Who Really Drives Revenue? Rethinking Attribution in B2B

When a deal closes, everyone fights for credit.

But there were probably 10 people involved. Some made a real impact, some didn’t.

And that’s why the question “Who gets the credit?” misses the point.

B2B sales today are long, messy, and non-linear. And old models like first-touch or last-touch don’t reflect that.

The good news? Attribution doesn’t have to be a fight. When done right:

• It brings teams together
• Shows what to double down on
• And helps marketing, sales, and leadership make decisions with data
  
  

That’s why we sat down with Daniel Huang, Mid-Market AE (North America) at HubSpot, to unpack how modern teams should rethink attribution.

1. It’s Never About Attribution at First

Companies never say “We need CRM for better attribution.”

It starts with: “We need to get out of spreadsheets,” or “We don’t know what’s working.”

Daniel has also seen it too often:

Behind the scenes, even a growing company's sales is buried in spreadsheets and marketing operation is flying blind.

• There’s no shared view of the customer journey.
• No understanding of what’s working.
• No feedback loop between campaigns, conversations, and conversion.
  
  

And that’s the real problem i.e. visibility.

That’s where attribution steps in. With a CRM both Marketing and Sales teams can use to finally know what’s driving results.

Just like this dashboard of high-performing assets 👇

Need just one glance for clear insights.

2. It’s Not About Ego Either

Credit debates aren’t about pride. Everyone knows multiple people were involved.

They’re about visibility and funding.

Daniel puts it simply: “If your work isn’t tracked, it doesn’t exist. If it’s not visible, it doesn’t get funded.”

Marketing wants proof. Sales wants patterns. Leadership needs both to allocate resources.

Attribution must show what moved the deal forward, not just what closed it.

This dashboard proves it 👇

Here, not all assets are performing equally. But, now you know what to back with the allocated budget.

3. More Than Models, You Need the Story

Even perfect tracking misses things: That in-person event? The dinner meeting? That Slack intro?

“Some impact is structured. Some isn't. That doesn’t make it less real.”

That’s where self-reported attribution, AI insights, and team context matter.

Yes, track every pageview and email open, but don’t forget the story behind them.

Remember, great attribution is data + narrative.

Daniel even suggests logging offline touchpoints manually. The system gets smarter with every iteration.

4. If You Had to Redesign It From Scratch

We asked Daniel: how would you approach attribution if you had to build it from day one?

Here’s what he said:

• Align marketing and sales around one goal, and not separate KPIs.
• Map the customer journey outside the tool, then build it inside
• Use only one CRM(HubSpot 😉)
• Track everything from campaigns to conversations.
• Use multiple attribution models. No single model tells the full story.
• Make it visible to everyone, so no one’s guessing.

“Attribution should inform, not argue. And help teams focus, not fight.”

If your team is stuck debating who drove the deal. Let’s fix the foundation.