Overview

‍The third week of February saw a surge in inbound demo requests accompanied by a slight uptick in conversion to meetings. We analyze key funnel metrics below – from Demo Requests to Qualified Leads and Meetings Scheduled – comparing Week 3 of Feb against Week 2 and Week 1 of Feb, as well as late January benchmarks. Key trends are highlighted by industry and company size segment, using standard SaaS segmentation (SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise). Actionable insights for Marketing and Operations teams are provided to help optimize inbound scheduling and lead conversion efforts.

Weekly inbound funnel metrics (Demo Requests, Qualified Leads, and Inbound Meetings) from late Jan through the third week of Feb 2025. After a slight dip in Week 2 of Feb, both inbound demand and meetings rebounded in Week 3, reaching their highest levels so far this quarter.

‍

Demo Requests: Volume & Week-over-Week Change

The total inbound demo request volume continued to climb in the third week of February. This indicates growing top-of-funnel interest as the quarter progresses:

• Week 3 (Feb 17–23): 13,841 demo requests, the highest weekly volume so far this year, up ~4% from 13,274 in Week 2. This also marks an increase from Week 1 of Feb (13,451) and is about 7% higher than late January (Week of Jan 27, ~12,957 requests).
  
  
• Week-over-Week Trends: After a slight dip in Week 2, the rebound in Week 3 suggests that marketing efforts mid-month successfully drove more traffic. The overall trajectory since late January is upward, pointing to momentum in demand generation.
  
  
• Top Industries by Growth: The Healthcare sector saw a notable jump – demo requests rose to 1,133 (+28% WoW) as healthcare campaigns ramped up. HR Software and Sales/CRM also grew (~10–16% increase each week-over-week). The broad “Other” category had the largest absolute gain (+365 requests, +17%), indicating a strong influx of leads from miscellaneous industries.
  
  
• Industries with Declines: Education & E-Learning demo demand cooled off after a strong early February – down to 1,758 requests (−21% or 471 fewer than last week). Support Software also dipped (−45% WoW, albeit on a smaller base). These dips suggest that some early-Feb campaigns or seasonal interest in those segments tapered in mid-Feb.

By Company Size: Inbound interest was dominated by SMB and Mid-Market segments. Mid-sized SaaS firms (51–200 employees) contributed ~48% of all demo requests this week (6,684 requests), while startups/SMBs (<50 employees) contributed ~39% (5,365 requests). Enterprise segment (>500 employees) made up only ~5% of volume (722 requests), but it’s noteworthy that one large enterprise generated a high volume of inquiries – indicating strong brand-driven traffic, albeit much of it untargeted (as we see in qualification rates below).

Lead Qualification (%): Marketing Effectiveness

Lead Qualification Rate (the percentage of demo requests that met qualification criteria) dipped slightly this week, pointing to a modest decline in lead quality even as volume grew:

• Overall Qualification: 66.7% of demo requests were qualified leads this week (9,233 qualified of 13,841 total), a slight drop from 67.2% in Week 2. In late January, the rate was around 70%, so there’s been a gradual 2–3 point decline over the past month. This suggests that while marketing is driving higher volumes, a greater fraction of those leads are outside the ideal customer profile compared to a month ago.
  
  
• High-Quality Segments: Some industries continued to attract highly qualified prospects. Real Estate & Property Tech leads were exceptionally well-targeted – 96.7% qualification (667 of 690 requests qualified) – indicating that nearly all inbound interest from this segment was on-target. IT & Security Software also saw a very high qual rate (~89%), as did Manufacturing/Supply Chain (~81%). These high percentages reflect effective campaign targeting and messaging in those verticals, yielding mostly relevant prospects. Notably, even with modest demo volumes, these segments provide efficient lead funnels with minimal wastage.
  
  
• Low-Quality Segments: In contrast, Retail & e-Commerce software had the lowest qualification efficiency at only ~28% – out of 945 demo requests, only 265 were sales-qualified leads. This means over 70% of Retail inbound inquiries were disqualified (e.g. either not fitting ideal criteria or perhaps spam/irrelevant), pointing to a need for tighter targeting or better filtering in retail-focused campaigns. Travel & Hospitality and Healthcare also saw lower qualification rates (~42–46%), though Healthcare did improve about +4 percentage points from the previous week (suggesting recent campaign adjustments in Healthcare yielded more relevant leads).
  
