Second Lead Syndrome Second lead syndrome is a term Forrester uses to describe the circumstances in which a second MQL (or more) from a prospect’s company is marked as bad or duplicate leads by BDRs. This is another internal misstep that can dump great leads into your Dark Funnel, never to be seen again. Leads that are related to the same solution should be bundled together for the sales and sales development teams. Ideally, the presence of multiple members of the buying team would prioritize that opportunity above opportunities exhibiting few buying signals. An Example of Second Lead Syndrome Here’s how an internal sales process can toss actionable account data • The BDR receives this second MQL, but notes that the first lead from straight into the Dark Funnel: Acme Co. was already qualified • An employee at Acme Co. visits your website, consumes content and • The BDR marks this new MQL as a duplicate converts into an MQL • The second MQL is discarded • The Acme Co. MQL is passed to the BDR team • This means sales isn’t notified that another member of Acme Co.’s • A BDR qualifies the prospect and passes the prospect on to sales buying team is displaying additional interest … which compromises the team’s understanding of the deal and its buyers. • The following week, another buying-team member from Acme Co. also qualifies as an MQL 18