How to Use Lead Scoring to Maximize Your Sales Potential

When you think about the typical sales pipeline, what do you envision? Most organizations think of several leads at the top of the sales pipeline which they steadily remove until only customers remain in the narrower part. However, successful businesses tend to have pipelines with wider middles and bottoms.

Know that efficient pipelines will attract and close customers quickly, reducing customer acquisition cost. Building an efficient process is part of every successful sales strategy and will help you focus only on leads who most likely to convert.

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If your goal is to improve sales efficiency, consider incorporating lead scoring models into your nurturing campaign. Using lead scoring software can be especially beneficial for campaigns that primarily focus on email. In this article, we’ll explore what it means to score leads. We'll also reveal why your business should include this type of system in your marketing efforts.

Lead Scoring Tools

A great tool that will automatically calculate your lead based on your engagement criteria is HubSpot Lead Scoring.

No matter what tool you choose, using a lead scoring system can automate the tedious task of sorting leads. This makes your pipeline more efficient while improving the customer experience.

Remember, scoring leads isn’t just for businesses with in-house sales representatives. All businesses can implement lead scoring best practices when analyzing and sorting leads. Once you identify the right leads, your marketing team can begin to encourage conversion.

Boost Your Lead Conversion Rate

Engagement-Based Workflows

The more your brand engages with a prospect, the more likely it is that he or she will make a purchase. This is the belief behind engagement-based workflows, which are used by companies to sort leads into the right email campaigns.

Customers receive content aligned with their stage in the buyer's journey. Those who engage less usually "awareness stage" content, which includes blog posts or infographics. However, highly engaged customers may receive "decision stage" content like how-to videos or product demonstrations.

As a contact increases engagement with your brand, he or she moves from one workflow to the next. While you might think that only website visits indicate interest, social media also plays an important role in measuring engagement. Analyzing social media engagement is a useful tool for brands hoping to attract younger customers.

Segmented Workflows & Fit Score

Another way to approach scoring leads is to focus on a lead’s “fit.” Known as a “fit score,” this measurement reveals how well a potential customer fits your business’ ideal customer persona.

The fit score is typically graded from “A” to “F.” Leads scoring between “A” and “C” usually make it to the sales team. If leads score on the lower end of the spectrum, you nurture them until they score high enough.

It’s widely known that email personalization and segmentation improves email marketing success.

Creating workflows specifically for those with a particular fit score is another method of providing customers with tailored content. Using fit scores to design a workflow can help you improve your messaging while also increasing productivity.

Reach the Right Customers with Lead Scoring Best Practices

Brands and business executives interested in improving pipeline efficiency should consider implementing a lead scoring program. Once the system is in place, marketers can create lead nurturing programs and tailor content to those in multiple segments.

Lead-scoring systems allow you to zero in on the right customers. The result is a more efficient sales pipeline which also increases customer satisfaction.