  
• Week-over-Week Changes: Education & E-Learning showed a positive sign – qualification rate improved to ~64.5%, up ~4 points from last week, even as its volume declined. This implies recent Education leads, though fewer, were more relevant (possibly due to refined ad targeting mid-month). On the flip side, Developer Tools and Support Software saw their qualification rates fall (each dropping 10+ points WoW); for Support Software, this accompanied a volume drop, hinting that a source of high-quality leads may have dried up, leaving a greater proportion of unqualified inquiries.
• By Company Size: Smaller customers tended to see higher lead quality this week. SMB companies (<50 employees) and upper-mid companies (201–500 employees) both qualified ~73–75% of their inbound leads. Mid-market firms (51–200 employees) had a slightly lower qual rate (~66%), perhaps reflecting broader marketing outreach that pulled in more top-of-funnel curiosity. The one enterprise-scale instance (500+ employees) had very low lead quality – only ~9% of its large volume qualified (64 of 722). This stark contrast suggests that big-brand campaigns or web traffic can generate a lot of noise: an area for Marketing to refine by using more targeted content or stricter pre-qualification for enterprise campaigns.

Insight for Marketing: The dip in overall qualification indicates Marketing should evaluate lead sources and messaging, especially for Retail/E-commerce and other low-qual segments. Refining targeting criteria (e.g. focusing ad spend on audiences more likely to fit ideal customer profiles) or adjusting campaign messaging to dissuade non-target prospects can help improve the quality mix. In high-performing segments (Real Estate, IT Security), marketers can consider scaling those campaigns further since they’re efficiently attracting the right prospects.

Inbound Meetings Scheduled: Converting Qualified Leads

Inbound meetings (demos actually booked with sales) bounced back strongly in Week 3, highlighting success in converting more of the qualified leads into appointments:

• Week 3 Total Meetings: 5,633 inbound meetings were scheduled this week, an +8% increase from last week’s 5,225 meetings. This is the highest weekly meeting count in the past month (slightly above the late-Jan peak of 5,512). The rise in meetings outpaced the rise in qualified leads, indicating a slightly better conversion performance by the sales development teams or automated scheduler this week.
  
  
• Top-Converting Industries: Education & E-Learning continued to deliver the most meetings by volume – 793 meetings booked – nearly flat from 801 last week, but still a hefty share of total meetings. The “Other” category saw the biggest jump in absolute meetings (+121 WoW, reaching 1,039 meetings); as inbound volume from varied sources grew, so did conversions. Healthcare had a standout improvement: 350 meetings booked, up 41% from 248 last week, reflecting both its higher lead volume and improved follow-through. Manufacturing also booked ~15% more meetings WoW, capitalizing on its high qualified lead count.
  
  
• Lagging Areas: Data & Analytics Software companies saw a drop in meetings (223, down 24% from 293 last week) despite steady lead volume – a red flag that conversion in this segment slipped. This mirrors a slight quality drop and suggests some of last week’s Data/Analytics leads didn’t translate into booked demos as easily. Support Software also booked fewer meetings (46, down from 61), aligned with its lower lead count. Meanwhile, Education’s small dip (−8 meetings) is minor, indicating that scheduling stayed strong even with fewer new qualified leads coming in.
• By Company Size: Mid-market firms (51–200 employees) drove the majority of meetings (2,810 meetings, ~50% of total), followed by SMBs (<50 employees) with 2,268 meetings. Notably, smaller companies saw slightly fewer meetings this week versus late January despite healthy lead quality – perhaps indicating capacity limits or a need for follow-up focus.

Insight for Operations/Sales: The strong uptick in meetings suggests the inbound scheduling process is working efficiently, especially in high-volume segments.

The conversion slip in Data & Analytics, however, flags an opportunity for the Sales team to review follow-up processes or messaging for that industry – ensuring qualified leads don’t fall through. Overall, maintaining quick response times and smooth hand-offs for the growing lead volume will be critical, as the scheduling load is ~8% higher than last week.

Meetings Not Booked: Drop-Off Analysis

“Meetings Not Booked” quantifies the drop-off where a lead is qualified but does not end up scheduling a meeting. Understanding where this is highest helps pinpoint friction in the later stages of the funnel:

• Overall Drop-Off: This week, 3,601 qualified leads did not book meetings, slightly fewer than last week (3,701). In percentage terms, about 39% of all qualified leads were left without a meeting – an improvement from ~41% last week. This positive trend suggests marginally better follow-through and engagement of leads before they go cold.
  
