Lead Scoring Best Practices

 

Usage:

 

Scoring Net New Leads

 

As new leads show interest but are not ready to buy, effective scoring evaluates 2 types of criteria:

 

1. Explicit Criteria - those things typically learned from a form or D&B, such as Job Title, Industry, Annual Revenue, Job Role, etc.

 

2. Implicit Criteria - Responses to nurturing campaigns, along with online organic  behaviors, such as web page visits.

 

 

Scoring Sales-Rejected Leads

 

Sales will sometimes reject even highly scored leads. The lead may not have the budget, or they don't have the authority, or the timing is not right.

 

In this case, these rejected leads can be re-nurtured and rescored as they become more qualified.

 

 

Scoring Existing Customers for Cross-sell and/or Up-sell

 

After the sale, scoring can help identify customers who are showing an interest in other products or services, or upgrading.

 

 

Scoring Do's:

 

Keep it simple - some companies get so excited about lead scoring they immediately want to score on 750 criteria! Try and keep to about 4-5 critiera to start.

 

Identify a Sales Champion to help - your chances of long-term scoring success depend on having a sales stakeholder involved from the outset. No scoring program that was shoved down the throat of sales has ever worked. Find a sales champion who will vett out the initial scores and criteria. Remember, lead scoring is marketing's gift to sales. It's always better when they help build it.

 

Know that you will not get it right the first time - no matter how diligent you are, the initial scores will be a highly educated guess in the beginning. The initial scoring results are typically either too high or too low. It generally takes somewhere between 3-6 months to fully test a scoring program, so be patient. Even once you nail it, thing change. Lead scoring is a living breathing entity that requires ongoing maintenance.

 

Scoring Don'ts:

 

No short sales cycles - don't score on products or services with very short sales cycles, unless you have a process in place to manage quick follow up.

 

Don't score if there aren't enough leads in the first place - If sales wants to talk to anyone that breathes, don't bother scoring them.

 

Be careful about scoring on false behaviors - for example email opens, time on a web page, etc.)