I simply began to ask questions so she could see why it was important to generate not only "A" leads, but "B" and "C" leads as well. In essence, yes, fill the marketing pipeline with smoking hot leads, but also add lesser warm leads.  The questions I asked were:

• How many leads can a sales person handle at one time?
• How many calls are the sales people making to these "A" leads on a weekly basis?
• How many deals will the average sales person close in a given quarter?
• How much time is spent per quarter by each rep closing a deal?
• What's more preferable: a steady stream of leads delivered over the course of the year, or all of them dumped at once?
• How important was it to the sales team that we qualify leads by provide them education on our solutions prior to sales interaction?

The discussion lasted about 30 minutes and then the light went on for her. As important as it is to have 3x in the sales pipeline, it's just as important for the marketing lead pipeline. 

The reality is that if sales only received vast amounts of "A" leads, they wouldn't all receive the necessary attention they deserved. Sales would only focus on the "really hot" leads that they could close that quarter.  A balanced pipeline of "A" leads (which are passed to sales for close), "B" leads (which will be nurtured to become "A" leads) and "C leads" (which will be nurtured to become "B" leads) will lead to long term success. This progression continues over time, and when running correctly, results in a good flow of qualified "A" leads being followed up at precisely the right time.  This well balanced pipeline approach produces the best results for both sales and marketing.