How to Tell If Your Sales Team Is Actually Using Your Marketing Leads – 5 CRM Reports That Provide Clarity

The Problem: When Marketing Leads Get Lost in Sales

You may know the feeling: Your marketing team invests time, budget, and energy in lead generation. The numbers look good. The pipeline is filling up. But at the end of the quarter, the expected revenue just isn’t there.

The frustrating sense that somewhere between marketing and sales, valuable leads are slipping through the cracks is common in B2B companies. And it usually isn’t just about lead quality.

The hard truth? . The difference isn’t just better leads, but primarily in how sales handles those leads.

But how do you really know if your sales team is actually working the marketing leads—or whether they’re gathering dust somewhere in a CRM pipeline?

The answer lies in five essential CRM reports that give you clarity. These reports reveal, in black and white, what’s really happening with your leads. No more guessing. No more political debates—just facts.

Let’s take a closer look at these five reports and see how you can implement them in standard CRM systems like HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive.

Report #1: Lead Response Time Report – The Speed Check

Why Response Time Is the Most Critical Factor

In B2B sales, time is quite literally money. You are 21 times more likely to qualify a lead if you respond within 5 minutes rather than waiting 30 minutes. That’s not marketing speak—that’s a hard fact.

Even more dramatically: If you don’t respond within the first 30 minutes, your chance of qualifying a lead drops 21-fold. And the sobering statistic? The average response time clocks in at 42 hours – by then, the lead has usually lost interest or reached out to a competitor.

What This Report Shows You

The Lead Response Time Report measures the interval between when a lead enters your system (through a form, demo request, or download, for example) and the moment your sales team first reaches out personally.

Important: This is not about automated emails, but actual, personalized contact attempts—be it by phone, personalized email, or other direct communication.

Realistic Benchmarks for 2025

• Excellent: Under 5 minutes – This is the gold standard for SaaS companies aiming for top lead qualification rates
• Good: 5–30 minutes – You’re faster than most competitors
• Needs Improvement: 30 minutes to 2 hours – You’re already losing many opportunities here
• Critical: Over 2 hours – The lead is likely cold or already with a competitor

The Reality in Your Organization

But what does it look like in reality? Only 1 out of 114 B2B companies sends a personalized email within 5 minutes. On average, it takes 11 hours and 54 minutes. It’s even worse when it comes to phone calls.

The takeaway: If your sales team responds within 30 minutes, you’re already ahead of 80% of your competitors. Break the 5-minute barrier, and you’re playing in another league.

Warning Signs in This Report

• Large discrepancies between sales reps (some respond quickly, others are slow)
• Poor response times on Mondays or Fridays
• Leads arriving outside business hours aren’t contacted until the next day
• Certain lead sources are systematically handled more slowly

Report #2: Contact Attempt Frequency Report – Measuring Persistence

Why One Contact Attempt Isn’t Enough

This is where it gets interesting: 80% of all sales occur after five to twelve contact attempts. On the other hand, sales close after just one contact attempt only 2% of the time.

At the same time: 44% of salespeople give up after just one follow-up. 92% give up after the fourth unanswered call. That’s a massive problem, considering 95% of all converted leads are reached on the sixth call attempt.

What This Report Measures

The Contact Attempt Frequency Report shows how many contact attempts your sales team makes per lead before giving up or marking the lead as “unreachable.”

This report often reveals the biggest gap between marketing expectations and sales reality: Marketing assumes each lead gets multiple follow-ups—while sales often only makes one or two attempts.

Realistic Benchmarks

• Minimum: 6–8 contact attempts across various channels (phone, email, LinkedIn)
• Best Practice: 8–12 attempts over 2–4 weeks
• Reality: The average sales rep makes just 2 attempts to reach a prospect

The Optimal Cadence

High-growth organizations report an average of 16 touchpoints per prospect over 2–4 weeks. It may sound like a lot, but it works.

