Lead scoring: prioritising the most promising leads
Mon Projet CRM - 4 octobre 2024
Lead scoring involves assigning a point value to each inbound contact to assess their sales potential and readiness to buy. The objective is straightforward: to help sales teams focus their efforts on the most promising leads rather than treating every prospect identically. Within a CRM, scoring relies on both firmographic data (company size, industry, job title) and behavioural data (pages visited, content downloaded, email opens). This article explains how to build an effective lead scoring model, where to start as an SME, and which pitfalls to avoid.
What is lead scoring?
Lead scoring is a methodology used to rank contacts based on their potential interest in your products or services. Each criterion adds or subtracts points: the higher the score, the higher the lead's priority.
Two dimensions are generally distinguished: profile (does the lead match your target?) and behaviour (do they show signs of interest?). Combining both allows for a more accurate qualification of action priority.
Examples of useful criteria
A few criteria commonly used in a scoring matrix:
- Profile: industry, company size, job title, geographical area.
- Web behaviour: number of visits, pricing pages viewed, white paper downloads, webinar registrations.
- Email engagement: repeated opens and clicks on campaigns.
- Sales interactions: demo requests, responses to follow-ups, meeting bookings.
- Negative criteria: generic email addresses, irrelevant job functions, recent unsubscribes.
How to build your first matrix
There is no need to start with a complex model. A sound approach involves bringing sales and marketing teams together to agree on around ten criteria, assigning them a simple weighting, and defining two or three thresholds: leads to contact immediately, leads to nurture, and leads to discard.
The matrix should then be tested over several months and adjusted based on actual results: are high-scoring leads truly converting at a higher rate?
Aligning marketing and sales
Lead scoring is only valuable if sales teams accept the prioritisation it provides. This requires a clear agreement on what constitutes a 'sales-ready' lead, often formalised in a Service Level Agreement between marketing and sales.
Without this alignment, marketing passes on leads that sales do not action, and the scoring system loses all credibility.
Common mistakes to avoid
Several classic pitfalls in lead scoring:
- Starting with a matrix that is too complex for anyone to understand.
- Forgetting negative criteria: without them, almost every lead eventually becomes a high priority.
- Never reviewing the matrix in light of actual performance data.
- Designing the scoring system without sales input, leading to a lack of buy-in.
- Confusing a 'hot' lead with a qualified one: a high score does not always mean the need is mature.
Questions to consider
A few questions to frame your lead scoring strategy:
- Do we have a shared marketing / sales definition of a qualified lead?
- What behaviours do we observe in our best customers prior to purchase?
- Which criteria should conversely decrease the score?
- Who will be responsible for monitoring and updating the matrix?
- How will we measure the impact of scoring on conversion rates?
Going further
Lead scoring is part of a broader approach to leveraging customer data. To learn more, consult our articles on marketing automation, opportunity management, and the KPIs to track within your CRM.
Key takeaways
- Lead scoring allows you to prioritise leads based on their profile and behaviour.
- A simple and shared framework is better than a complex model that is poorly understood.
- Negative criteria are essential to prevent every lead from becoming a priority.
- Marketing and sales alignment is the most decisive factor for success.
- The framework must be adjusted regularly in light of observed results.
Want to go further?
Discover our tools, checklists and templates to apply these recommendations immediately.