From MQLs to Opportunity-Centric Revenue: How Reltio Transformed Its GTM Strategy
A conversation with Joel Jacob, Director of Marketing Operations at Reltio.
For years, marketing teams have been evaluated by MQLs (Marketing Qualified Leads). But as B2B buying behavior has evolved—where decisions are made by buying committees and involve longer, more complex journeys—the MQL metric no longer serves its original purpose. One person filling out a form doesn’t indicate true intent, and one lead doesn’t equal one deal.
The Shift: From Leads to Opportunities
Reltio, a leading B2B SaaS platform that unifies data for enterprise clients, realized this shift early. With a sales cycle averaging nine months and involving multiple stakeholders, their traditional lead-based funnel was no longer sustainable.
Joel Jacob, Director of Marketing Operations at Reltio, shares how they transitioned from a legacy MQL-based model to a modern, opportunity-centric buying group strategy. This wasn’t just a process tweak—it was an end-to-end transformation of their go-to-market engine, completed in just 60 days.
Why the MQL Model Failed Reltio
Joel and his team began by diagnosing the inefficiencies of their MQL-centric process:
1% Conversion Rate: Only 1 out of every 100 MQLs was turning into closed-won revenue.
Single-Threaded Opportunities: BDRs would often pursue individual leads without context, while AEs had to manually identify and involve the broader buying group.
Misaligned Processes: Marketing, BDRs, and sales were working in silos, tracking separate KPIs and speaking different languages.
High Customer Expectations: Their enterprise clients required a tailored, consultative approach, not generic drip campaigns and lead scoring.
“We weren’t solving for how we sell. We needed to solve for how our customers buy.”
What Changed: The Opportunity-Based Revenue Engine
At the heart of Reltio’s new model is the concept of an opportunity container that is tracked from the very start of the buying journey.
Key Components:
Stage 0 Opportunities: Created proactively for cold target accounts to align all GTM efforts from the get-go.
Buying Group Identification: Progress only happens when at least three relevant personas are identified within the opportunity.
Unified Funnel Ownership: Marketing, BDRs, and AEs jointly own and advance each opportunity.
Real-Time Intent + Historical Data: Powering personalized campaigns and outreach using platforms like 6sense and LeanData.
Persona-Based Targeting: Ads and outreach are aligned with opportunity stage and key personas, not just job titles or industries.
This model allows for marketing to target ads based on opportunity stage, for BDRs to tailor messaging using real-time insights, and for AEs to focus on qualified, committee-led opportunities.
Overcoming Operational Hurdles
Implementing this new strategy wasn’t without challenges:
Time Constraint: The entire shift had to happen in just 60 days, before the start of the fiscal year.
No New Tech: Reltio opted to re-architect their existing stack (Salesforce, Marketo, LeanData, 6sense) rather than buy new tools.
Zero Downtime: The transition had to happen without interrupting live sales or BDR workflows.
Team Alignment: Joel and team had to overcome deeply entrenched habits and misaligned incentives.
“We stopped calling ourselves marketing or sales ops. We were just ‘operations’—unified behind a common goal.”
Data Quality: The Real MVP
Joel emphasized that none of this would have been possible without clean, connected data across marketing and sales systems. Years before the switch, Reltio had invested in data unification and intent platforms. That foundation paid off.
Historical Data: Enabled predictive modeling via 6sense.
Account-Centric View: Powered by LeanData and Salesforce to track buying group activity.
No More Attribution Wars: Everyone works the same opportunities, making marketing influence clear without the blame game.
“60 days gets the headlines, but that was only possible because we invested years into getting our data right.”
The Role of AI in a Data-Ready World
Joel’s team now uses AI to increase efficiency in key areas:
BDR Enablement: Automating research and outreach so reps spend more time engaging and less time preparing.
Predictive Signals: Using AI to model when an account is likely to move into an active buying cycle—based on engagement and historical patterns.
Campaign Optimization: Automating content and ad delivery based on opportunity stage.
But he warns: AI without good data is meaningless.
“There is no AI without clean data. If you feed bad data into AI, you’ll just get bad results faster.”
The Payoff: Faster Velocity, Better Pipeline Stickiness
Reltio’s transformation delivered results fast:
Pipeline Stickiness: Opportunities are more likely to progress and less likely to go dark.
Faster Velocity: More deals now close within the same fiscal year, despite a 9-month average cycle.
Better Alignment: GTM teams operate from the same playbook, improving efficiency and morale.
Clear Attribution: Marketing and sales share credit instead of competing for it.
Advice for Teams Looking to Make the Shift
Joel’s parting advice for RevOps and marketing leaders:
Let the Data Lead: Start with facts, not opinions. Use historical conversion rates to make the case for change.
Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Ditch the silos. Align Ops, Sales, and Marketing under shared goals.
Don’t Wait for Perfection: You don’t need a perfect tech stack. Use what you have and iterate.
Train and Align Mindsets: It’s not just a systems change—it’s a mindset shift. Over-communicate and retrain internal teams on the new model.
Stay Customer-Centric: Build your process around how your customers actually buy—not around your internal comfort zone.
Final Thoughts
Reltio’s journey proves that moving beyond MQLs is possible—and impactful. But it requires more than new tools or campaigns. It takes executive buy-in, operational discipline, and a deep commitment to aligning every team around opportunity creation and customer value.
