What is lead velocity rate?
Lead velocity rate, or LVR, is the month-over-month growth in your qualified leads, as a percentage. Where revenue tells you how you did, LVR tells you how you are likely to do, because pipeline today becomes revenue in the quarters ahead.
It is one of the few real-time growth signals. Revenue lags by a sales cycle; qualified leads move now, which makes LVR a forward read on the business.
The LVR formula.
LVR = (qualified leads this month minus qualified leads last month) divided by last month, times 100. Count qualified leads consistently, by the same definition each month, or the trend is meaningless.
Use a stable lead definition. If the bar for qualified shifts, LVR moves for the wrong reason.
A worked example.
You had 100 qualified leads last month and 115 this month. LVR is 15 divided by 100, which is 15%.
What is a good lead velocity rate?
A healthy LVR runs ahead of your revenue growth target, because pipeline has to lead revenue. If you are targeting strong annual growth, double-digit monthly lead growth is the kind of pace that supports it. Flat or falling leads are an early warning that revenue will follow.
LVR is a leading indicator, not a guarantee. It only converts if lead quality and sales execution hold, so watch volume and quality together.
How to grow your LVR.
Generate more qualified pipeline, consistently, month over month. Spiky lead flow from one-off campaigns does not build a rising LVR; a compounding channel does.
Organic search adds qualified pipeline that grows month over month, which is exactly what LVR rewards. See how we build compounding B2B SaaS pipeline.