In the world of B2B sales and marketing, one persistent issue stands out: the disconnect between sales teams and marketers. Salespeople often critique the quality of the leads they receive, while marketers lament that sales teams fail to follow up effectively. At the root of this frustration lies a fundamental flaw in how CRM systems, particularly Salesforce, are designed.
Salesforce, the most widely adopted CRM in B2B, places a heavy emphasis on the Lead Object. While this may have worked for simpler, transactional sales models in the past, it’s now creating more problems than it solves in the context of modern B2B decision-making processes.
The Lead Object: Outdated and Misaligned
The problem with the Lead Object in Salesforce is not merely technological—it’s a question of mindset. In B2B, purchases are rarely made by a single person. They involve multiple stakeholders across an organisation, from decision-makers to influencers, blockers, and sometimes, even a reluctant executive or two. Yet Salesforce’s focus on individual leads oversimplifies this process and fails to align with how B2B buying decisions are actually made.
Once a lead converts to a contact in Salesforce, it’s a one-way transition—there’s no going back. This design flaw highlights why the Lead Object is not only unnecessary but, in many cases, counterproductive. In today’s complex B2B buying environment, focusing on individual leads within an account doesn’t provide the comprehensive view needed to influence buying decisions at scale.
The Issue: Treating B2B Like B2C
The disconnect between sales and marketing can be traced back to the way Salesforce treats leads. In B2B, deals are made by committees, not individuals. Yet Salesforce’s traditional approach forces both marketing and sales teams to focus on individual leads within an account. This creates misalignment, with sales teams chasing the wrong person simply because they ended up on a list from marketing, rather than understanding the full scope of engagement at the account level.
The Solution: Shifting to Account-Level Thinking
To resolve this, companies need to shift their focus from leads to accounts. In B2B, purchases happen at the account level, not in isolation. By tracking all activity—every touchpoint, every conversation, every engagement—at the account level, businesses can create a unified view of an account’s journey and build more effective engagement strategies.
Understanding how decisions are made within an organisation is key. Mapping out stakeholder relationships—identifying who is influencing the deal, who is advocating for your solution, and who may pose a challenge—is essential for building a strategy that works. Knowing the roles each contact plays allows businesses to anticipate the next steps in the process, rather than reacting to them in real time.
A Cohesive Communication Strategy
Too often, communication between marketing and sales feels disjointed. Marketing warms leads, and sales closes them. While this sounds logical, in practice, it leads to missed opportunities and inefficiencies. A more cohesive strategy involves both marketing and sales working together to engage different stakeholders within the same account. By coordinating their efforts, they can ensure that every communication is timely and relevant, driving the account forward rather than working in silos.
Simplicity Over Complexity
B2B sales and marketing processes don’t need to be over-complicated. While jargon-heavy strategies may sound impressive, the reality is simpler. At its core, the goal is to identify who to communicate with, when to reach out, and why. Too many organisations still focus on individual leads, but the reality is, B2B sales are driven by groups of people with varied perspectives, priorities, and needs. Fragmenting communication between marketing and sales limits your ability to build the relationships that ultimately close deals.
The Account Is the Lead
To be truly effective, B2B marketing and sales need to focus on the account as a whole. The account is the lead. Once you stop focusing on individual leads, you can start working smarter and more cohesively as a team. Marketing and sales should no longer be seen as separate functions but as complementary parts of a unified strategy.
When your CRM system is aligned with this mindset, it transforms from a tool for tracking individual leads to a solution that fosters collaboration, supports strategic decision-making, and drives results. By focusing on the account rather than individual leads, B2B teams can better reflect the real-world dynamics of the buying process and, ultimately, close more deals.
Source: https://martech.org/how-the-salesforce-lead-object-broke-b2b-marketing-and-how-to-fix-it/
