What Is Lead Scoring? [Models & Best Practices]

It can be frustrating when you spend hours on a lead and then get rejected. Not all leads are interested in buying. So, what’s the solution? Identifying effective leads and valuable prospects through lead scoring is essential to save time and resources. But what is lead scoring?

Lead scoring is a methodology used by sales and marketing departments to rank prospects against a scale that represents the perceived value each lead represents to the organization. The goal is to prioritize the company's outreach based on the likelihood of conversion. This system assigns scores to leads based on various attributes like their behavior on a website, interaction with marketing campaigns, and demographic information. Best practices suggest using a combination of explicit scores (based on what you know about the prospect, such as industry or job title) and implicit scores (based on their behavior, such as website visits or email opens) to get a comprehensive view of a lead's potential.

This blog provides the importance of scoring, scoring models, best practices for effectively acquiring leads and improving sales results, and other essential points.

What Is Lead Scoring?

Lead scoring is when you give points to each B2B lead you get for your business to rank them and assess their readiness to purchase.

You give points based on various attributes, like the information the lead gives you and how they interact with your website and brand.

Overall, you can create lead scoring models using the following factors:

• Signs of interest
• Organizational or demographic information
• Actions of potential customers
• Their interaction with your organization
• How they found out about your offer: Lead source

It helps sales and marketing teams know which leads are most important and helps turn them into customers faster.

Why Is Lead Scoring Important?

Lead scoring is super important!

It helps businesses understand their customers better and sell smarter.

By collecting and analyzing data from things like website visits, document downloads, and customer interactions, companies can figure out which customers are more likely to buy their products or services.

Lead scoring lets the sales team know who’s just curious and who’s serious about making a purchase.

For example, someone who looks at a few pages on the website might be interested but not ready to buy yet, while someone who asks for a free trial or checks out the pricing page is probably more likely to become a customer.

Knowing this helps businesses focus their time and effort on the most promising leads, so they can make sales funnel faster and more efficiently.

That’s why lead scoring is so important—it helps businesses save time, sell smarter, and make more sales!

Bonus tip! Find out more about prospecting techniques for sales, marketing strategies, and lead generation in 2023.

What Is Predictive Scoring?

Predictive lead scoring is the process of using predictive machine learning to study a user’s past data and current customer data.

This process makes predictions about what might happen in the future.

By analyzing purchasing history, it creates a picture of the perfect customer and finds leads that match this profile.

This approach is favored because it avoids human mistakes by relying solely on accurate data.

What Is the Lead Scoring Model?

The lead scoring model is a way that is used by sales & marketing teams and helps them determine the compatibility of each lead with their product or service.

By using the lead scoring models, you can prioritize and focus on leads that have a higher compatibility with your product or service, increasing the chances of converting them into customers.

What Lead Scoring Models Are There?

There are different types of lead scoring models based on the data collected from people interacting with your business.

1. Demographic Information:

By asking questions about demographics, such as age or occupation, you can assess how well a lead fits your target audience.

For example, you can subtract points for leads outside your desired geographic location.

2. Firmographic Information:

If you are a B2B organization, you may be interested in certain company characteristics such as size, industry, geographic area, number of clients, or business type.

Asking relevant questions can help you assign points based on how well a lead aligns with your target audience.

3. Online Behavior:

Analyzing a lead’s behavior on your website can indicate their level of interest.

Factors such as the number of pages visited, downloads, or certain actions taken (e.g., filling out a demo request form) can affect lead scores.

Qualified leads who have stopped engaging after a certain period may have points deducted.

4. Email Engagement:

Assessing email open and click-through rates provides insights into a lead’s interest.

Leads who consistently engage with your emails or click on high-value content can receive higher scores.

5. Social Engagement:

Monitoring a lead’s interaction with your brand on social media platforms can indicate their level of interest.

Taking into account factors such as clicks, shares, reposts or retweets, or influence metrics like Klout scores can influence lead scores.

6. Negative or Spam Detection:

Negative scores can be assigned to leads who display spam-like behavior, such as using uncapitalized names or completing form fields with consecutive letters.

Using personal email addresses for business-focused products could also result in point deductions.

How Do You Use Lead Scoring Model?

Lead scoring models are valuable tools for efficient B2B lead generation in B2B SaaS sales businesses. As mentioned earlier, they help prioritize leads by evaluating their potential based on specific criteria.

