Why Your Top of Funnel Is Broken

Read time: 5 minutes

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"We need more leads."

I hear this complaint from sales teams every single week. Reps frustrated because their pipeline is thin. Sales leaders scrambling to hit quarterly numbers. Marketing teams getting blamed for not generating enough "qualified" opportunities.

The problem is that most companies have completely broken top-of-funnel processes that waste the opportunities they do have while failing to create new ones.

After working with 70+ life science companies, we see the same pipeline problems over and over. The good news? They're all fixable. The bad news? Most teams are approaching the solution completely backwards.

Let's fix your pipeline problem once and for all.

The Real Pipeline Problems

Problem 1: Prospecting Gets Pushed to "Tomorrow"

Prospecting is the broccoli of sales activities. Important, necessary, and the first thing to get pushed aside when urgent requests come in.

Why this resonates: You know you should be prospecting daily, but that customer issue needs immediate attention. Then there's that proposal due. Before you know it, two weeks have passed without a single prospecting activity.

The Reality: Only 3% of your potential market is actively buying right now. If you're only working existing leads, you're fighting over scraps while your competitors are building relationships with the other 97%.

🛠 Actionable Fix:

• Block 1 hour every morning for prospecting (before checking email)

• Set a weekly minimum: 20 new contacts reached regardless of other priorities

• Use time-blocking to treat prospecting like a customer meeting.

• Make it a non-negotiable and be disciplined.

Problem 2: Marketing and Sales Are Aren’t Aligned

Marketing generates leads, tosses them over the fence, and sales complains they're "not qualified." Sound familiar?

Why this happens: Marketing optimizes for volume and early-stage interest. Sales wants immediate buying intent where leads have their credit card in hand. Neither is realistic or effective.

The Reality: Most "marketing qualified leads" die in the handoff because there's no systematic follow-up process that nurtures interest into intent. But marketing needs to understand that an ebook download is not a “lead”! I’ve seen reps who’d rather cold prospect than follow up on warm leads (this is also absurd behavior).

🛠 Actionable Fix:

• Create joint definitions: What makes a lead qualified? What constitutes proper follow-up?

• Build a shared lead nurturing sequence that bridges marketing interest and sales readiness

• Weekly alignment meetings between marketing and sales leadership to review what is working and not working

Problem 3: Your Content Only Serves People Ready to Buy

Take a quick look at your last 5 pieces of marketing content. Are they case studies, data sheets, product specs, or company announcements?

If yes, you're only creating content for the 3% actively shopping. You're invisible to the 97% who could become buyers next quarter.

Why this resonates: It's easier to create content about what you know (your product) than research what your prospects actually need to do their jobs better.

🛠 Actionable Fix:

• Create "job-to-be-done" content: How to optimize protocols, reduce contamination, speed up analysis - what can you provide that will make your prospect better at their job today?

• Share industry insights, not just company updates

• Ask existing customers: "What challenges were you facing 6 months before you started looking for our solution?" - make content to solve those problems. Forget about your product or service!

Problem 4: Your Outreach Is Indistinguishable from Everyone Else's

"We are the highest quality..." "We can accelerate your research..." "I'd love to show you how we can help..." "Our products are easy to use…" "We can custimze our offering to solve all your problems…."

Generic messaging gets generic results. If you can replace your company name with another company name in your message and it still resonates, than your message is too vague.

Why this happens: Templates feel safe. You want your message to resonate with everyone so you don’t “miss opportunities”. AI prompts without context create bland outputs. Writing from your perspective (not theirs) is easier than researching their problems.

🛠 Actionable Fix:

• Research before you write: What's happening at their company? What challenges does their role face?

• Talk about truely differentiated capabilities that will capture someone’s attention

• Use our email grader tool to score your messaging and get feedback before sending

Problem 5: You're Stuck in Single-Channel Purgatory

LinkedIn only? Email only? Phone calls only? You're missing 80% of potential touchpoints.

Why this happens: It's easier to stick with what you know than learn new channels. Plus, most tools only work for one channel at a time.

🛠 Actionable Fix:

• Use a multi-touch sequence: LinkedIn connection → Email → Phone call → LinkedIn message → Event invitation

• Track channel effectiveness and double down on what works for your specific audience

• Try sending personalized videos to your top prospects! This is a great way to stand out as a HUMAN.

Problem 6: You're Waiting for Someone Else to Feed You

"Marketing doesn't generate enough leads." "We need more SDRs." "Inside sales isn't qualifying properly."

Here's the hard truth: As a sales rep, you own your number. If you're not hitting quota, the first question shouldn't be "Where are my leads?" It should be "What am I doing to create my own opportunities?"

