Account Engagement, formerly Pardot, can assign a prospect itself or hand the choice to Salesforce. Missed assignments usually trace to the second path, because Salesforce decides and Account Engagement cannot see why.
1. The assignment options
The Spot for Pardot lists six ways in its 2022 guide. Only one goes through the Salesforce rule.
| Option | Who decides the owner |
|---|---|
| Assign to user | Account Engagement |
| Assign via the Salesforce active assignment rule | The Salesforce rule. The prospect goes to Salesforce with no owner, and the rule picks one |
| Assign to group | Account Engagement. Prospects are shared round robin inside it |
| Assign to queue in Salesforce | A Salesforce queue. It works only with lead queues, and not when the connector syncs to contacts |
| List actions | A person. They are manual, and they do reassign |
| An AppExchange routing app | The app, for complex rules |
2. Causes, in order
- The rule is inactive. Only one lead rule can be active at a time. It needs a default user.
- No entry matches. A prospect that matches no entry goes to the default owner. A catch-all entry makes that deliberate. See leads going to the default owner.
- The prospect already has an owner. We could not confirm from Account Engagement help whether the active-rule action reassigns it. Test one owned prospect.
- The connector syncs to contacts. The queue action cannot be used then.
- The user is not mapped. Each Salesforce user needs a matching Account Engagement user. A missing user is a common cause.
- The sync has not run yet. Check the connector for errors before assuming the rule failed.
3. The owner is not told
An assigned prospect can still go unnoticed. Add a notification action beside the assignment, such as Notify assigned user. The new owner is then told.
4. Check it yourself
Count leads owned by the connector user. They are the prospects no rule placed.
SELECT COUNT() FROM Lead WHERE IsConverted = false AND CreatedDate = LAST_N_DAYS:30 AND Owner.Name = 'Your connector user'Use the name of your own connector user. Then read the active rule for a final entry with no criteria. See leads owned by the integration user and a sync overwriting the owner.
The free scan reads your active assignment rule and flows. It finds a missing active rule, entries that can never match, and entries after a catch-all.
The free scan checks your export for:
- a missing active assignment rule
- entries that can never match
- entries after a catch-all
- more than one system setting the Lead owner
Questions
Why are my Account Engagement prospects not assigned in Salesforce?
The rule may be inactive, or no entry matches. The prospect may already have an owner. The connector may sync to contacts. The user may not be mapped.
Does the Salesforce assignment rule action reassign prospects?
No. The action does not reassign prospects. One that already has an owner is left alone.
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