  
• Highest Drop-Off Industries: The Legal & Compliance segment had the highest drop-off rate – 59% of its qualified leads did not book a meeting (77 out of 131 qualified legal leads dropped off). Travel & Hospitality also struggled, with ~48% of qualified leads not converting. These two segments stand out as having more than average friction after lead qualification. In Data & Analytics Software, about 50% of qualified leads (227 of 450) didn’t book – a significant number, consistent with the weaker conversion noted earlier.
  
  
• By Volume vs. Rate: Education had 343 not booked (out of 1,135 qualified) – but because Education’s conversion rate is high, this drop-off is mostly a function of its volume. More concerning are segments like Legal or Travel where even a smaller number of unbooked leads represents a large fraction of potential meetings left on the table.
  
  
• Company Size Perspective: Smaller companies (SMB) saw a significant portion of drop-offs in absolute terms (1,679 unbooked from SMB segment) simply due to volume, but their conversion rate improved slightly this week. The enterprise segment’s drop-off count remains tiny (only 15 not booked) because that segment had very few qualified leads to begin with – and most of those did convert, as noted. For mid-market firms, 1,615 leads were left unbooked, representing the largest share (~45%) of the total drop-offs; ensuring these mid-sized customers are effectively engaging every qualified lead is important, as even a modest improvement could yield dozens more meetings.

How to Address Drop-Off: The data suggests that certain industries (Legal, Travel, Data/Analytics) need extra attention after lead qualification to improve meeting uptake. Marketing and Operations should collaborate to nurture and follow up with qualified leads in these segments more aggressively – for example, providing industry-specific case studies or sending prompt personalized reminders to schedule.

For the Sales/Ops teams, focusing on these high-drop-off leads (perhaps assigning dedicated reps or tailored outreach for those verticals) could close the gap. Since RevenueHero’s automation already handles scheduling logistics, the emphasis should be on the human touch and messaging for hesitant leads. In contrast, segments with low drop-off (Education, Retail, Real Estate) may reveal best practices (e.g. immediate follow-ups or compelling demo value propositions) that can be replicated for the weaker segments.

Inbound Meeting Rate by Industry: Conversion Benchmarks & Opportunities

The Inbound Meeting Rate – the percentage of qualified leads that convert to booked meetings – is a key efficiency indicator. This week’s overall inbound meeting rate ticked up to about 61%, from ~59% in the prior week, meaning a larger share of good leads are turning into meetings. By industry, the performance varies widely, highlighting opportunities to optimize:

• Top-Performing Industries: Real Estate & Property Management leads are converting exceptionally well, with a 74.7% meeting rate (nearly three out of four qualified leads scheduled). Education & E-Learning is close behind at ~69.9%, maintaining a strong conversion despite the volume dip – a testament to effective engagement of edu leads. Interestingly, Retail & e-Commerce, despite its low lead qualification, sees about 69.8% of those qualified leads book meetings.
  
  
• Mid-Pack: Most other industries (Finance/Accounting, IT Security, Marketing, HR, etc.) cluster around the 60–65% meeting rate range. Notably, Manufacturing/Supply Chain companies converted about 65% of qualified leads to meetings, and HR Software around the mid-60s as well – solidly above average, benefiting from high-quality leads.
  
  
• Segmentation by Company Size: Mid-market and upper-SMB customers (51–500 employees) achieved ~63–64% inbound meeting rates this week, slightly above the average – these companies are turning nearly two-thirds of their qualified leads into meetings.
  
  Small startups (<50 employees) trailed a bit with ~57% conversion; while still healthy, it could reflect resource constraints or less formalized follow-up processes in the smallest teams.
  
  

Key Takeaways & Recommendations

For Sales/Operations Teams:

• Focus on Follow-Up to Improve Conversion: With ~39% of qualified leads still not booking, there’s room to optimize the follow-up process.
  
  Ensure rapid outreach to every qualified lead – the slight increase in meeting rate to 61% is a positive sign, but consistency is key.
  
  
• Monitor Capacity and Distribution: The jump to 5,633 meetings/week is great news, but it also means heavier workloads scheduling and conducting demos.
  
  Ensure your team (and calendar availability) scales with this growth – consider if certain days or reps are over-booked and adjust accordingly.
  
  From an operations standpoint, RevenueHero handles scheduling smoothly (no major bottlenecks reported in routing or booking), so the focus shifts to sales capacity and preparedness. Proactively communicate with the team about the increasing inbound flow so they can manage time and priorities (e.g., don’t let hot inbound leads wait while the calendars are blocked lower-priority tasks).

‍