Bringing leads to your business is only the first step in the long process of converting them into revenue. Many steps follow after it, with perhaps the most important being the lead scoring one.
Lead scoring will allow you or your team to focus only on the quality leads with the highest chance of converting. In this article, I will talk about the importance of lead scoring, why you should develop such a system, how it will benefit you, and of course, how to do it.
What is lead scoring?
Imagine you want to buy a new car. You have literally hundreds of options to choose from, but your budget and your specific needs limit you. So, you go through their specifications, like size, engine power, fuel consumption, and price. You rank them based on your criteria, and when you are ready, you make a final decision.
Leads work like that in a way. Although they are meant to bring revenue to your business, you still need to expend resources to convert them. Time, energy, and yes, money. You need to focus only on the ones that have the highest chance of converting. So, you must rank them. To do that, you need a scoring system based on attributes and criteria like demographics, customer profile, interactions with your business and solution, and many others. You assign a numerical value range to each criterion and then you score your lead accordingly.
It may sound easy, but lead scoring can be tricky. Each business has a model of its own that has been developed and evolved constantly through historical data, experience, and plenty of work. To make it easier for you though, we will walk you through the process of establishing a lead scoring system.
Why is lead scoring important
As mentioned above, lead scoring is essential if you want a high rate of conversion. You can’t try to win over every lead that comes across, it’s simply not worth it. You will exhaust your team and your business with very little in return for it. Time is limited, your budget is limited and your valuable leads won’t just hang around and wait for you to finally deal with them.
So, if you try to win every lead, you will end up losing the ones that would have brought you actual income. Businesses can streamline their efforts, optimize resources, and boost conversion rates by prioritizing high-quality leads. If we could summarize it in one sentence, we would say that lead scoring means doing more, with less.
Focus on a couple of leads that you can convert, instead of dozens that have no chance of buying. Let’s see now how you can use lead scoring for your own business.
Create a lead scoring system that fits your business
There are hundreds of lead scoring models out there. You can study them and find the ones that fit your business and products best, but none will be 100% made for you. You will need to tune and adapt it to your needs. Or you can create one from scratch. Here’s how to do it.
First of all, you must know what kind of information you need. What should matter the most to you?
Speak to the troops
Your sales reps are in direct contact with leads, both those who convert and those who don’t. They often know which marketing materials help close deals.
Ask them which blog posts, guides, or offers they prefer to share with leads. You might hear something like, “Whenever I send this particular piece, it makes closing the deal much easier.” This is valuable insight. Find out which content works best, and factor that into your decisions.
Don’t ignore the customers
While your sales team may have their favorites, customers may have a different perspective on what influenced their decision. It’s important to get input from both sides.
Set up customer interviews to understand what impacted their choice to buy. Make sure to include customers with both quick and long sales cycles for a well-rounded view.
Look at the data. Don’t just rely on feedback—back it up with hard data from your marketing analytics. Use conversational intelligence from your call tracking tool to gain deep insights as well.
Data is your friend
Run attribution reports to see which marketing efforts drive conversions at different stages of the funnel. Look at the content that turns people into leads as well as what helps close them as customers. For example, you could assign points to content that consistently brings in leads and give higher points to content that leads to conversions.
💡 Did you know? – Nimbata provides over 50 data points that you can use individually or combine to tailor your lead qualification process. By leveraging these data points, you can create precise criteria to identify high-quality leads, ensuring accuracy and better decision-making. Whether it’s call duration, keywords, or call outcome, you have the flexibility to fine-tune your automations and make sure no valuable lead slips through the cracks.
Do you need more than one lead scoring systems?
That depends on the size of your business and the range of products you offer. The more diverse they are, the more lead scoring systems you’re gonna need. The more your business grows and the more you expand to different audiences, you will notice that leads from all walks of life will appear.
Not to mention you are going to start upselling or cross-selling to current customers instead of going after new ones. Your lead scoring system can’t be a one-size-fits-all shoe, so you will need to create new ones for each case.
Fit vs. interest
If your sales team wants to assess customers based on both fit (e.g., are they in the right region, industry, or role?) and interest level (e.g., how engaged they are with your content), you can create separate scores for each. This way, you can focus on leads who score high in both areas and prioritize outreach accordingly.
