LeadMagnetGeniusOne common way to qualify leads at scale is lead scoring. This means assigning points to leads based on certain actions or attributes, and then using those scores to categorize leads (for example, 0-20 points = cold, 21-50 = warm, 51+ = hot).
Here’s how to set up a simple lead scoring: - Identify Key Signals: Determine what behaviors or data points indicate a lead is more sales-ready. Examples: - Email Engagement: Opens and clicks are a basic measure. A lead who consistently opens your emails and clicks through is more interested than one who ignores them. You might give 1 point per email open, 3 points per click, for instance. - Website Activity: If you can track via your email or CRM (say using tracking cookies or requiring login for resources), see if they visit high-value pages. Visiting your pricing page or product pages could be a strong buying signal. That might warrant, say, 10 points (reflecting strong intent). - Content Downloads/Views: Did they download multiple resources? Attend a webinar? Each of those shows interest. For example, “downloaded whitepaper” = 5 points. - Demographics/Firmographics: If you asked for info at opt-in or via a survey, use it. For B2B, title or company size might matter (a lead from a 500-employee company could be scored higher if that’s your target vs one from a 2-person startup, depending on your product). Or region, or industry. Similarly B2C, maybe a field like “role (parent, student, etc.)” if your product fits one category better. - Lead Source: Sometimes where they came from matters. A referral from a partner or someone who came in via a “demo request” form might start with a higher baseline score than someone who came for a free ebook. Because their intent could differ. - Assign Point Values and Thresholds: You’ll need to decide how many points each action is worth and at what score threshold you consider a lead Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) vs Sales Qualified Lead (SQL). It might start arbitrary, but you can adjust as you see patterns. For example, you might declare when a lead hits 50 points, they become an MQL and get passed to sales or move to a higher-touch sequence. Salesforce (or your CRM) often can handle this automatically if set up, or some email marketing platforms have lead scoring features or you might do it manually in a spreadsheet if smaller scale. - Use Scoring to Trigger Actions: Automation is your friend. For example: - If lead score > 30, trigger an email inviting them to a free consultation or demo (since they seem quite interested). - If lead clicks the pricing page, notify a salesperson to perhaps reach out (depending on your sales process). - Or, as Pardot/Salesforce suggests, use grading in tandem with scoring: scoring = what they do, grading = who they are. If someone has high score (engaged) and high grade (fits target profile), that’s gold – your sales team definitely should call them. - Keep it Updated: Over time, refine. Maybe you find email opens aren’t that correlative to eventual sales (some folks open but never buy), but webinar attendance is. Adjust scores to emphasize what historically leads to conversion. A good lead qualification system learns and improves. You could even use predictive lead scoring tools (some CRMs offer AI-based scoring now), but that might be overkill for many.
Lead scoring was mentioned with an example of using it to qualify leads on autopilot, which is the goal: let the system sift through many leads so only the promising ones bubble up for more direct sales energy.