Dashboards used for budget monitoring in prospecting typically include which metric to assess efficiency per lead?

• A. Cost per acquisition (CAC)
• B. Return on investment (ROI)
• C. Forecast variance
• D. Spend vs plan

Answer: (A)

In budget monitoring for prospecting, you want to know how efficiently your spend converts into leads. Cost per acquisition directly ties the amount spent to the number of leads or customers gained, giving a clear per-unit efficiency measure. A lower cost per acquisition means you’re getting more leads for each dollar spent, which is precisely what you’re assessing when you look at efficiency per lead. ROI focuses on profitability rather than how much it costs to generate each lead, forecast variance relates to budgeting accuracy rather than efficiency, and spend vs plan shows budget adherence without capturing how effectively spend translates into outcomes. So, cost per acquisition is the best metric for evaluating efficiency per lead.