Lead Flow Process Structure

[hillaj120]

Hello Everyone!

We are working to develop a lead flow process between our Marketo and Dynamics instances that has some unique pieces that we need help determining if it will even work between the systems. 

We've been asked to develop a process that when leads flow/convert from Marketo forms into Dynamics, that those leads represent a period in time instead of having a 1-1 relationship between the leads and contacts. 

One example would be having a lead come through and convert on one of our forms. That lead is converted to a contact in Dynamics, but is disqualified for whatever reason and updates to that contact are blocked going forward. Then that same contact comes back to our site, submits a form again but instead of that information and activity being tied to that existing contact, a new lead would be created instead and the team on the Dynamics side would see a contact with a newly created lead under it.

Hoping that process makes sense and looking to see if anyone has suggestions on how this would work, if it's against best practices or if we can even make something like this work. Any info would me much appreciated!

Thank you!
Alec

[Jo_Pitts1]

@hillaj120 ,

Are you using Marketo forms?  if so, you'll have a problem with this, as Marketo associates leads based on email address.  

Can you delete the Marketo record when it get's disqualified in Dynamics?

Cheers

[hillaj120]

Yes we are using Marketo forms and I've been keeping the fact Marketo associates leads on email address top of mind for the team here when thinking about this process. I'm just not coming across a realistic way of making this work since we're fighting the natural current of Marketo and it's matching 1-1 email address functionality and fundamentally not creating multiple lead and contact entities of the same person. 

The one idea brought up was using a campaign response to track activity but we might be running into the issue of once a lead is tagged "disqualified" updates to that record are blocked so there's that aspect as well. 

I can bring up the idea of having the Marketo record deleted when it's disqualified in Dynamics. My mind goes to then not being able to remarket or reengage that contact in the future but in the scheme of what the team is trying to accomplish, I'm not sure that's a high priority once someone is disqualified. 

Hoping that provides some more context but again any information is much appreciated!

[Jo_Pitts1]

@hillaj120 ,

I was pondering this overnight.

Everything I can think of in Marketo is a really ugly work around (e.g. suffixing emails with '-dq' for those who are disqualified - then makes form prefill really bad for a returning lead).

Then I pondered still further, and was wondering WHY you'd want to create new leads in Dynamics?  Why not record DQ as a status against a record in some way (providing an auditable history of when and why they were DQed) and then carry on with the same lead.  Much more manageable and reportable than having multiple leads for the same person. 

I think this is a situation where the requirements really need to be considered pretty carefully.

If you are subject to legislation like the GDPR or CCPA, can you imagine managing the data takedown requests (i.e. right to be forgotten), or requests to see all held data if you have multiple records for someone?

Cheers

Jo

[SanfordWhiteman]

Creating a new lead from every form post is actually very easy. You have a proxy field on the form, post a hidden Email field with a random unique value, then change the Email back in a Flow step.

The complex part is making sure you don't fork a new lead every time. That is, don't fork if someone has a non-DQ'd contact with the same Email. If you're using a Marketo LP this too can be done, takes some JS.

I also agree with Jo, though, that this whole multi-lead approach seems cumbersome.

[Jo_Pitts1]

@SanfordWhiteman ,

yep - I see how that approach works.  

If you also loaded (as a hidden field) the status, you'd be able to make a call (in JS) as to whether to randomize the 'real' email field.

However, even that is marginal as you'd have to assume all new leads were 'new' and not do funky things with the email field.

So cumbersome 🙂

[SanfordWhiteman]

---

If you also loaded (as a hidden field) the status, you'd be able to make a call (in JS) as to whether to randomize the 'real' email field.🙂

---

Not as simple as a hidden field, because if the person exists but hasn’t filled out a form in that session, you need to poll after a “provisional“ initial submission.

[Jo_Pitts1]

Agreed.. hence my caveat about new leads (but it applies to existing leads as well if you aren't using pre-fill).

All in all, the multi lead thing is NOT a good plan!

[hillaj120]

Thanks for the input everyone!

This is helping build our case against trying to develop this type of lead flow process. I wasn't sure from the beginning of this process that we could accomplish this type of setup and sounding more and more like it goes against the natural order of how Marketo and CRMs are set up. And it would take a lot of labor intensive setup to even come close to a process like this and even then there would be gaps in the process. 

I'm thinking I go back to my team providing some of the Community input provided here and suggest some form of "campaign response" capture that would track the history of a lead/contact over the course of their interactions with our team. If anyone has anything they think would be valuable for my team to hear on the subject, please let me know!

Again, much appreciated everyone!

Alec

[Jo_Pitts1]

@hillaj120 ,

**bleep** it :).. you're bringing out the BA in me!!!

If I were in your shoes, I'd be going back to the team wanting real clarity on requirements, not on functionality.

It sounds like (from the limited information you've been able to give us) the requirement is to be able to manage a leads disqualification/re-qualification over time.  

Once that requirement is solidified, you can then design a functional approach that works within the framework of a CRM and Marketing Automation solution.

Cheers

Jo