“We don’t talk about ABM anymore. We just call it the process. Because it’s how we work now.”
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More Resources
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5 Steps to Navigate Buying Groups in 2025: A RevOps Guide
5 Steps to Navigate Buying Groups in 2025: A RevOps Guide RevOps 10 min In today’s business environment, B2B buying is never just one person. According to Forrester Research, more than half of global business buyers purchase in complex buying scenarios that include more people, more departments, and generally higher price points. And this buying group can be made up of 7 to 20 people! Unlocking the power of buying groups is a crucial aspect of the B2B landscape. This blog is a synopsis of our conversation with revenue operations leader, Nandini Karkare. She is currently the SVP of RevOps at Zywave. Nandini suggests strategic steps to navigate through the realms of Revenue Operations and helps uncover the strategies, insights, and best practices that constitute a comprehensive guide to mastering the dynamics of buying groups. Read on to get actionable tips on how you can navigate buying groups in 2025 (and beyond). And implement the learnings to create a winning GTM motion. Here are the 5 steps Nandini recommends: 1. Decode Your Buying Groups The buying groups typically consist of members from departments and they all contribute different aspects. It is critical to understand the scope of decision-making including the people who play the most significant roles in making the call. Gartner’s report on B2B Buying highlights that 77% of B2B purchases involve a buying group of four or more people. PS: The key stakeholder can turn out someone altogether different from who you had building a relationship with all along. a. Capturing Buying Group Members Effective buying group management means considering not just decision-makers but influential stakeholders across departments. Misidentifying key players or focusing solely on the main contact risks derailing the sale. (i) How can you map the entire buying group efficiently? Leverage internal and external data to identify the key players Segment the Group by Role and Influence (ii) Not everyone in the buying group holds equal power or influence. Segment them into categories: Decision-makers (who give the final heads-up) Influencers (who sway the decision) Users (who use the product and provide feedback) Budget owners b. The Role Transition Within a Buying Group Moving the focus from a buying group to a renewal or expansion committee includes knowing precisely who remains in the relationship, as well as who becomes more active as an account grows. (i) New roles may emerge in a Buying Group Technical or operational leaders may become more influential post sale, since they are now using the product. (ii) The focus shifts from buying to renewal The interaction should be more about the return on investment (ROI) of the product placed on the market, ongoing value delivery, and ongoing needs. (iii) Alignment between the buying groups and renewal committee Leveraging the same enthusiasm and relationships generated at the first-buying stage helps in anchoring the transitions and preventing any drop-offs in engagement. Related Resource: Navigate Enterprise Buying Committees: Strategies for Driving Alignment c. Understand the Personal and Collective Priorities of a Buying Group As per McKinsey & Company, B2B buying decisions increasingly require engagement across departments, with 60% of purchasing committees including members from outside traditional procurement, like IT and HR. (i)Alignment Between C-Suite and Technical Teams Decisions aren’t Made in a Vacuum Collaboration between C-suite and technical teams ensures a holistic approach to solving customer problems, creating stronger, more sustainable relationships Their cross departmental collaboration can help with: (ii) Alignment on Strategic Goals C suite executives need technical assistance to translate their strategic vision to reality that also aligns with company-wide objectives. (iii) Technical Validation These insights guide the C-suite in making informed decisions that fit technical infrastructure and future-proofing. (iv) Cross-functional Communication Bridging the gap between these two groups involves continuous, open communication, ensuring that technical evaluations don’t delay business goals but instead support them cohesively. iii. Understand the Product Take product demos, listen to sales calls, and use tools that show how the product is sold. This helps in understanding the customer needs better. iv. Dive into Your CRM Understand your CRM (whether Salesforce or HubSpot) to assess how the data is organized. This is to check whether it’s easy to use, and identify immediate improvements. The CRM should be the central source of truth, with other tools supporting it. The data should be unified with easier adoption for the teams. v. Build Trust Internally Establish trust within your teams by listening carefully, asking questions about how RevOps can help, and addressing quick fixes to show you’re there to help. Having this trust shows them that you’re here to support their success. Quick wins, such as small fixes that make people’s jobs easier, helps in establishing credibility early. 2. Establish Clear KPIs i. Understanding Team KPIs It is important to ask you stakeholders about the KPIs that matter to understand their goals and what their expectations are. ii. Aligning KPIs Across Teams Different departments oftentimes work in silos. RevOps should strive to align these departments and check if these KPIs match the overall business objectives. Gaps must be closed if their KPIs don’t align. iii. Setting RevOps KPIs As you approach the end of the first 30 days, start establishing RevOps-specific KPIs that match company goals, which may involve metrics like revenue increase, conversion rates, or improvements in overall efficiency. 3. Tech Stack Audit Deep dive into the existing tools that your company is using. Identify all redundancies, and find opportunities to streamline the entire tech stack. i. Map Out Tools Compile a list of all tools used by teams, noting their purpose and how they work with the CRM. ii. Evaluate Use and Cost Determine if tools are actively used or if there are duplicates. Look for cost-saving opportunities by consolidating tools when possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVDJ9KI1tGw&t=869s Next 30 days – Alignment and Control The next 30 days marks a shift from discovery to alignment. The goals should be to create cohesion between departments (e.g., Sales, Marketing) and laying down effective controls. The improvements need to be implemented without overwhelming the teams. This phase combines