The B2B Marketing Scorecard
30 questions to see whether your marketing is building pipeline you can measure.
B2B marketing has a harder measurement problem than most. Deals take months, several people sign off, and the revenue lands in the CRM long after the campaign that started it. This free scorecard covers the ground I look at when I start work with a B2B company. Work through it with your marketing lead and your head of sales, score each question 0, 1 or 2, and you'll see where to look first. It's a 7-page PDF, and there's no form to fill out.
All 30 questions at a glance
01 Pipeline tracking and CRM
If the CRM can't say where revenue came from, nobody else can either. Start here.
1. Does every lead in your CRM have a source that marketing and sales both trust?
2. Can you trace closed revenue back to the marketing that first brought the account in?
3. Are qualified opportunities and closed deals sent back to your ad platforms?
4. Do marketing and sales use the same definitions of a lead, a qualified lead and an opportunity?
5. Could you pull 24 months of leads, opportunities and closed revenue by month and source in one day?
02 Ideal customer and account targeting
Most B2B companies already hold the data that separates their best accounts from the rest.
6. Is your ideal customer defined from your own closed deals?
7. Do you know which customer segments are most profitable, beyond which are largest?
8. Is there a tiered target account list that sales and marketing both work?
9. Do you know who sits on the buying committee for a typical deal?
10. Have you interviewed recent buyers and lost prospects in the last year?
03 Positioning and proof
Buyers compare you with competitors, with doing nothing, and with building it themselves.
11. Can every rep explain in one sentence why a customer should choose you over the main alternative?
12. Is your messaging built for each role on the buying committee?
13. Do you have proof a skeptical buyer would accept?
14. Can a buyer tell from your website what you sell, who it's for and how pricing works?
15. Is your positioning based on research with buyers?
04 Demand generation and channels
A cheap lead that never becomes an opportunity is the most expensive lead you buy.
16. Do you know your cost per qualified opportunity by channel?
17. Is branded search reported separately from non-brand search?
18. Do trade shows and events have pipeline targets and a follow-up plan?
19. Is your content built around the questions buyers ask during the sales cycle?
20. Has anyone outside your agency reviewed your ad accounts in the last year?
05 Sales and channel enablement
Marketing that sales can't use is a cost center.
21. Is there a standard for how fast sales follows up on marketing leads?
22. Do reps have current materials for each segment and stage of the sale?
23. If you sell through distributors, dealers or retailers, do they get marketing support they can use?
24. Does sales tell marketing which leads turned into opportunities and why the rest did not?
25. Is the handoff from marketing to sales written down and followed?
06 Budget, planning and reporting
A B2B budget should start from the pipeline you need and work backward.
26. Is the marketing budget built from a pipeline target?
27. Do you know your sales cycle length and win rate by segment?
28. Does marketing report to leadership in pipeline and revenue terms?
29. Does the company own its CRM, ad accounts, analytics and data?
30. Would your marketing numbers hold up in due diligence or with a lender?
How do I score it?
Score each question 0 if the answer is no or nobody in the room knows, 1 if it's partly in place, and 2 if you could show the evidence today. Each section is worth up to 10 points, for a total out of 60.
A score of 48 to 60 means your marketing is building pipeline you can measure. A score of 30 to 47 means a few weak spots are likely distorting how budget gets set. Under 30, start with pipeline tracking and the sales handoff, because everything else depends on them.
Who is it for?
CEOs, CFOs, and sales and marketing leaders at B2B companies with $5M to $500M in revenue. It fits companies that sell through sales teams, distributors, dealers or retailers, with deals that take weeks or months to close.
I'm Dr. Linda Orr, a fractional CMO and marketing measurement specialist. My B2B work includes Upwork, PepsiCo, McKesson Foster & Thrive, Midmark Dental and the Government Finance Officers Association.
Our Impact By The Numbers
$88M in marketing budget modeled for Upwork, 100+ clients from $5M to $500M in revenue, 25+ years leading growth, and 86% client retention.
A FEW OF OUR HAPPY CLIENTS
Questions about the scorecard
Do I have to give my email to download it?
No. The PDF downloads directly, with no form to fill out.
What should I do with a low score?
Start with the lowest-scoring section. Pipeline tracking and the sales handoff come first, because every other number depends on them. If you want an outside view, a Marketing Performance Audit starts at $15,000.
How long does it take?
About 30 minutes if your marketing lead and your head of sales are in the room. The conversation it starts is usually worth more than the score.
Can you go through our results with us?
Yes. Bring your completed scorecard to a free 30-minute introductory call and I'll tell you which gaps matter most for your business and what it would take to close them.
Want a second opinion on your score? Bring your scorecard to a call and we'll go through it together.