume to velocity, everything changes: sales trusts the pipeline, the board sees real impact, and your team focuses on work that actually matters.

Here’s how the transition typically plays out in practice:

1. Audit your current funnel metrics — Map every stage from first touch to closed-won and identify where conversion rates drop below benchmark
2. Align with sales on shared definitions — What counts as “qualified”? Get this in writing with your CRO before you change anything
3. Run a parallel reporting period — Show both MQL volume and revenue velocity for 90 days so leadership can see the correlation (or lack thereof)
4. Sunset vanity metrics gradually — Don’t rip the bandaid off; phase out MQL targets as pipeline metrics prove more reliable

A typical dashboard configuration might look like:

revenue_dashboard:
  primary_metrics:
    - pipeline_velocity_days: 45
    - marketing_sourced_pipeline: "$2.4M"
    - win_rate_by_channel:
        organic: 34%
        paid: 18%
        events: 42%
  deprecated:
    - mql_count
    - cost_per_lead

Making the switch

The biggest objection we hear: “My board expects to see MQL numbers.” Here’s the move: report both for one quarter. Show the correlation (or lack thereof) between MQL volume and actual revenue. The data makes the case for you.

Your board doesn’t want more leads. They want more revenue. Give them the metrics that connect to it.