What are the best tools and methods to score and rank your sales leads?

1 Define your scoring criteria

The first step to score and rank your sales leads is to define your scoring criteria. These are the factors that indicate how likely a lead is to become a customer, and how valuable they are to your business. You can use both explicit and implicit criteria to score your leads. Explicit criteria are based on the information that the lead provides, such as their industry, role, budget, timeline, or pain points. Implicit criteria are based on the behavior that the lead exhibits, such as their engagement with your website, content, or emails, or their response to your calls or messages. You can assign different weights to each criterion, depending on how important they are for your project sales goals.

2 Choose your scoring model

The next step to score and rank your sales leads is to choose your scoring model. This system assigns numerical values to each criterion, and calculates the total score for each lead. Depending on your preferences and needs, you can choose from a point-based, grade-based, or hybrid model. A point-based model assigns a fixed number of points to each criterion and adds them up. A grade-based model assigns letter grades (A, B, C, or D) to each criterion and uses a formula or table to convert them into a numerical score. The hybrid model combines both numbers and letters to score leads. For example, if a lead has a budget of $10,000, you can give them 10 points and an A, and if they have visited your website 5 times, you can give them 5 points and a B. Then use a formula or table to get the total score.

3 Use a scoring tool

The third step to score and rank your sales leads is to use a scoring tool, which is a software or platform that automates and streamlines the scoring process, and integrates with other sales tools and data sources. This tool can capture and store leads' information and behavior from various channels, apply your scoring criteria and model to each lead, update their scores in real time as they interact with your brand or content, segment and rank leads based on their scores, assign them to different sales stages or categories, trigger and track sales actions and campaigns based on the leads' scores and segments, such as sending personalized emails, making calls, or scheduling appointments. There are many scoring tools available in the market with varying features and prices; you should select the one that best meets your project sales needs and budget.

4 Review and refine your scoring system

To score and rank your sales leads, the fourth step is to review and refine your scoring system. This is an ongoing process that requires monitoring and analyzing the performance of your scoring results, as well as making adjustments and improvements as necessary. You should ensure that your scoring criteria and model are aligned with your project sales goals, strategies, and current market conditions. Additionally, it is important to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of your scoring system, test different scenarios and variations, and measure their impact on sales conversion rates. Moreover, seek feedback from your sales team and customers to incorporate their experiences and insights into the system. You can use various tools such as data analysis, reports, dashboards, surveys, interviews, or experiments to review and refine your scoring system.

5 Score and rank your sales leads

To score and rank your sales leads effectively, it is essential to follow your scoring criteria and model consistently, using your scoring tool efficiently and accurately. Reviewing and updating leads' scores and segments regularly is also important. You should prioritize sales activities based on leads' scores and segments, and communicate and engage with them accordingly. Moreover, nurturing and moving the leads along the sales funnel while converting them into customers when they are ready can help you optimize your project sales process and performance, ultimately increasing your sales results and satisfaction.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?