An effective outreach strategy combines a mix of channels:

What to Look for in This Report

Review:

• Average number of contact attempts per lead
• Differences between sales reps
• Which channels are being used? (Email only? Phone only? Multi-channel?)
• Time intervals between attempts
• At which attempt do most reps give up?

Report #3: Lead Status Progression Report – The Pipeline Flow Indicator

Why Stagnation Is the Silent Killer

This report is your X-ray vision into the pipeline. It shows not only how many leads are at each stage, but more importantly: how long do they stay there?

A lead sitting in “Contacted” for 6 weeks is, in reality, a dead lead—even if it’s still propping up your pipeline numbers.

What This Report Reveals

The Lead Status Progression Report visualizes the movement of your leads through each stage of your pipeline. Typical B2B stages include:

1. New Lead: Just came in, not yet contacted
2. Contacted: Initial contact made, conversation started
3. Qualified: BANT criteria (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline) met
4. Meeting Scheduled: Demo or consultation booked
5. Proposal Sent: Offer sent
6. Negotiation: In negotiation
7. Closed Won/Lost: Won or lost

Critical Metrics

Warning Signs You Shouldn’t Ignore

• Leads not moving forward: More than 30% of leads sit in the same stage for over 2 weeks
• Extreme drop-offs: Over 60% of leads vanish between “Contacted” and “Qualified”
• Zombie leads: Leads that haven’t moved in months but still counted as “active”
• Inconsistent movement: Some reps move leads quickly, others not at all

What Makes for a Healthy Pipeline

In a well-functioning sales organization, you’ll see:

• Continuous flow through all stages
• Clear conversion rates between stages
• Similar dwell times across different sales reps
• Regular “cleaning”—lost leads are marked as such and not left in the pipeline

Report #4: Lost Reason Analysis – Why Do Your Leads Really Disappear?

The Unvarnished Truth About Lost Leads

Here it gets uncomfortable—but extremely valuable. The Lost Reason Analysis not only shows how many leads you lose, but more importantly: why you lose them.

Many companies record “Closed Lost” in their CRM, but without a structured reason analysis, it’s only half the story. Worse—often, the reasons given are just excuses rather than real insights.

Typical “Lost Reasons” and What They Really Mean

How to Structure Your Lost Reasons Properly

Categorize lost reasons into three main buckets:

1. Contact Issues (Sales-owned)

• Unreachable despite multiple attempts
• No response to emails/calls
• Lead was never truly interested (fake lead)

2. Qualification Issues (Marketing-owned)

• Doesn’t fit ICP (company size, industry)
• No budget available
• No decision-making authority

3. Competitor/Product Issues (Product & Positioning)

• Chose competitor (which one?)
• Missing feature
• Poor price-performance ratio

The Most Dangerous Patterns

Watch out for these:

• “Unreachable” over 30%: Your reps may give up too soon or use the wrong channels
• Same competitor turns up frequently: You have a positioning or response time issue
• High “Not qualified” rate after first contact: Your marketing lead scoring needs recalibration
• High “No budget” rate: You’re speaking to the wrong people in companies

Best Practice: The Post-Loss Call

The most valuable insights don’t come from dropdowns in the CRM, but from real conversations. Establish a routine where every lost lead over a certain value (e.g., potential deal value over €10,000) is followed up with a short exit interview.

Ask:

1. What was the main reason you chose not to work with us?
2. What could we have done better?
3. Who did you choose and why?
4. May we follow up again in 6 months?

Report #5: Sales Feedback Loop Report – The Bridge Between Marketing and Sales

Why This Report Is Underestimated

The Sales Feedback Loop Report is the least commonly implemented—but potentially most valuable—of the five. Why? Because it addresses the largest gap in B2B organizations: the communication chasm between marketing and sales.

And yet, in most companies, these teams operate practically in silos.

