Leads have long been the default metric of marketing success. They're easy to track, straightforward to report, and undeniably impressive when the numbers climb. But seasoned CMOs and marketing leaders know that lead volume alone doesn't equate to business growth or credibility in the boardroom

In our latest Mavuus Coffee Chat, we asked three leaders who bridge the worlds of marketing and finance to unpack a better set of metrics—ones that actually make the executive team lean in. We were joined by Imraan Hassam (VP of Marketing, Vencora), Benjamin Dorr (CFO, WellSaid), and Lara Cherem (ex-VP of Marketing, Custom Ink).

They shared the five most overlooked (but insanely powerful) CMO metrics and how to use them to reframe the narrative from “How many leads did we generate?” to “Here’s how marketing is driving business growth.” Let’s dig in.

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Table of Contents:

1. Why “More Leads” Is No Longer the Metric That Matters
2. Volume vs. Efficiency: Reframing the Marketing Narrative
3. The 5 Most Overlooked CMO Metrics (and Why They Matter)
4. How to Actually Track and Present These Metrics

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1. Why “More Leads” Is No Longer the Metric That Matters

If you’re a CMO, you’ve probably been asked the same question more times than you can count: “How many leads did we generate this quarter?” It’s a reflex. A safe question. An easy box to check on a dashboard. But more leads aren’t always the answer.

For years, volume has been the default success metric for marketing. It’s tangible. It’s visible. It looks great in board slides. And it’s deeply ingrained in how many CEOs, CROs, and CFOs think about marketing performance.

But as Imraan Hassam, VP of Marketing at Vencora, reminded us, volume alone doesn’t tell the full story. “Pipeline creation’s one thing, but how do we efficiently show them how that pipeline's actually moving through the funnel and what do those metrics mean?”

This is where many CMOs get stuck. They know how to talk about lead volume. However, when it comes to pipeline efficiency, conversion rates, or revenue velocity, they struggle to translate impact into a story the executive team understands.

According to Imraan, there are two big reasons we default to volume:

1. It’s easier to measure.
2. It feels more directly tied to marketing.

“We see marketers come in and say, we doubled the pipeline, we tripled the pipeline, and that’s an easy narrative,” he continued. “We don't see a lot of marketers say, we decreased our sales cycle by six months, we improved our win rate by 30%, and this is the impact to bookings and revenue.”

While a growing pipeline may suggest momentum, it doesn't guarantee progress. In executive conversations, momentum without conversion quickly becomes meaningless. Here’s where the disconnect begins:

• The finance team isn’t interested in how many leads you brought in. They’re asking what it cost, what it converted to, and how it impacts cash flow.
• The product team is looking for signals—are we attracting the right ICPs? Are leads translating into meaningful adoption?
• The executive team wants to know if marketing is fueling revenue, not just generating noise.

This is where CMOs can get stuck. You report impressive top-of-funnel numbers, but the room is still skeptical. Why? Because volume metrics feel detached from the business model.

It’s much harder—but far more valuable—to measure what happens after those leads enter the funnel:

• How many of them become revenue?
• How quickly do they move?
• What’s their win rate and deal size?

That’s why the best marketing leaders are shifting the narrative. They’re not just focused on how much pipeline they generate. They’re asking what kind of pipeline they’re building—and how efficiently that pipeline converts.

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2. Volume vs. Efficiency: Reframing the Marketing Narrative

While volume feels safe, familiar, and easy to report, it doesn’t always reflect business impact. And in a world where marketing leaders are being asked to prove their value more than ever, efficiency metrics—like win rate, sales cycle length, and average contract value—are becoming critical tools for changing the narrative in the boardroom.

There’s a reason CMOs gravitate toward volume. “Pipeline creation has a clear cause and effect,” Imraan shared. “I did X campaign, and it created Y opportunities. That makes it easy to attribute and explain.”

The other reason? It feels like progress. A big, growing funnel signals momentum. Activity. Motion. But a bigger funnel doesn’t always lead to better results.

Efficiency Tells the Real Story

Efficiency metrics take things a step further. They don’t just show what marketing brought in—they show how well marketing contributed to actual business outcomes. Some of the most powerful yet underused efficiency metrics include:

• Win rate: What percentage of opportunities become closed deals?
• Sales velocity: How quickly are deals moving through the funnel?
• Average contract value: Are we attracting high-value accounts?
• Pipeline-to-bookings conversion: Are we turning leads into revenue?
  

These metrics are often harder to isolate because multiple teams, not just marketing, influence them. But they matter deeply—especially to your CFO.

A Common Language: Outcomes Over Activities

If finance is focused on long-term sustainability and sales efficiency, marketing needs to show how it contributes—not just with activity but with measurable outcomes.

