Evaluate this SLA: Each month, marketing will qualify enough leads for sales to close $50,000 in new business, and sales will contact every marketing qualified lead.
- This SLA’s requirements focus on the wrong activities.
- This SLA’s requirements aren’t specific enough.
- This SLA is missing a requirement.
- No change needed.
Explanation: The selected answer, ‘This SLA’s requirements aren’t specific enough,’ is correct because the Service Level Agreement (SLA) lacks specificity in defining the expectations and metrics for both marketing and sales teams. While it sets a goal for marketing to qualify enough leads for sales to close $50,000 in new business each month, it does not specify the quantity or quality of leads required to achieve this target. Similarly, it states that sales will contact every marketing qualified lead without defining the timeframe or criteria for lead qualification, which can lead to ambiguity and misalignment between the two teams. Without clear and specific guidelines, both marketing and sales may interpret their responsibilities differently, potentially resulting in misunderstandings, inefficiencies, and suboptimal performance. Therefore, to ensure clarity and alignment between marketing and sales objectives, the SLA should include specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals, along with well-defined criteria for lead qualification and follow-up actions.