What This Report Captures

The Sales Feedback Loop Report systematically tracks how sales rates lead quality and what feedback loops back to marketing. Specifically:

• Lead Quality Score: How does sales rate the quality of each lead (1–5)?
• Feedback Frequency: How often does sales provide structured feedback to marketing?
• Feedback Categories: What topics are covered? (Lead quality, information, timing, etc.)
• Action Items: What specific improvements are implemented?
• Follow-up: Was the feedback addressed? Did it result in improvements?

The Reality: Sales Provides No Feedback

In 90% of cases, the real-world scenario looks like this: Marketing generates leads, hands them over to sales, and then… crickets. Maybe there’s a quarterly meeting where sales says, “the leads just aren’t good enough”—but without concrete, data-driven examples.

This frustrates both sides: Marketing doesn’t know what needs improvement, sales feels stuck with subpar leads.

How to Build an Effective Feedback Loop

1. Weekly Lead Review Meeting (15 minutes)

Sales and marketing discuss:

• Top 5 best leads of the week (what worked?)
• Top 5 worst leads (what was wrong?)
• Patterns and trends

2. Lead Quality Rating in the CRM

After initial contact, sales rates each lead on:

• Quality (1–5 stars)
• Info completeness (are all key details available?)
• Timing (ready to buy now, or needs nurturing?)
• Short free-text feedback (optional, but valuable)

3. Monthly Deep Dive

Once per month, both teams analyze together:

• Performance by lead source (which channels deliver best leads?)
• Campaign performance
• Conversion rates by lead type
• Definition of MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)—does it need to be adjusted?

Key Metrics for Sales-Marketing Alignment

Warning Signs for Poor Alignment

• Sales rates over 40% of leads “unqualified” or “poor”
• Marketing has no idea what happens after leads are handed off
• Endless debates: “What is a qualified lead?” comes up again and again
• Sales ignores certain lead sources entirely
• No shared KPIs or goals

How to Set Up These Reports in Your CRM

In HubSpot

Lead Response Time Report:

1. Go to “Reports” → “Report Builder”
2. Select “Custom Report” → “Single Object” → “Deals” or “Contacts”
3. Add “Time to First Contact” as a custom property (may need to be calculated via workflow: “Create Date” minus “First Contact Date”)
4. Filter by lead status and date range
5. Visualization: average, median, and distribution

Contact Attempt Frequency Report:

1. “Reports” → “Analytics Tools” → “Sales Analytics”
2. Use “Activities Dashboard” and filter by calls + emails per contact
3. Alternatively: custom report with “Number of Activities” per contact in a given time frame
4. Segment by sales rep

Lead Status Progression Report:

1. “Reports” → “Funnels” → Deal Stage Funnel
2. Select your pipeline and relevant date range
3. HubSpot automatically shows stage-to-stage conversion rates
4. For dwell time: custom report with “Time in Stage” property

Lost Reason Analysis:

1. Ensure you have a “Closed Lost Reason” dropdown field
2. “Reports” → “Custom Report” → “Deals”
3. Filter: Deal Stage = “Closed Lost”
4. Group by “Closed Lost Reason”
5. Additionally: segment by deal owner, lead source, industry

Sales Feedback Loop Report:

1. Create custom property “Lead Quality Rating” (single checkbox: 1–5)
2. Create “Sales Feedback” as a multi-line text field
3. Workflow: reminds sales reps 24h after first contact to give feedback
4. Report: custom report shows average rating by lead source, campaign, etc.

In Salesforce

Lead Response Time Report:

1. Create a formula field on the Lead object: “ResponseTime_c”
2. Formula: (FirstContactDatec – CreatedDate) 24 60 (gives minutes)
3. “Reports” → “New Report” → “Leads”
4. Group by owner, lead source
5. Summary: average, min, max of ResponseTime_c

Contact Attempt Frequency Report:

1. “Reports” → “New Report” → “Leads with Activities”
2. Filter: Activity Type = Call, Email (manual emails, not automated)
3. Group: Lead, then count of activities
4. Bucket field: 1–2 attempts, 3–5 attempts, 6+ attempts

Lead Status Progression Report:

