All leads are not created equal. According to analysts, a small increase in lead quality can result in a hugeincrease in sales productivity. With lead scoring, sales reps can focus on the high-quality leads and notwaste time on prospects that aren’t ready to engage in business. Better leadscoring means higher close rates.Lead scoring is the process of assigning a value to a particular lead basedon defined criteria and behaviors. These criteria will vary from business tobusiness. Think of lead scoring as a complex formula that takes multiplevalues and combines them into a single value to help your reps makesound business decisions.For example, lead scores help reps focus on hot leads. These will most likelyresult in a closed deal. To score a lead, you generally give it a score on a scale of 1–5 or 1–10, based oncriteria you define. To reach “hot” status, the total of all scores must reach a defined threshold. You can seecommon criteria in the sample lead-scoring system below.Here are 9 tips to help you come up with an effective lead-scoring process:1.

Keep it simple

– When you set up your lead process, decide whether fields are required oroptional. Keep it simple at first—only ask for a name, company, email address, and phone number.Asking for too much detail on first contact often results in lower form completion rates. Instead,use additional prospect touches to get more information.2.

You can’t go wrong with “BANT”

– If you’re just getting starting with lead scoring, use BANT(budget, authority, need, timing) data as a preliminary assessment of lead quality. Although youcan capture some BANT data with forms, this information is best gathered through interactionswith your prospects.3.

Any data can be good data

– Categorize your lead data into two categories—explicit andimplicit. Explicit data is information volunteered in web forms, at events, and during interactions.You can directly control your explicit lead data by selecting specific fields on your forms as wellas by call scripting.Implicit data includes online behavior such as emails opened, click-throughs, form submissions,and downloads of marketing collateral. Of course, all behavior doesn’t rate the same. A visit to thecorporate Web site probably deserves a different score than downloading a white paper.

Abstract

Properly scored leads mean higher salesproductivity. Learn to effectively score andqualify new business to make the most of yourleads.

By Kirti Patel

9 tips for using lead scoring to close moredeals