“It’s not about us vs. them,” shared Lara Cherem, former VP of Marketing at Custom Ink.  “It’s about the business. The whole business. That’s why we need to get past MQLs and focus on what actually drives growth.”

Lara, who began her career in finance before pivoting to marketing, sees a clear gap between how marketers measure success and how executives think about performance. And bridging that gap isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s the key to longevity in the role.

A Shift in Framing

To begin making this shift, CMOs can reframe their reporting in ways that resonate beyond the marketing team.

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This isn’t about abandoning pipeline numbers altogether. It’s about expanding the narrative. “Volume is part of the picture,” Imraan emphasized. “But the smartest CMOs are looking at velocity, conversion, and contract value—and tying it all back to the bottom line.”

When CMOs start speaking this language—the language of revenue, velocity, and efficiency—the conversation shifts. No longer are they defending marketing’s role.

They’re leading with strategic insight. They’re influencing growth conversations.  And most importantly, they’re finally being heard.

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3. The 5 Most Overlooked CMO Metrics (and Why They Matter)

Our expert panel surfaced five metrics that deserve more attention in every marketing leadership conversation. These KPIs will help you drive smarter decisions, unlock deeper cross-functional alignment, and prove marketing’s value beyond the top of the funnel.

Let’s break them down.

1. Pipeline Velocity

“It’s not just about how many opportunities you create. It’s how fast—and how efficiently—they move through the funnel,” shared Imraan Hassam.

Pipeline velocity is the rate at which opportunities move through your sales pipeline. It's a composite metric that combines:

• Win rate
• Sales cycle length
• Average deal size
• Number of qualified opportunities
  

A high pipeline velocity means you're converting quality leads into revenue faster—with less friction and fewer wasted resources.

Formula: Pipeline Velocity = (Number of Opportunities × Win Rate × Average Deal Size) ÷ Sales Cycle Length

Why It Matters:

• Accelerates cash flow—faster closes = faster revenue realization
• Highlights bottlenecks—slower velocity can signal issues in qualification, messaging, or sales enablement
• Supports leaner GTM motions—you don’t need to double pipeline if you double velocity

2. Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Most CMOs are laser-focused on net new logos. But Net Revenue Retention (NRR) tells the story of your existing customers: Are they sticking around? Are they expanding? Or are they quietly churning?

NRR looks at revenue from existing customers over time, factoring in upgrades, downgrades, and churn.

Formula: NRR = (Starting MRR + Expansion – Churn – Contraction) ÷ Starting MRR

Why It Matters:

• Signals product-market fit
• Ties marketing to post-sale experience
• Supports back-to-base strategies for growth without over-relying on acquisition

“We had two accounts that made up 60% of revenue—but we hadn’t visited them in three years. If we lose them, we’d need six new customers to make up the gap,” shared Imraan.

3. Marketing Influenced Revenue

Not everything has to be “marketing sourced.” Not every win needs to be “claimed.” “It’s a team sport. What matters is whether marketing meaningfully impacted revenue,” shared Lara Cherem.

Marketing influenced revenue gives a more collaborative view of impact. It asks: Did marketing touch this deal in a meaningful way? Did it accelerate or shape the outcome?

Why It Matters:

• Shifts the focus from attribution wars to shared outcomes
• Encourages alignment between marketing, sales, and customer success
• Reflects the reality of modern buying journeys—long, nonlinear, multi-touch

Lara emphasized that influence is often more credible than ownership. And when measured right, it builds trust across teams—not competition. “CMOs need to stop talking in isolation,” she said. “Start showing how marketing plays a critical role throughout the customer lifecycle.”

4. Cost Per Touch

Cost per touch measures how much it costs to make a meaningful interaction with a prospect or customer—be it through events, emails, paid media, or ABM. Unlike CPMs or CTRs, this metric zooms in on efficiency per engagement, not just reach.

Why It Matters:

• Cuts through vanity metrics
• Highlights which channels actually move the needle
• Useful for comparing ABM vs. traditional demand gen ROI

“I love cost per touch. It tells you how much weight—or force—you need to move a lead forward,” shared Benjamin Dorr.

Ben uses this in high-ACV environments where fewer, more strategic touches drive conversion. By tracking cost per touch, marketing leaders can reallocate spend to channels with the most influence, not just the most impressions.

5. LTV:CAC Ratio

This is the North Star metric for many executive teams: What’s the long-term value of a customer compared to how much it costs to acquire them?

Formula: LTV:CAC = Customer Lifetime Value ÷ Customer Acquisition Cost

A healthy ratio (typically 3:1 or higher) signals scalable, profitable growth. But this number requires marketers to understand margin, retention, and blended acquisition costs—not just campaign ROI.