🛠 Actionable Fix:

• Treat company-generated leads as bonus, not your foundation

• Set personal prospecting targets independent of company lead flow

• Take ownership: Your territory, your relationships, your results

The Smart Way to Scale Pipeline: Human + AI Collaboration

Here's where most teams get pipeline generation wrong: they try to do everything manually or expect AI to magically solve everything.

The winning approach? Strategic human-AI collaboration that amplifies your strengths while automating the scalable stuff.

Your New Operating Model: Tiered Account Strategy

Tier 1 Accounts (Top 20-50 in your territory):

• AI handles: Research, company background, news monitoring, contact discovery

• You handle: Insight synthesis, relationship building, custom outreach, complex conversations, novel insights you know about the account

• Why: These accounts deserve your highest-touch approach and could generate 60-80% of your revenue

Tier 2 & 3 Accounts (Everyone else):

• AI handles: Personalized messaging at scale, multi-touch sequences, lead scoring, basic qualification

• You handle: Responding to engaged prospects, converting interest to meetings

• Why: Stay top-of-mind with hundreds of prospects without drowning in manual work

How to Execute This Practically

Step 1: Build Your AI Context Engine Don't just feed AI your website and expect magic. Create detailed context:

• Your ideal customer profiles with specific pain points

• How your solution maps to different roles and use cases

• Industry-specific language and terminology

• Proven messaging that resonates with each persona

Step 2: Use Tools to Amplify Human Intelligence

• For account research: Use our insights tool to quickly understand prospect challenges and opportunities

• For message quality: Run outreach through our email grader before sending

• For scale: Set up automated sequences for Tier 2/3 accounts while you focus on Tier 1.

• Tools: Clay can handle enrichment, AI personalization, research and so much more. Gosset and SciLeads are great for data. There are countless other tools for niche purposes as well. Reach out if you want help or advice about what to use and how to use them.

Step 3: Create Feedback Loops

• Track what AI-generated messages get responses

• Feed successful patterns back into your AI context

• Continuously refine your human focus areas based on what drives results

What This Looks Like in Practice

Monday Morning or Friday Afternoon (Tier 1 Focus):

• Review AI-generated research summaries for your top accounts

• Craft 3-5 highly personalized messages based on specific insights

• Spend time on LinkedIn engaging with content from key decision-makers

Rest of Week (Scale + Response):

• Prospect your top accounts each day.

• AI runs automated sequences to Tier 2/3 accounts

• You respond to engaged prospects and book meetings

• Weekly review: Which AI messages performed best? What patterns can you amplify?

Result: You're building deep relationships with high-value accounts while maintaining visibility with hundreds of prospects. When anyone enters a buying cycle, you're already top-of-mind.

For Sales Leaders: How to Enable Your Team

Individual reps can implement these tactics, but real scale happens when leadership builds the infrastructure:

🛠 Actionable Tasks for Leaders:

• Audit current pipeline generation: What percentage comes from rep prospecting vs. company-generated leads?

• Invest in the right tools: Email finding, AI personalization, CRM automation, research platforms

• Create team playbooks: Standardize what good prospecting looks like across your organization

• Train the team: Give the team the skills and knowledge on how to prospect effectively in 2025+

• Track leading indicators: Measure prospecting activities, not just lagging results

• Train on the tools: Don't just buy software. Ensure your team knows how to use it effectively

The Bottom Line

The companies winning right now are using AI to handle scale while focusing human effort on the relationships and strategies that matter most.

Stop waiting for leads to come to you. Start creating your own opportunities with the right mix of human intelligence and AI amplification.

Lead Gen Review

If you’re a sales leader or rep managing a lead funnel, schedule a brief call to review your lead generation strategy, and we’ll provide you with quick, actionable feedback.

We are even happy to give you a free lead list of your ICP!

We’re offering this to support the community and, yes, to introduce what we do, but everyone who takes part will leave with real value. If a few decide to work with us afterward, that’s a bonus.

Schedule here: https://calendly.com/d/cwzs-fyk-3mh/lead-gen-review

1. Lead Generation: We’ll build target lists, write scientifically relevant messaging, and send messages on your behalf to book qualified sales meetings with biotech and pharma companies.

2. Training for Reps: A skill development platform for life science sales reps who want to improve their sales skills, exceed their quota, and take the next step in their career.

3. Training for Teams: If you want to upskill your team around prospecting, driving to close, key account management, AI, or any other topic, we can put together a training plan specific to your organization’s needs.

4. Strategy Call: Need more than training? Want help implementing and executing your sales strategy? In a 30-minute call, we will assess your company’s current situation and identify growth opportunities.