Data CloudAdvancedb2baccountsemantic-modelunification
Design semantic data model for B2B accounts and contacts
Real World Scenario
A B2B manufacturer ingests accounts from SAP, Salesforce CRM, and partner portal. Hierarchy and contact roles differ across systems.
Expected Answer
• Model Account and Individual DMOs with explicit parent-child hierarchy relationships
• Map contact roles to Account Contact Relationship or custom DMO extensions
• Identity resolution for contacts separate from account matching—avoid merging two people at one company incorrectly
• Survivorship for firmographic data: D&B authoritative for industry, CRM for owner assignment
• Segments at account level for ABM vs contact level for persona campaigns—document grain
• Activation to Sales Cloud enriches Account records without overwriting rep-owned fields
• Graph-style relationship queries for buying committee analysis
Follow-Up Questions & Answers
Click to expand — each follow-up includes a direct, interview-ready answer
Direct answer: Model Account and Individual DMOs with explicit parent-child hierarchy relationships Also consider: Map contact roles to Account Contact Relationship or custom DMO extensions In practice: Identity resolution for contacts separate from account matching—avoid merging two people at one company incorrectly Optimize for scale and operational observability.
Architect Perspective
B2B unification grain is account-contact-role, not individual-only B2C patterns. Architects clarify segment grain before marketing builds campaigns.