Pipeline Attribution is the Achilles Heel of GTM teams
- Ana Milevskaja
- Jun 11, 2024
- 2 min read
Who gets credit for an opportunity?
Why does marketing keep spending time and money and can’t show anything for their work?
How should KPIs be set up to reflect value added by the entire GTM crew: marketing, sales, BDR and partner teams?
Pipeline attribution has always been a contentious topic among GTM teams. This is more true now than ever. Getting a buyer to engage is harder, deals are smaller and sales cycles are longer and more complex. Welcome to the post-COVID hangover!
Teams need to reduce friction and solve the attribution problem. Everyone wants and needs their work to be valued and recognized, so what is the way forward?
In my experience, setting up your attribution model to include “sourced” and “influenced” opportunities is the best way forward. “Sourced” is where credit is given to the team that had the first touch with the prospect. “Influenced” is given to the team who helped move the opportunity along. For example, if a sales rep invited a prospect to an event and marketing organized it, then it is a sales “sourced” opportunity with the marketing team getting credit for “influenced”.
Each team still has their own KPIs and is accountable for the pipeline they need to source. The time saved on discussing pipeline attribution can be spent on creating it.
Most companies don’t compensate marketing teams for creating pipeline. I think this should change, especially for those who are in the field working hand in hand with sales and BDRs.
What attribution models have you seen work for B2B SaaS companies? If I can be a sounding board for your attribution woes, please reach out.
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