1. Enable “Lead History Tracking” in setup
2. “Reports” → “Leads with Historical Trending”
3. Shows movement through lead status over time
4. For dwell time: use Process Builder or Flow to set timestamps at status changes

Lost Reason Analysis:

1. Use the standard field “Lead Status” = “Disqualified” and “Disqualified Reason”
2. Alternatively, use Opportunity “Closed Lost Reason”
3. “Reports” → group by lost reason, segment by industry, source, owner

Sales Feedback Loop Report:

1. Create custom fields: “LeadQualityRatingc” (picklist 1–5)
2. And “SalesFeedback_c” (long text area)
3. Report: shows average rating, grouped by campaign or source
4. Dashboard with trend over time

In Pipedrive

Lead Response Time Report:

1. Use Pipedrive’s built-in “Time to First Action” metric
2. “Insights” → “Deals” → filter by “Added Time” and “First Activity Date”
3. Create custom field for calculated difference
4. Report shows average response time per user

Contact Attempt Frequency Report:

1. “Insights” → “Activities Report”
2. Filter by activity type (calls, emails)
3. Group by deal/person
4. Export and analyze: how many activities per lead?

Lead Status Progression Report:

1. Pipedrive’s “Funnel View” automatically shows conversion between stages
2. “Statistics” → “Pipeline Performance”
3. For dwell time: custom report or export + Excel analysis

Lost Reason Analysis:

1. Create custom field “Lost Reason” (dropdown)
2. “Insights” → “Deals” → filter: status = lost
3. Group by “Lost Reason”
4. Combine with lead source for deeper insights

Sales Feedback Loop Report:

1. Custom fields: “Lead Quality” (1–5) and “Sales Notes”
2. Workflow/automation: reminder for sales after first contact
3. “Insights” → custom report with average lead quality by source

Important Implementation Note

Technical setup is only half the battle. The hardest part is getting your sales team to consistently fill in the necessary fields.

Three keys to success:

1. Keep it simple: Each extra click lowers adoption rates
2. Visible consequences: Review reports in weekly sales meetings
3. Positive reinforcement: Reward good data hygiene, don’t punish bad

How Marketing and Sales Can Improve Lead Usage Together

The Service Level Agreement (SLA) – Your Alignment Foundation

Companies with formal SLAs between sales and marketing see 27% faster profit growth over three years. An SLA isn’t corporate red tape—it’s a clear contract between both teams.

A good sales-marketing SLA defines:

The 4 Phases of Lead Usage Optimization

Phase 1: Create Transparency (Weeks 1–4)

• Implement the 5 reports
• Establish weekly review meetings
• Collect baseline data
• No blaming—just observe and learn

Phase 2: Quick Wins (Weeks 5–8)

• Focus on response time: every hour of improvement yields measurable results
• Automation for instant notifications
• Simple lead scoring tweaks
• Clear lost reason categories

Phase 3: Process Optimization (Weeks 9–16)

• Refine outreach cadence based on data
• Optimize lead routing rules
• Nurturing campaigns for “bad timing” leads
• Sales enablement content for frequent objections

Phase 4: Continuous Improvement (from Week 17)

• Monthly deep dives into all reports
• A/B testing for different approaches
• Benchmarking against your own historical data
• Quarterly SLA reviews and adjustments

The Most Common Pitfalls—And How to Avoid Them

Pitfall #1: “We don’t have time for reports”

Solution: Automate as much as possible. A self-updating dashboard takes no extra time after setup. And 15 minutes spent on reports weekly saves hours wasted chasing bad leads.

Pitfall #2: “Sales feels micromanaged”

Solution: Frame reports as a tool for sales, not surveillance. “These insights show where marketing can support you better,” not “These numbers show you’re too slow.”

Pitfall #3: “Data quality is poor”

Solution: Accept that data will be spotty in the first weeks. Make data entry as easy as possible (dropdowns instead of free text, automation where possible).

