Why Meetings Stall: How Site Ascend Uses PACT to Fix Targeting, Seniority, and Next-Step Conversion

Introduction

Demand generation in B2B tech has a frustrating pattern: you can generate meetings and still fail to generate momentum.

The calendar looks full. Activity looks strong. But after the call, nothing moves.

• No next step.
• No internal champion.
• No urgency.
• No decision path.

When meetings stall, it’s rarely because your team didn’t “follow up enough.” It’s because the meeting was missing one (or more) fundamentals that determine whether a conversation can progress:

PACT: Pain, Authority, Consequences, Target.

PACT is a practical framework for qualifying meetings—especially in enterprise motions—so you stop spending budget on conversations that were never going to convert.

Site Ascend operationalizes PACT across appointment setting, channel MDF motions, event attendee procurement, and opt-in lead qualification to produce Director+ meetings that actually happen and advance.

What PACT means for demand generation marketers (and Site Ascend’s ICP)

PACT is simple on purpose. Each element is a failure point that causes meetings to stall:

Pain

Is there a real, lived problem—or just curiosity?

If you can’t name the operational pain, the meeting becomes an “intro call” that feels optional.

Authority

Is the person senior enough to drive change?

Enterprise deals don’t stall because information is missing. They stall because the person in the meeting can’t move the organization.

Consequences

What happens if nothing changes?

Consequences create urgency. Without them, “next quarter” becomes a default answer.

Target

Is this the right account and persona for your motion?

Target is where demand gen wins or loses efficiency. Wrong target creates downstream waste: low show rates, weak discovery, and endless nurture loops.

For CMOs, VPs/Directors of Demand Gen, ABM, Field, Channel, Event, and Revenue Marketing leaders, PACT is a way to standardize meeting quality across programs—so sales trusts what marketing produces.

Common challenges marketers face

1) Targeting that looks right in a spreadsheet… but fails in meetings

You can build a great ICP and still book the wrong conversations when:

• the persona doesn’t match the buying committee,
• the account fit is theoretical (not practical),
• the outreach isn’t anchored to a relevant use case.

Meetings stall because sales can’t connect the dots fast enough.

2) Seniority drift: meetings happen below the line

In enterprise tech, “a meeting” is not the unit of value—a meeting with the right level is.

When meetings consistently land below Director-level:

• urgency gets diluted,
• decision steps are unclear,
• and next-step conversion drops.

3) No consequences = no momentum

Even with the right account and a great talk track, if you can’t establish consequences:

• the initiative stays unprioritized,
• budget timing stays vague,
• and “send me info” becomes the outcome.

4) Marketing and sales disagree on what “qualified” means

When qualification is defined as “they engaged,” sales often hears:
“they were polite.”

That mismatch turns into stalled pipeline and internal skepticism.

Solutions that work

Site Ascend’s value isn’t “more meetings.” It’s a system that improves the inputs that make meetings convert—targeting discipline, seniority, context, and accountability for outcomes.

Here’s how Site Ascend maps PACT to the programs most demand gen leaders rely on.

Executive Meetings: PACT-first appointment setting with Director+ stakeholders

Target: Site Ascend focuses meetings on target accounts with defined ICP criteria.
Authority: Meetings are built around Director-level and above stakeholders—so the room is decision-relevant.
Pain: Outreach is oriented around the problem first (not just product interest).
Consequences: Conversations are framed around what happens if the pain persists, which drives urgency and next steps.

This is reinforced by Site Ascend’s performance model: only pay for meetings that occur, which naturally prioritizes attendance and quality over “booked but ghosted” activity.

Channel Marketing: using PACT to turn MDF into measurable partner outcomes (white-labeled)

MDF gets wasted when partner programs optimize for activity instead of outcomes.

Site Ascend’s channel motion is white-labeled appointment setting funded by MDF, which pairs well with PACT because it standardizes what “good” looks like:

• Target: specific accounts that matter to both partner and vendor
• Authority: Director+ stakeholders, not long-tail titles
• Pain + Consequences: enough business context to make the meeting real—so partners can convert it into pipeline

This shifts MDF reporting from “campaign executed” to “meetings held with the right people.”

