When it comes to B2B sales and B2B marketing, we all know just how important leads are to a business.  They are the lifeblood of every organization.  Without them, your business may grow stagnant or even out of business.  Well, leads that convert to customers are what is keeping your business afloat, but before they became customers, they were leads. 

It’s very easy to get wrapped up in varying metrics, spending money on marketing efforts that go nowhere, so understanding what a lead score is and how to calculate it can save you a few headaches along the way.

Before we dive in, let’s first recap what a lead is.

What is a Lead?

In a recent blog, SalesGig defined what exactly a lead is:

“A lead is someone who has expressed interest in your company, product or service and may have limited-to-no interaction with your company.  Expressing interest doesn’t mean they’ve contacted you directly, but can also mean that they’ve visited your website, subscribed to your blog, filled out a form, etc.”

But what makes a good (i.e. qualified) lead?

Enter Lead Scoring

Zoominfo said, “Opportunity lives at the intersection of fit and timing.”  The truth is that even though certain prospects may exhibit buying behaviors, they may not in fact be a good fit whereas those that are a good fit may not be engaging with your marketing efforts.

Enter lead scoring. 

Lead scoring is the process of assigning value to each generated lead based on certain behavioral, demographic and infographic data.  Assigning values to your leads can help you prioritize and increase the likelihood of a conversion.

How To Calculate a Lead Score

Lead scoring may differ between industries and companies, but the “common thread” will always be the data.

When working with your data, you’ll want to start by looking at your current customers as well as your leads who did not convert to identify shared characteristics in each group.  This can help you further refine your target audience.

Build Multiple Buyer Personas/Define Your Target Audience

Who are you selling to?  Defining your target audience is the key to success in marketing and lead generation.  Build out multiple buyer personas to create a well-rounded lead scoring system.

Identify Data Points

When sitting down to determine your buyer personas and your target audience, you’ll want to break that information down into two categories:

1.       Demographics

a.       Location

b.       Industry

c.       Company size

d.       Job title

2.       Behavioral

a.       Email opens

b.       Subscriptions

c.       Web page visits

d.       Content downloads

Assign Point Values

The most common way to assign a point value system to rank your leads is to do it on a 0-100 point scale - though that is not the only way.  If your ideal customer is an executive at a top level B2B company and you know that before making a purchase they do their research, typically downloading several bits of content, you’d assign a higher value to content downloads.

Essentially, each lead would be assigned a value based on characteristics.  Those characteristics can all be given their own value and when added together, would result in the lead score.

Spend More Time on Sales Presentations

Time and effort are precious commodities.  Don’t waste yours on securing qualified leads for your company.  SalesGig Pro can help you get your next appointment on the calendar.  Get in touch today to learn more: hello@salesgig.com.