Multiple personas
If your company sells two different products to different types of buyers with separate sales teams, you can create distinct lead scores. One score can measure a buyer’s fit for each product, and another can assess their interest. These scores help ensure leads are routed to the right sales team based on the product they’re most interested in.
New business vs. up-sell
As your company grows, you might start focusing on up-sell and cross-sell opportunities in addition to acquiring new customers. But remember, the signs of quality leads can differ between new prospects and existing customers.
For new prospects, you might prioritize demographics and website engagement. For existing customers, you might look at their use of customer support, interactions with an onboarding consultant, or product usage. If these buying signals vary by sales focus, it’s worth creating separate lead scores for each.
Putting lead qualification into action: A step-by-step guide
Step 1: Understand lead types & qualifications: MQL, SQL, SAL
There are different types of qualified leads. Marketing Qualified Leads, Sales Qualified Leads, and Sales Approved Leads.
A Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) is identified by the marketing team as having a higher likelihood of purchasing, based on their engagement with the company’s content, such as website visits, downloads, or social media interactions.
A Sales Qualified Lead (SQL), on the other hand, has shown clear buying interest and meets specific criteria set by both marketing and sales, such as a demonstrated need for the product and alignment with the ideal customer profile.
A Sales Accepted Lead (SAL) is a lead that the sales team has reviewed and deemed worth pursuing, even if it doesn’t meet all SQL criteria. The key difference between SQLs and SALs is the level of qualification and intent to buy—SQLs are more ready for direct sales engagement, while SALs require further nurturing. Additionally, the handoff to sales typically happens with SQLs, while SALs may still need more follow-up.
Step 2: Explore lead scoring models & methods
We talked about it above, but we will mention it again here because it’s important. Study your competition and other industries as well. Try and find out how they qualify their leads or use established systems like BANT, GPCT, MEDDIC, etc. These are effective frameworks, but remember they are a template. You don’t have to use them as they are. Adapt them to your needs and use your data and experience as well.
Step 3: Collect data & track conversion events
Collect data from all touchpoints in the buyer’s journey, including both online and offline conversions, and integrate it with your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Ensuring the accuracy and consistency of this data is crucial for generating meaningful insights and tracking conversion events effectively.
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Step 4: Define attributes for lead scoring
Carefully select key attributes that reflect lead quality and the key conversion moments, aka which action made each lead level up in the funnel.
Step 5: Develop a scoring methodology & weightage
Assign scores to various lead attributes based on how strongly they indicate lead quality, and determine the weight of each attribute accordingly. Set scoring thresholds to identify which leads are ready for immediate sales engagement and which ones require further nurturing.
Step 6: Implement & automate lead scoring
Integrate lead scoring with your CRM systems and utilize marketing automation to ensure a smooth implementation. Automating scoring rules helps save time, reduce errors, and maintain consistency and accuracy throughout the process.
Step 7: Evaluate & refine lead scoring models
Continuously monitor lead scoring performance by analyzing conversion rates and sales outcomes, and incorporate feedback for ongoing optimization. Regularly refine and adjust lead scoring models to adapt to changing market dynamics and enhance targeting precision.
Step 8: Lead prioritization & nurturing strategies
Prioritize high-scoring leads for immediate sales engagement, while creating personalized nurturing strategies for lower-scoring leads. Offer valuable content to guide leads through their customer journeys and ensure smooth handoff processes between marketing and sales teams for better alignment.
Step 9: Report & analyze lead scoring
Measure and track lead scoring metrics to assess the effectiveness of your strategies and tactics, using reports and dashboards to gain actionable insights. Continuously refine lead management and conversion processes based on these insights for improved results.
Takeaway
Lead scoring is an important factor in every successful sales process. Without it, you are pretty much running in the dark. Having a lead scoring system in place will save you time and effort from pursuing low-quality leads. Instead, you will be able to focus on the most qualified ones, increasing your conversion rates, revenue, and overall success of your business.
You can start a lead scoring system by studying already existing ones and adapting them to your specific needs. Use data and consult your sales and marketing teams to further optimize this process. Don’t hesitate to create multiple systems, if your business requires it. Remember, lead scoring is an always-evolving process.