Event Marketing: applying PACT to attendee procurement (not day-of services)

Event ROI collapses when registrations inflate but:

• seniority is too low,
• intent is unclear,
• and there’s no urgency to show up or follow up.

Site Ascend’s Event Marketing focuses on driving registrants via outbound dialing, then supporting attendance with SMS workflows through the event date. (Site Ascend does not provide day-of onsite services.)

PACT improves event outcomes by qualifying registrations as:

• the right Target accounts and personas,
• with the right Authority to make follow-up worthwhile,
• tied to Pain and Consequences that connect to the event theme.

Lead Qualification: PACT turns opt-ins into sales-ready meetings

Opt-ins are signals—not decisions.

PACT helps separate:

• “downloaded a resource” from “has Pain + Consequences,” and
• “wants info” from “has Authority to act.”

Site Ascend’s lead qualification motion is designed to convert opt-ins into qualified sales meetings only when PACT is present—protecting sales time and improving conversion to next steps.

Actionable steps for marketers

Use this checklist to reduce stalled meetings across your programs in the next 30 days.

The PACT Meeting-Quality Checklist

1) Target (non-negotiables)

• Define the account criteria for the program (tier, segment, region, vertical)
• Define the persona criteria (function, buying-committee relevance)
• Add 2–3 disqualifiers (so “not a fit” is fast)

2) Authority (set a floor)

• Set the minimum title level for meetings sales should prioritize (e.g., Director+)
• If below the line, require a clear path to the right stakeholder

3) Pain (make it specific)

• Write one pain hypothesis per persona in plain language
• Validate it in the first interaction before committing to a meeting

4) Consequences (force urgency)

• Require one measurable consequence:
  • risk, cost, time, revenue, compliance exposure, SLA failure, churn risk
• If consequences are unclear, treat the meeting as nurture—not pipeline

5) Track the three metrics that predict conversion

• Show rate
• Director+ rate
• Next-step rate (meeting → scheduled follow-up)

Comparison of market solutions

Most teams choose between a few common approaches. Each can work—if you understand the tradeoffs.

In-house SDR/BDR teams

Pros: control, direct alignment with sales, internal context.
Cons: ramp time, turnover, inconsistent enforcement of seniority and quality when priorities change.

PACT succeeds when coaching and standards are consistent—and fails when “more meetings” becomes the only goal.

Outsourced appointment setting (volume-first)

Pros: quick scale and coverage.
Cons: incentives often favor quantity (leads/bookings) over Authority, Consequences, and next-step conversion.

PACT breaks when the provider isn’t accountable to meeting outcomes and quality signals.

Channel MDF programs optimized for activity

Pros: easy to launch, easy to report.
Cons: difficult attribution, inconsistent partner follow-up, unclear impact on pipeline.

PACT helps when MDF is tied to outcomes (meetings with the right people), not just campaigns.

Event models focused on day-of execution

Pros: strong onsite presence, brand experience.
Cons: doesn’t solve who attends or whether attendees convert into meetings without a procurement and qualification system.

PACT complements events by ensuring registrations and follow-up are decision-relevant.

Why Site Ascend aligns well with PACT-driven teams

Site Ascend’s differentiators reinforce PACT execution discipline:

• Only pay for meetings that occur (outcome accountability)
• Director-level and above targeting (Authority built in)
• All U.S.-based contact center (execution consistency)
• White-labeled outreach (channel-friendly delivery)
• Real-time reporting dashboard (visibility to optimize fast)

Conclusion

Meetings stall when they’re missing Pain, Authority, Consequences, or the right Target.

PACT fixes that by forcing discipline around:

• who you meet with,
• why the meeting matters,
• and what makes progress possible.

If your demand gen programs are producing activity without consistent next steps, a PACT-based pilot with Site Ascend can help you improve seniority, show rates, and meeting conversion—without rebuilding headcount.

Reach out to Site Ascend to start a pilot program focused on Director+ meetings that happen—and advance.