To use a lead scoring model, start by identifying key attributes and behaviors that indicate high-quality leads.

This can include intent data, firmographic or demographic data, prospect behavioral data, and engagement with your organization.

Assign scores to each criterion and weigh them according to their importance.

Then, as leads come in, input their information into the model to obtain a total score.

This way, you can focus your efforts on qualified leads, increasing your chances of successful lead qualification.

Bonus tip: If you don’t want to spend time on prospects who aren’t interested in your product, try CUFinder.

This intelligent prospecting tool helps you find qualified customers who actually want what you’re selling.

What Are the Steps of Scoring Model Creation?

To create a lead scoring model for your business, follow these five steps:

Step 1: Identify the Challenges:

Figure out the problems you’re facing, such as the need for more qualified leads, wasting time on leads not ready to buy, or a long sales cycle.

Step 2: Design a Scoring Plan:

Create a scoring model that aligns with your business objectives.

Determine which demographics and behaviors to track and assign scores accordingly.

For example, clicking through an email can earn 10 points, while visiting the pricing page can add 15 points.

Step 3: Set Thresholds:

Decide on score ranges that indicate a lead’s readiness to buy.

For example, scores from 0 to 20 may represent cold leads, 21 to 49 warm leads, and 50 and above hot leads.

Step 4: Select a Scoring Service:

Choose a lead scoring service that meets your needs and budget.

Look for providers that offer the desired functionality.

For small businesses, simpler options may be sufficient.

Step 5: Engage with Leads:

Plan how to engage with leads once they reach specific score thresholds.

Automate communication to deliver relevant content at the right time.

For hot leads, send exclusive offers and discounts, while warm leads may benefit from lead nurturing.

By following these steps and using marketing automation tools like HubSpot or Salesforce for scoring and automated communication, you can effectively manage and engage with your leads.

Lead Scoring Best Practices to Improve Lead Quality

Lead scoring is a crucial practice to improve lead quality and increase the effectiveness of your sales and marketing efforts.

Here are some best practices to consider:

1. Define Clear Lead Qualification Criteria:

Clearly outline the attributes and behaviors that indicate a qualified lead for your business.

This could include job title, industry, company size, or specific actions taken on your website.

2. Assign Appropriate Scores:

Assign numerical scores to each criterion based on their significance in determining lead quality.

Weight the scores based on their importance and relevance to your business goals.

3. Continuously Refine Your Scoring Model:

Regularly review and refine your scoring model based on feedback from your sales team and performance metrics.

This ensures that your model stays up-to-date and aligned with changing market dynamics.

4. Combine Demographic and Behavioral Data:

Leverage a combination of demographic and behavioral data to get a holistic view of your leads.

Incorporate information such as engagement levels, content consumption patterns, and interactions with your brand.

5. Collaborate between B2B Marketing and B2B Sales:

Foster collaboration and open communication between your marketing and sales teams.

Periodically assess the success of your lead scoring model and make necessary adjustments based on real-world feedback.

By implementing these lead scoring best practices, you can enhance lead quality, focus your resources on the most promising prospects, and ultimately drive higher conversions & B2B sales.

What Is an Example of a Lead Scoring Criteria?

Lead scoring criteria are used by businesses to assess the quality of potential customers.

An example of a lead scoring criterion is “engagement level.” This criterion measures how actively a lead interacts with a company’s content, such as website visits, email opens, and social media engagement like LinkedIn.

Here are some examples of the lead scoring based on engagement level:

• +10 points for liking a LinkedIn post 👍
• +5 points for opening an email 📺
• +10 points for joining an event on LinkedIn 📧
• +20 points for visiting a pricing page 💲
• +5 points for downloading an Ebook 📕

Leads that frequently engage with a company’s online presence are often considered more valuable because they show a strong interest.

When a lead’s engagement level reaches a certain threshold, iُt can trigger actions like sending personalized offers or passing the lead to the sales team.

As such, lead scoring criteria like engagement level help businesses prioritize their efforts and focus on leads with the highest potential for conversion.

Conclusion

Let’s go back to the first question: What is lead scoring? This is a game-changer for lead quality! Lead scoring is the process of evaluating and ranking B2B leads based on their characteristics and behaviors to determine their quality and prioritize follow-up actions. This helps businesses focus their efforts on the most promising prospects.

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