Last week at TPG, it took 60 attempts to reach someone who filled out our client’s demo request form.
Sixty attempts to speak with a person who asked to talk, all for a single conversation which opened a $2m + opportunity. It also captured the reality most teams have not adapted to. In 2019, working with a large-cap financial sponsor across 60 portfolio companies, we analyzed closed-won data and found what was at the time a shocking discovery. Data showed it already took 20 plus attempts on average to reach top leads. Today the effort is far higher, and what changed is not intent. What changed is access.
The gap that kills pipeline
Most reps stop at roughly four attempts. If reach now takes 20 plus at minimum, and often 50 to 60 for high-intent prospects, there is an 80 percent effort gap where good leads die. But it gets worse. In that same dataset, 40 to 50 percent of marketing leads had no owner or disposition. They sat in CRM purgatory, counted, but never worked.
This is not a lead quality problem, but a process failure.
Why interested becomes invisible
Three forces drive the vanishing act:
Digital overwhelm - Buyers are flooded by outreach. More teams, more tools, more noise.
Trust barriers - Even hand-raisers are cautious. They want proof that a call will be worth the calendar.
Decision fatigue - Options multiply, internal alignment slows everything down.
The old advice that 6 to 8 touches is enough belongs to another era.
Cadence tools are not built for this
Most sequences still end after 10 to 15 touches, with over half of them emails. Email response rates hover near 0.2 percent and generic call connect rates often sit between 0.1 and 1 percent, at best around 2.6 percent with better lists. Based on these figures, relying on these methods is not a strategy, but a hope.
At TPG, our connect rates average 4 to 6 percent and rise the longer we work with each of our clients. The difference is not some magic trick, but rather voice-led access, longer horizons, and follow up that carries context and value.
Short sequences create false negatives. When a high-intent lead needs 60 touchpoints, a 15-touch plan is not a test. It is an abandonment plan.
Redefining lead quality
A quality lead used to be a combination of ICP fit plus buying intent. Today it is ICP fit, intent, and practical reachability within a reasonable number of attempts. That third criterion is quietly filtering more of your funnel than you realize.
How TPG takes leads to the bone
Taking leads to the bone means we do not quit until every reasonable avenue is exhausted and every record has an owner and a clear outcome.
- We own the voice channel, still the fastest path to real access.
- We multithread. If a primary contact goes silent, we work assistants, colleagues, and alternate numbers.
- We deliver value at every touch, with relevant data points, case studies, and useful perspective.
- We time intelligently, spreading attempts across days and weeks to meet real schedules.
- We personalize at scale with research and AI so each touch reads human.
- We disposition everything so marketing can report true performance.
This is professional persistence with purpose, the person who raised a hand still has a problem to solve. They are busy, overwhelmed, or both, and it is your company’s responsibility to get in touch with the person to help them with the initial problem they first encountered.
The CMO’s CYA moment
When 40 to 50 percent of leads have no disposition and reps tap out at four attempts in a world that often requires 60, operating partners and CEOs will cut budgets and question campaigns. Protect the plan by insisting on full ownership and end-to-end disposition. Publish connect and conversation rates next to pipeline and CAC. Make it obvious that every dollar was worked to completion.
What to change now
- Extend sequences. If you stop at 15 touches, you are stopping too early. Plan for 50 to 60 on high-intent leads.
- Lead with voice and run true omnichannel. Email-only sequences are finished.
- Measure what matters. Track connects and conversations, not just opens and replies.
- Train for persistence. Coach follow up in context after live conversations and keep going well past attempt four.
- Clean the CRM. Zero unassigned leads, zero limbo, clear next actions everywhere.
The math that should reset your strategy
- 2019 data from 60 companies: 20 plus attempts to reach a marketing lead
- Today for many decision makers: 50 to 60 plus attempts
- Typical rep behavior: 4 attempts then fatigue
- Data hygiene reality: 40 to 50 percent of leads often lack an owner or a disposition
Bottom line
If your team stops at 12 touches in a world that frequently requires 60, you are leaving money on the table. Persistence with purpose is the edge. The question is not whether you can afford 60 attempts to reach a high-intent lead. The question is whether you can afford not to.
Ready to take your lead follow up to the bone? TPG ensures 100 percent of leads have an owner and a disposition, then we do the work required to create real conversations. If you want every hand-raiser reached and every marketing dollar accounted for, let’s talk.
