What Chris Dutton Taught Us About Making 6sense Work Harder

patrickcunning

As a Solutions Consulting team, we talk to marketing ops and demand gen leaders every day. They’re juggling campaign execution, data strategy, and the never-ending pressure to prove ROI. That’s why our recent conversation with @Chris Dutton, VP of Demand Gen and Marketing Ops, stood out…he’s not just using 6sense, he’s operationalizing it in ways that drive real business impact.

Here are the highlights we think every marketing ops leader should hear.

6sense as a Strategic Engine

Chris’s team treats 6sense like infrastructure. They manage ICP and keyword strategy, model health, and even built custom Salesforce workflows to track 6QA (6sense Qualified Accounts) reasons, status changes, and persona outreach. It’s not just about using the platform, it’s about building around it.

Attribution That Actually Works

Chris’s team tracks:

• Opportunities that originate from a 6QA
• Accounts created via 6sense that become customers
• Contacts acquired via 6sense that later play key roles on opportunities

They’ve built this attribution directly into Salesforce, giving them a clear view of how 6sense drives pipeline.

Smarter ICP Targeting

They redefined their ICP to focus on accounts most likely to succeed with 6sense, which means incorporating technographics from the 6sense database, not just those that have a certain ARR balance or are located in a desirable global region. That meant enriching their CRM and expanding our ICP footprint.

Contact Acquisition That’s Actually Strategic

Instead of just counting how many contacts were added, Chris’s team now tracks:

• Buying committee coverage by segment
  • 7 key personas for Strategic and Enterprise
  • 4 for Commercial
• Which personas are present across accounts
• Gaps in coverage that need to be filled

This shift helps them focus on completeness and relevance—not just volume.

Campaign Execution That’s Actually Coordinated

Before launching IWF (Intelligent Workflows), campaign planning was fragmented. Now, they build collaborative canvases in real time, with weekly check-ins and shared ownership across teams. It’s faster, clearer, and way less chaotic.

6sense Email First

Chris’s team now evaluates every campaign request through a “6sense email first” lens. That shift has helped:

• Reduce BDR activities needed (by 42%) to convert a 6QA
• Increase personalized emails by 10%
• Drive more efficient outreach and better engagement

Peer-to-Peer Nurture That Feels Human

Chris shared one story from Inspire where a prospect got an email from his AI agent and ended up having a real conversation with him at dinner. These peer-to-peer nurtures are creating real connections, especially around events and thought leadership.

Final Thoughts

Marketing ops leaders like Chris are doing the hard work of turning strategy into execution. They’re not just using 6sense, they’re building smarter systems around it.

If you’re trying to prove ROI, optimize your ICP, or drive more efficient campaigns, this is the kind of playbook worth borrowing from.