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StevenRe3
Level 1
August 8, 2024
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Creating new lead for every MQL

  • August 8, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 1543 views

Hey all! 

My new SVP came from a company that for each MQL, they created a new lead in SFDC for sales to work and then convert into the existing contact when they were ready to create an opp. The intent of this was for tracking if sales was working the leads properly without building additional automation on the contact object. I want to note this is in a B2B environment as well. 

 

My question is, has anyone else seen or done this? All of my peers I have spoken to have advised against it, and my initial reaction was in line with that too. But hearing that it was done with success at a previous company I am approaching this with a open mind and looking to find out more! 

 

My reservations are:

  • If we force a duplicate, is there any way to tell Marketo to always put the latest activity to the newest lead, my understanding is it will attach activity to whichever its algorithm finds first. 
  • If we create duplicates how can we make sure to avoid any sync errors for having duplicates in Marketo?
  • I found this article talking about forcing a lead on form fills, but not one for MQLs as well, I am thinking that would be set up in SFDC rather than Marketo. 
    • With that in mind I was thinking it actually may make sense for the automation to be set in SFDC for new lead creation when the MQL requirements are met so that we add certain aspects such as - if account type = customer, notate it on the new lead created. 
  • Are there any other risks to proceeding this way or on the other side benefits to this that I am not thinking of?
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Best answer by SanfordWhiteman

My question is, has anyone else seen or done this? All of my peers I have spoken to have advised against it, and my initial reaction was in line with that too.

You and your peers are correct. It's a disaster, and a disaster that isn't so much waiting to happen as inherent to the approach. 

 

If we force a duplicate, is there any way to tell Marketo to always put the latest activity to the newest lead, my understanding is it will attach activity to whichever its algorithm finds first. 

"Its algorithm" is too general. The way Marketo looks people up depends on the activity, but it's never random. And it almost never chooses the most recently created lead. For example, form fills find the most recently updated lead (regardless of update source). Email clicks are logged to the lead ID that received an email. Web activities, once a Munchkin session is associated with a person and isn't reassociated, continue to be logged to that person.

 

If we create duplicates how can we make sure to avoid any sync errors for having duplicates in Marketo?

What do you mean by sync errors? 2 different Marketo records can be synced to 2 different SFDC leads (and/or SFDC contacts). There will not be errors during sync because the relationships are between SFDC IDs and Marketo IDs (not email addresses). However, I would argue the entire setup represents an error state, because actions related to the same human are being spread all over the ecosystem.

 

  • Are there any other risks to proceeding this way or on the other side benefits to this that I am not thinking of?

There are no benefits to this approach over properly managed Opportunities.

  

1 reply

SanfordWhiteman
SanfordWhitemanAccepted solution
Level 10
August 9, 2024

My question is, has anyone else seen or done this? All of my peers I have spoken to have advised against it, and my initial reaction was in line with that too.

You and your peers are correct. It's a disaster, and a disaster that isn't so much waiting to happen as inherent to the approach. 

 

If we force a duplicate, is there any way to tell Marketo to always put the latest activity to the newest lead, my understanding is it will attach activity to whichever its algorithm finds first. 

"Its algorithm" is too general. The way Marketo looks people up depends on the activity, but it's never random. And it almost never chooses the most recently created lead. For example, form fills find the most recently updated lead (regardless of update source). Email clicks are logged to the lead ID that received an email. Web activities, once a Munchkin session is associated with a person and isn't reassociated, continue to be logged to that person.

 

If we create duplicates how can we make sure to avoid any sync errors for having duplicates in Marketo?

What do you mean by sync errors? 2 different Marketo records can be synced to 2 different SFDC leads (and/or SFDC contacts). There will not be errors during sync because the relationships are between SFDC IDs and Marketo IDs (not email addresses). However, I would argue the entire setup represents an error state, because actions related to the same human are being spread all over the ecosystem.

 

  • Are there any other risks to proceeding this way or on the other side benefits to this that I am not thinking of?

There are no benefits to this approach over properly managed Opportunities.

  

    Balkar_Singh
    Community Advisor and Adobe Champion
    Balkar_SinghCommunity Advisor and Adobe Champion
    Community Advisor and Adobe Champion
    August 9, 2024

    Agree with Sandy here, great additions. To me, these so-called "purposeful" duplicates seem wrong. A person doesn't duplicates into another person just because of an MQL. I might be oversimplifying it, but it doesn't reflects reality.

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