South Africa, Nov. 2 -- Sometimes that diagnosis is correct. But sometimes the marketing is doing exactly what it was supposed to do. It generated attention, created demand and delivered a genuinely interested customer. The business simply failed to turn that opportunity into revenue.

That distinction matters because the customer journey does not end when someone completes a lead form. A lead still has to reach the right person, be contacted quickly, qualify for the product, be handled by someone capable of selling, complete any application or verification process that follows, transact successfully, and ultimately generate an acceptable margin. Revenue can disappear at every one of those points.

Consider what happens within a typical l...