MARDREAMIN’ SUMMIT 2025
MAY 7-8, 2025 IN ATLANTA - GA
Days
Hours
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Seconds
View the session live or catch the replay here. You’ll find the recording and all related resources on this page once available.
Our live discussions are happening over in Slack. That’s where you can connect with speakers, join session threads, and chat with other attendees in real time.
It’s common place for a consultant to be sought for help with Leads, and this always comes well after the implementation. The fact is that defining the Leads object as “a place where you put people you want to do business with”, or simply “a place to put your Leads in” is misleading, if not borderline wrong. In this session, we’re going to go over the proper definition for the Leads object in Salesforce, what its there for, and discuss how it aligns with Pardot and a Lead Nurturing Process (including Marketing Qualified Leads and Sales Qualified Leads).
We’re also going to help validate if the Leads object is right for you and your organization (you may be surprised with the answer).
In the session, key takeaways include:
Learn how to properly leverage the Leads object (and the Accounts/Contacts object) in Salesforce
Align the Salesforce objects and Pardot to a Lead Nurturing Process
Discover some best practices in how Pardot Prospects can be best set up to map over to Salesforce
Get a quick dive into MQL and SQL leads
Learn one simple trick for implementing MQL leads if you have not yet implemented it, and fear you may spend too much time in whiteboard sessions re-inventing the wheel to qualify your leads.
This summary tackles a common confusion in Salesforce implementation: the true purpose of the Lead object, and how marketing and sales teams should interact with it, especially in the context of Pardot.
The speaker clarifies that a Lead is not just for any prospect, but specifically for unknown prospects.
The Lead object’s primary function is qualification: to determine if your company is interested in doing business with the individual.
Once this qualification is met, the Lead should be immediately converted into an Account and Contact, regardless of whether a current sales Opportunity exists. The object has served its purpose.
The function of the Lead object dictates which teams should interact with it.
Marketing and Inside Sales teams are the primary users, as their job is to qualify the initial list of unknowns (like trade show scans).
Salespeople (Account Executives) should not use the Lead tab. Avoiding this extra layer of complexity simplifies their workflow, allowing them to focus solely on Prospect Accounts and Opportunities.
The speaker outlines the progression from initial interest to a customer, integrating Salesforce objects with Pardot concepts:
Pardot Grade (MQL): Aligns with your company’s interest in the prospect (i.e., meeting the ideal customer profile).
Pardot Score (SQL): Aligns with the prospect’s interest in your company (i.e., interactions like email clicks and downloads).
These two scores guide the lead from the “unknown” Lead object to a “qualified” Prospect Account and eventually an Opportunity.
It may be simpler to skip the Lead object entirely if:
Your team is small, and you don’t have dedicated Marketing or Inside Sales roles.
Your data is largely prequalified (e.g., a list of known contract expiration dates).
Tip for MQL Implementation: For B2B companies, using normalized LinkedIn company data (Industry, Employee Count) is highly recommended to quickly and accurately power the Pardot Grade system.