Why It Matters:

• Critical for budget planning and investment cases
• Helps defend (or adjust) CAC during growth phases
• Forces alignment between acquisition and retention strategies
  

Ben cautioned that while this metric is essential for planning, it’s not always the best for week-to-week management. Still, it's a must-have in every board-level conversation about marketing investment.

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4. How to Actually Track and Present These Metrics

Knowing which metrics matter is only half the battle. The other half is getting the story right.

Because even the best data won’t land if it doesn’t align with how your executive team thinks about success. If your CFO doesn’t understand what your metrics mean for the business or your CRO can’t see how they connect to bookings, even the smartest dashboards will fall flat.

Start Simple. Start Scrappy.

You don’t need expensive tools to start measuring smarter. “Not every company needs a full-blown RevOps stack on day one,” said Imraan.

Many companies—especially those earlier in their go-to-market maturity—still rely on spreadsheets. And that’s okay. In fact, it might even be better. “If you can’t do it in Excel, don’t try to automate it,” echoed CFO Ben Dorr.  “You probably don’t fully understand it yet.”

Start by building manual visibility into a few key metrics—pipeline velocity, influenced revenue, and win rates. Once you understand the story behind them, you can layer them in dashboards, tooling, or RevOps support.

What to Ask Before You Track Anything

Before building dashboards or requesting a budget for new tooling, take a step back and ask:

• What does my CFO need to see to make better investment decisions?
• What does my CRO care about in terms of funnel performance?
• What does our board expect to hear in the next QBR?

Reporting is about metrics. Translation is about narratives. And in executive conversations, narratives win every time.

Partner With Finance Early and Often

If there’s one universal truth from this conversation, it’s this: CMOs who succeed don’t wait to be invited into the finance discussion. They show up early. And they stay in the room.

Here’s how to build that muscle:

• Sit in on QBRs: Not to present—but to listen. What are the hard questions the CFO is asking? Where does marketing come up? What’s the CFO pushing back on? What KPIs are under scrutiny? Where does marketing show up (or not)?

• Ask for a walkthrough of the model: Before the next planning cycle, book time with your CFO. Ask: “Can we review the assumptions together? I want to understand how marketing variables fit into the model.”

• Scenario plan like a CFO: Marketers often present performance snapshots. But CFOs think in if/then statements. What happens to bookings if you increase win rate by 5%? What if your sales cycle shortens by 30 days? Bring scenarios, not just stats.

Use Benchmarks, but Use Them Carefully

Not all benchmarks are created equal, and not all of them apply to your model. Still, they’re useful as a reference point—especially when you’re trying to frame your performance in a broader context. “They’re helpful,” said Lara, “but don’t confuse them for truth. Ask, what does success look like for our model?”

Here are a few go-to resources mentioned by our speakers and community:

• Mostly Metrics: Good for SaaS finance and marketing benchmarks with operator insight
• Pavilion Courses: Good for GTM, RevOps, and marketing finance upskilling
• Kellogg Blog (Dave Kellogg): Good for CMO/CFO alignment, CAC, LTV, and model thinking
• State of Demand Gen Podcast: Good for real-world go-to-market strategy discussions

The key is to contextualize benchmarks for your stage, your audience, and your growth model. Comparing your CAC to Salesforce’s CAC doesn’t help anyone.

Try a Hybrid Model

Don’t have a full RevOps team? You’re not alone. Imraan recommends a hybrid model that balances internal strategy with external support:

• You (or your Head of Marketing) own the strategy and business alignment
• A fractional RevOps specialist or agency handles execution and dashboarding
• The CFO validates assumptions and helps build trust in the data
  

This model works especially well for growing teams who need clarity now but can’t yet afford a full in-house ops function. “Just be careful not to hand over the steering wheel,” Imraan cautioned. “Agencies can execute—but the why still needs to come from inside.”

Finally, you don’t need perfect attribution to lead with impact. Start with the metrics that matter most. Map them to the questions your CFO and CRO are already asking. Then, use that shared language to build trust. Because in the end, the numbers don’t just measure progress. They tell the story of your leadership.

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So... Did We Just Ruin Your Dashboard?

Changing your metrics from quantity to quality is critical for marketing leadership. By focusing on efficiency and outcomes, you move beyond defending marketing’s role to actively influencing your company’s growth.

And if you’re tired of rolling your eyes at the 47th “We need more leads” conversation, just know you’re not alone. That’s exactly why Mavuus exists. We’re building a community where marketing leaders speak CFO, audit their dashboards for fun, and share playbooks on things like:

• How to model velocity like a finance pro
• What metrics actually land in board meetings
• And yes, how to finally stop being “just the lead team”

So, if you're a CMO, VP, or senior marketer ready to shift the conversation from volume to value, come hang out with people who’ve already made the leap and are happy to show you how.

Join Mavuus Today!

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