By lkolowich@hubspot.com (Lindsay Kolowich Cox)

When most people start implementing inbound marketing, they’re primarily worried about getting enough new leads in the funnel.

But once you have a lot of leads, you need to figure out who‘s really interested in your product and who’s just starting to look around.

That’s where lead scoring comes in. In this article, I’ll share lead scoring models for you to consider, important data to look at, and best practices for effective lead scoring.

Table of Contents

• What is lead scoring?
• Lead Scoring Models
• How to Determine What Data to Look At
• Is one lead score enough?
• How to Calculate a Basic Lead Score
• Lead Scoring Best Practices
• Improve Your Sales With Lead Scoring

What is lead scoring?

Lead scoring is the process of assigning values, often in the form of numerical “points,” to each lead you generate to evaluate the likelihood of them becoming a customer.

You can score your leads based on multiple attributes, including the professional information they‘ve submitted to you and how they’ve engaged with your website and brand across the internet.

This process helps sales and marketing teams prioritize leads, respond to them appropriately, and increase the rate at which those leads become customers.

Learn more about the concept of lead scoring in the video below:

Every company has a different model for assigning points to score their leads, but I’ve found one of the most common ways is to use data from past leads to create a value system.

How? First, you‘ll take a look at your contacts who became customers to see what they have in common. Next, you’ll look at the attributes of your contacts who didn‘t become customers.

Once you’ve looked at the historical data from both sides, you can decide which attributes should be weighted heavily based on how likely they are to indicate someone’s a good fit for your product.

Lead scoring sounds easy, right? Depending on your business model and the leads in your database, this can quickly become complicated.

To make this process a little easier on you, I’m going to walk you through the basics of creating a lead score, including what data you should look at, how to find the most important attributes, and the process for actually calculating a basic score.

Why is lead scoring important?

You may be wondering if lead scoring is outdated or if it’s still a relevant sales method. The short answer is lead scoring is as important today as it has been for years.

The methods may have evolved, but the purpose of lead scoring continues to be essential for sales and marketing teams.

For starters, lead scoring allows you to prioritize and focus your efforts on leads that are the most likely to convert to customers.

And when 53% of salespeople say selling got harder in 2023, I think it’s a good idea to turn your …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron