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Account-to-Lead (A2L) Matching

Chris Nixon Updated by Chris Nixon

Account-to-Lead

Rolling out Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and Account-Based Sales (ABS) can be a BIG organizational change. A2L is an alternative strategy for companies with very ingrained (Lead-Centric) processes.

When is A2L right for me?

Does the process below sound familiar? If so, you may want to pilot an A2L process as a next step. Essentially, all SDRs in working in your CRM could now know when a LEAD should be matched to an ACCOUNT -- saving time, money, and improving the customer experience.

Here is an example of a traditional sales process:

  1. Visitor Comes to Website and fills out form.
  2. Form pushes data to Marketing Automation Tool, such as Marketo or Pardot.
  3. MA tool creates LEAD in the CRM, such as Salesforce or SAP C4c -- as a "Marketing Qualified Lead" (MQL).
  4. An SDR qualifies the lead and delivers a sequence of follow up messages, trying to set a meeting. If a meeting is set, the lead is converted to a CONTACT, matched to an account.
  5. If the AE accepts the meeting they mark the lead as "Sales Accepted" (SAL/SAO).
  6. If the meeting is successful, they mark a related opportunity as "Sales Qualified" (SQL/SQO).
  7. If a new lead (person) from the same company comes into the system, THIS PROCESS REPEATS.

Rolling out A2L

Here is an example of a A2L sales process:

  1. Visitor Comes to Website and fills out form.
  2. Form pushes data to Marketing Automation Tool, such as Marketo or Pardot.
  3. MA tool creates LEAD in the CRM, such as Salesforce or SAP C4c -- as a "Marketing Qualified Lead" (MQL).
  4. An A2L process UPDATES the lead with helpful information for the SDR, such as which account it matches to, what's the Opportunity Status of the matched account, etc.
  5. If no account is matched, SDR qualifies the lead and delivers a sequence of follow up messages, trying to set a meeting. If a meeting is set, the lead is converted to a CONTACT, matched to an account. If the account is being worked by an AE, the rep can discuss the lead with the AE and decide to convert it or not.
  6. When a meeting is set, the AE accepts the meeting they mark the lead as "Sales Accepted" (SAL/SAO). They also receive more communication from their SDRs on RELATED LEADS.
  7. If the meeting is successful, they mark a related opportunity as "Sales Qualified" (SQL/SQO).
  8. (Optional) All other leads are AUTO-CONVERTED -- this is for more mature that are ready to try Lead-to-Account Matching (L2A). Most companies choose a conversion point that makes sense for their ideal process.

What will my Sales Team see?

Accounts and Leads are now linked, just like Accounts and Contacts! We also natively add summary scores and engagement trending onto each Lead, Contact and Account in your CRM.

How did we do?

Using Engagement Score to Trigger an Update in Salesforce

Lead-to-Account Matching (L2A)

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