Lead Scoring to Focus Your Sales
Lead scoring is a process used by sales and marketing teams to prioritize leads based on their level of engagement and likelihood to convert into a customer. It allows teams to focus their time and resources on the leads most likely to result in sales by leveraging insights about your perfect customer.
What is Lead Scoring?
Lead scoring is a process of ranking and assigning a numerical value to each lead based on their interactions with your brand and qualifications to be your perfect customer. This value is calculated by assigning points to various factors such as demographic data, behavior on your website or social media platforms, email engagement, and other relevant data points. The higher the score, the more likely the lead is to become a customer.
Benefits of Lead Scoring
1. Prioritizes High-Quality Leads
By assigning a numerical value to each lead, sales and marketing teams can prioritize their efforts on high-quality leads that are more likely to convert into a customer. This helps teams to focus on leads that have a higher chance of closing a deal, leading to increased efficiency and ROI.
2. Saves Time and Resources
Lead scoring allows teams to save time and resources by focusing on leads that are more likely to convert. Instead of pursuing leads that are unlikely to convert, sales and marketing teams can invest in leads that have a higher probability of closing a deal.
3. Better Alignment Between Sales and Marketing
Lead scoring provides a common language and understanding between sales and marketing teams. By agreeing on the criteria for lead scoring, both teams can work together to identify and prioritize leads based on a shared understanding of what makes a high-quality lead. This shared lingo and data set can lead to better collaboration and alignment between the two teams, resulting in increased revenue and a stronger bottom line.
How to Implement Lead Scoring
Implementing lead scoring requires a collaborative effort between sales and marketing teams. Here are the steps to implement lead scoring:
1. Define the Criteria for Lead Scoring
The first step is to define the criteria for lead scoring. This can include perfect customer demographics, behavior on your website, email engagement, and other relevant data points.
2. Assign Points to Each Criteria
Once the criteria have been identified, assign points to each one based on its relative importance. For example, a lead that has downloaded an e-book may receive more points than a lead that has only visited your website. We recommend standardizing your scoring range to no more than 10 so that scores don’t become skewed by unbalanced scoring.
3. Set Thresholds
Set thresholds for lead scores to identify the leads that are most likely to convert. For example, you may decide that leads with a score of 75 or higher should receive the most attention in your weekly outreach while scores under 20 aren’t yet worth your time.
4. Implement Lead Scoring
Your customer relationship management (CRM) system or marketing automation software is your secret weapon in lead scoring because it can calculate lead scores automatically based on the criteria and point values defined. If you’re trying to track all of this manually in a spreadsheet, you’re not actually going to save time.
Lead scoring is an effective way for sales and marketing teams to prioritize their efforts on high-quality leads that are more likely to convert into a customer. By defining the criteria for lead scoring, assigning points to each criterion, and setting thresholds, teams can identify and prioritize leads based on their level of engagement and likelihood to convert. This results in a more efficient and aligned team - and a better bottom line for your business.
Ready to get started? Check out our free Lead Scoring template to help guide you.