Picture this: you’re a sales rep on a mission to close deals and crush your quotas. You’ve got a pipeline full of leads, but you know that not all leads are created equal. In fact, some leads are not worth your time and effort, while others have the potential to become your biggest customers. So how do you separate the wheat from the chaff?
Enter lead scoring.
- Overflowing pipeline of leads?
- Wasting time and resources on low-quality leads?
- Experiencing a flood of conversions from your marketing campaigns, but have no idea which leads to prioritize first?
If any of these scenarios sound relatable, it’s time to implement a lead scoring model.
Creating a lead scoring model from scratch can be a daunting task, but fear not!
In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the process and explore the top lead scoring models that can help you maximize your sales potential.
What is lead scoring?
Lead scoring is used by sales and marketing teams to evaluate and rank prospects or leads based on their level of interest in their brand. The goal of lead scoring is to identify the leads that are most likely to become customers, allowing sales reps to focus their time and efforts on the most promising prospects. Lead scoring is typically done by assigning points or scores to leads based on various factors such as demographic information, behavior, engagement with marketing campaigns, and other criteria. The higher the score, the more likely the lead is to convert. By using lead scoring, businesses can improve their sales efficiency and increase revenue by targeting the right leads at the right time.
Top lead scoring models
Explicit lead scoring
Explicit lead scoring assigns points to a lead based on specific measurable criteria, such as demographic or firmographic characteristics, including:
- Job titles
- Industry
- Company size
- Location and other objective data that helps identify high-quality leads.
Explicit scoring is especially useful to target a specific audience or niche, as you can use these criteria to determine whether a lead meets your ideal customer profile. For instance, if you’re looking for a decision-maker from a large manufacturing firm, you can quickly filter leads based on their job title, company size, and industry experience.
Explicit scoring criteria can be acquired through various methods, one of which is the use of lead capture forms. By offering gated content, you can prompt leads to share their information, which can then be used to determine their explicit score based on specific criteria. Alternatively, you may need to conduct research on a lead’s background and company, such as reviewing their LinkedIn profile or website, to see if they meet your explicit scoring requirements.
Implicit lead scoring
Implicit lead scoring assigns points to a lead based on their behavior, which includes various interactions with your website, social media platforms, and content. These activities may include:
- Lead magnet downloads
- Contact requests
- Attending events/webinars
- Social media engagement
- Email opens/clicks/shares
Implicit scoring can be more valuable than explicit scoring because it allows you to track a lead’s ongoing engagement with your brand. While explicit scoring is based on a lead’s static characteristics (such as job title or industry), implicit scoring takes into account their evolving level of interest and engagement.
Predictive scoring
Predictive scoring is used by sales and marketing teams to identify the likelihood of a lead or prospect becoming a customer, based on their behavior and characteristics. It uses machine learning and algorithms to analyze data such as website visits, social media interactions, email opens/clicks, and other forms of engagement, to predict a lead’s likelihood of conversion.
Predictive scoring can help businesses prioritize leads, improve lead quality, and increase conversion rates by identifying the most promising leads and targeting them with personalized marketing messages.
Fit scoring
Fit scoring is a component of the lead scoring model that measures how closely a lead matches your ideal customer profile based on explicit characteristics such as industry, company size, job title, and geographic location. It identifies leads that are more likely to be a good fit for your product or service based on the similarity of their characteristics to your ideal customer. Fit scoring helps sales and marketing teams focus their efforts on leads that are more likely to become customers, rather than wasting time on leads that are unlikely to convert.
Qualification scoring
Lead qualification scoring is a process of assessing the potential value of a lead or prospect to a business based on various factors such as demographics, behavior, interests, and engagement level. It involves assigning scores to leads based on their likelihood to become a customer or make a purchase, which helps sales and marketing teams prioritize their efforts and resources on the most promising leads.
Here are some examples of lead qualification scoring criteria:
- Demographics
- Engagement level
- Behavior
- Budget
- Timing
Negative scoring
In a buyer’s journey, not every interaction a prospect has with a company leads them towards becoming a customer. It’s crucial for lead scoring models to recognize this fact. Negative scoring is a method of deducting points from a lead score based on certain actions or characteristics that indicate a decreasing or complete lack of interest, such as:
- Providing inaccurate or incomplete contact information
- Marking emails as spam
- Indicating a lack of budget or resources to purchase your product or service
- Exhibiting no intent to purchase or interest in your offerings after attending a product demo or consultation session.
- Unsubscribing from your email list
- Displaying a lack of fit with your company’s ideal customer profile, such as being based in a different region
- Holding a job title that is irrelevant to your product or service, such as a job title in a completely different industry
- Having a low level of authority within their organization, suggesting that they may not have decision-making power to become a customer
Negative scoring helps prevent inflated lead scores and ensures that sales reps focus on leads with a higher potential to convert. By incorporating negative scoring into your lead scoring model, you can ensure that sales reps focus their time and resources on qualified and sales-ready leads.
- Negative scoring can also be used to penalize leads for actions that indicate disqualification, such as providing false contact information, spamming your website with irrelevant requests, or engaging in suspicious behavior.
- In some cases, negative scoring can be used to indicate the need for a different marketing approach. For example, if a lead is repeatedly visiting your blog or educational resources without taking further action, it may be a sign that they need more nurturing and education before they are ready to convert.
- Negative scoring should be used in conjunction with positive scoring to create a balanced and accurate view of a lead’s potential. It’s important to determine the appropriate point values for negative actions based on their relative impact on a lead’s score, and to regularly review and adjust the scoring model as needed to reflect changes in your audience and market.
Negative scoring is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and it’s important to customize your approach based on your specific business goals and audience. Some negative actions may be more or less important to your business than others, and you may need to experiment with different point values and scoring thresholds to find the right balance for your sales process.
Lead scoring is a critical tool for businesses to optimize their sales potential. There are several models to choose from, each with unique criteria and scoring methods. It’s important to select a model that aligns with your specific goals and be prepared to adjust it as your business evolves. By using a well-designed lead scoring model, businesses can focus on high-potential leads, improve their conversion rates, and streamline their workflows. Ultimately, the key to success with lead scoring is finding the right balance between automation and personalization, to build stronger and meaningful relationships with customers and drive long-term growth.