Lead scoring is a way for sales teams to decide which leads to focus on first. It works by assigning a numerical score to each lead based on certain characteristics. The goal is to pick out the leads that are more likely to become customers.
As a sales operations leader, you can help design and improve the lead scoring system. First, you decide what factors will matter for the score.
Common lead scoring factors
- Demographic data like industry, company size, job title
- Behavior data like email clicks, content downloads
- History like past purchases
Each factor has a point value assigned. Then you add up all the points into a total score for the lead. High-scoring leads are sales-ready.
An example score might be:
- Industry match = 5 points
- Clicked emails = 3 points
- Downloaded pricing sheet = 10 points
- Total score = 18 points
You can then set thresholds based on the score to decide next steps. If a lead is a high-scoring, qualified lead, it gets sent to sales reps right away. Lower scoring leads might just get some follow-up emails first.
The key is making sure the scoring matches your sales strategy. As a sales ops leader, you can view results over time and tweak the model. For example, you may notice low scored leads actually convert better.
Predictive lead scoring
Like regular lead scoring, predictive lead scoring is all about using data to figure out which leads are more likely to actually become customers — but with a bit more automation added in. Sales teams take info about leads like demographics, what industry they’re in, if they’ve clicked on emails or checked out the website, and other behaviors, and run it through models to create a score for each person. Basically, with predictive lead scoring you can compare data points for your past customers and current prospects to decide which leads to prioritize.
Using a data enrichment tool is a good way to get extra info about your leads and their company for comparison to your ideal customer profile (ICP). The more datapoints that match (i.e. industry, company size, revenue, etc.), the more you should prioritize that lead.
Why lead scoring is valuable
With an effective lead scoring process, your sales team can focus on the warmest leads first. This makes your sales reps more productive and helps move deals through the pipeline faster.
The score is supposed to predict the chance that the lead will end up buying something. So a higher score means the lead is more sales-ready and the sales team should focus attention on moving them along the pipeline. The idea is that by focusing on the most promising leads instead of treating everyone equally, sales teams can be more efficient and increase their closure rates. So predictive lead scoring uses data to guide sales reps to the leads worth chasing after the most
To learn more on lead scoring read:
How to get your SDRs on board with lead scoring with Salesforce
The Power of Sales Qualified Leads
