With the talk lately on grading leads and/or prospects, the academic in me wonders something. Does lead grading lead to grade inflation? That is, do grades tend to creep upwards in response to outside pressures? Grade inflation in an academic setting is the awarding of a higher-than-deserved grade because of the importance of achieving high grades. This is rampant in undergraduate education where graduates need a high GPA to continue a scholarship, get into post-graduate school, or just please their parents. It means that students are getting grades higher than they deserve. So, as we look closely at our leads and evaluate them, and even grade them, how accurate is our grading? What external forces might put pressure on our grades? 1. Looking busy. The desire to look busy is a constant force in business. Marketers and salespeople are no different. If your pipeline looks empty, a natural inclination is to add some less-than-perfect leads to fill it up. 2. Poor fit. Many of the leads in the pipeline are going nowhere because of a poor fit for the work. Wishful thinking causes us to think that an opportunity is better than it seems. 3. Can't let go. We keep many leads around when they should be closed. Desperation also causes us to think that leads are better than they are. These are just some of the forces which cause the poor evaluation of leads. As lead or prospect grading becomes more common, so will the forces that make it inaccurate. And this will lead to it being less effective.