Pitfall #4: “Marketing and sales talk past each other”

Solution: Shared definitions are gold. What is a “qualified lead”? What does “contacted” mean? Document these and make them visible.

Success Story: How a Machinery Supplier Increased Conversion by 127%

A mid-sized machinery supplier (85 employees) had a classic problem: Marketing generated leads via trade shows, content, and Google Ads. Sales complained about “poor lead quality.” Conversion was a meager 4%.

What they did:

1. Implemented the 5 reports in their Salesforce system
2. Discovered: 68% of leads were not contacted within 24h
3. Average of only 1.8 contact attempts per lead
4. 43% marked as “not qualified”—but with no real contact

Their actions:

• Sales rule: Every lead must be contacted within 2 hours (push notifications)
• Minimum 6 contact attempts over 14 days (using template sequences)
• Marketing improved lead scoring based on sales feedback
• Weekly 20-minute alignment meeting

Results after 6 months:

• Response time: from 18 hours to 47 minutes
• Contact attempts: from 1.8 to 6.3 on average
• Conversion: from 4% to 9.1%
• Revenue: +127% from the same lead volume

Conclusion: From Data Blindness to Data-Driven Growth

The five CRM reports—Lead Response Time, Contact Attempt Frequency, Lead Status Progression, Lost Reason Analysis, and Sales Feedback Loop—aren’t “nice-to-have gadgets.” They are your X-ray vision for the biggest black box in B2B: What really happens to marketing leads once they reach sales?

The brutal reality: In most companies, marketing leads are not being optimally worked. Not out of malice, but because nobody really knows what’s going on. Sales is overwhelmed, marketing is frustrated, and both are operating on assumptions instead of facts.

These reports change the game:

• They make the invisible visible
• They end blame games with facts
• They identify real bottlenecks
• They enable data-driven improvements

But, and this is crucial—reports alone won’t change anything. You need three things:

1. Commitment: Marketing and Sales working together on improvements
2. Consistency: Weekly (not quarterly) reviews
3. Continuity: Improvement is a marathon, not a sprint

Start small. Implement the Lead Response Time Report first. Just this one report will be an eye-opener. Then gradually add the others.

In 6 months, you won’t understand how you ever worked without these insights. And your conversion rate will thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it really take to set up these reports?

Technical setup in a modern CRM like HubSpot or Salesforce takes about 4–6 hours for all 5 reports, if you’re familiar with the system. The harder part is data hygiene and training your team—expect 2–3 weeks before clean data is flowing. Start with one report (Lead Response Time), then gradually add the rest.

What do I do if my sales team refuses to fill in extra fields?

This is the most common challenge. Three approaches help: (1) Make data entry as easy as possible—dropdowns instead of free text, automation where possible. (2) Show the sales team the direct benefit—better leads, less time wasted on unqualified prospects. (3) Make it a management priority—if the sales leader uses the reports in weekly meetings, the team will follow.

What benchmarks should I use for my specific industry?

The benchmarks in this article reflect B2B averages. Generally: The higher the deal value and longer the sales cycle, the more time is acceptable. For transactional products (software, services), speed matters most. For complex enterprise sales (machinery, large projects), longer cycles are normal. More important than external benchmarks: measure your own baseline and aim to improve it by 10–20% each quarter.

How do I convince management to invest time in these reports?

Speak the language of ROI. Crunch the numbers: If you currently generate 100 leads per month with 5% conversion (5 customers), and through better lead management you increase to 8% (8 customers), that’s 36 additional customers per year. With an average customer value of €10,000, that’s €360,000 in additional revenue—for maybe 20 hours of work. It’s a no-brainer.

If I can only implement one report, which is most important?

The Lead Response Time Report. Why? Because (1) it’s the simplest to implement, (2) it delivers dramatic insights right away, and (3) it has the greatest impact. The stats are clear: Speed trumps almost everything. If you respond in 5 minutes instead of 5 hours, you multiply your chances by a factor of 21. No other report delivers such direct ROI.