A guide to creating a winning B2B lead scoring strategy
As a marketer, there’s a high chance that you have, at one point, followed up on a lead that turned out to be a dead end. Or worse, failed to realise a lead’s potential and let it slip through your fingers! And you’ve got to admit: few things are as frustrating as a lead that doesn’t convert.
But what if we tell you there is a way to avoid these scenarios? What if there is a way to determine which leads will materialize in advance? Or even better, what if you can easily identify which lead will become your most valuable customer?
All of this is achievable if you have a lead scoring strategy in place. By implementing the strategy, you can quickly determine which will lead to a sale and channel more of your marketing resources to them.
In this guide, we will discuss everything you need to know about B2B lead scoring strategy, including:
- What lead scoring is
- Why lead scoring important
- How to create a winning strategy for your business
- Tips and tricks for improving your lead scoring methodology.
What is lead scoring?
Lead scoring is the process of assigning a numeric value to each lead in your sales pipeline based on factors like budget, authority, need, and timeline. Doing this helps you prioritize your sales efforts and focus on the leads most likely to convert into paying customers.
This process involves assigning numerical scores ranging from 1-100, depending on their lead profile (demographic data, company size, job title, etc.). The lead score then gives marketers a clear point of reference to prioritise leads and make informed decisions about who they should follow up on first.
A robust lead scoring strategy will facilitate improved lead conversion rates and more efficient use of marketing resources – resulting in better ROI.
Why is lead scoring important for any B2B company?
B2B companies are always looking for ways to improve lead generation and conversion. This is why lead scoring is essential, as it allows you to focus your time and energy on the leads that are most likely to convert.
There’s no sense in trying to sell to a lead that isn’t ready to buy or doesn’t have the budget for your product or service. By using lead scoring, you can save time and resources and close more deals.
Here are more benefits of using the lead scoring strategy for any B2B company:
- Increases the effectiveness and output of sales teams. Lead scoring helps sales teams identify and prioritize leads, allowing them to focus on the most promising prospects. Ultimately, a good lead scoring strategy will help you get the right contacts, saving your sales team the time and hassle of chasing down clients. This gives them confidence that they are working with the right prospects, thus increasing their chances of successful lead conversion.
- Monitors lead progress and performance. With lead scoring, you can track the customer journey from beginning to end and quickly identify which lead is more likely to convert. Lead scoring also helps marketers and sales teams to track lead progress and analyse lead performance effectively. This allows them to make better decisions and results in more successful lead conversions.
- Increased revenue growth. Here’s a shocking statistic: only 25% of all leads are likely to convert. The good news is that when you spend more time and resources on leads that are likely to convert, chances are you will close more deals and increase your revenue. Using a good lead scoring strategy also helps you identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities that lead to increased revenue growth.
- Saves time and improves efficiency. By automating your lead scoring process, marketers no longer have to manually go through lead records and prioritize them. This automation saves time, effort, and resources and helps marketers focus on the lead that is more likely to convert.
How to create a winning strategy for your business
Even though lead scoring has been proven to be an effective lead-conversion tool, creating a lead scoring strategy is often easier said than done. Most B2B experts are still struggling to develop an effective lead scoring strategy that works for their business.
Here are some tips on how to create a lead-scoring strategy that will lead to increased lead conversion:
Step 1: Understand your target market
Creating a lead scoring strategy all starts with understanding your target market and its needs. You need to understand who they are, what they need, and how you can meet those needs. This will help you identify the lead signals that are likely to result in successful lead conversion.
You can collect the correct data from lead-generating sources like:
- Website analytics
- Customer surveys
- Lead forms.
Step 2: Determine which factors impact conversion
Once you have identified the lead signals that are most likely to lead to conversion, it’s time to determine which factors will affect lead conversion. Some factors include lead source, lead activity, demographics, budgets, different types of messaging, call to actions, special offers etc.
You need to determine the most important ones to you and focus on them. This will help you determine how much weight to assign to each factor when assigning a numeric value (score) to each lead.
For example, if you’ve decided that budget is a significant factor in conversion, you’ll assign a higher score to leads with a large budget than those with a small budget.
Step 3: Assign numeric values (scores)
The next step is to assign a numeric value (score) to each lead based on the lead signals you’ve identified. As we mentioned earlier, lead signals affect lead conversion, and assigning a numeric value (score) to each lead reflects their likelihood to convert. The higher the score, the more likely the lead is to convert.
The lead score can also be used to prioritise leads and increase lead conversion rates. For example, leads with higher lead scores can be prioritised for follow-up and lead nurturing.
Step 4: Lead degradation
Scores should also be able to go down as well as up. The lead score should be reduced due to dormant activity or non-actions. For example if a lead has not opened the last 4 emails they have received then you may want to reduce the score by X.
Step 5: Monitor lead progress and performance
The lead scoring strategy doesn’t end here. It’s essential to continuously monitor lead progress and performance to ensure your lead scoring system is working as intended.
You should use lead scoring analytics to:
- Gain insights into lead performance
- Track lead progress
- Analyse lead conversion.
This will help you make improvements to your lead scoring strategy as needed.
Create a winning B2B lead scoring strategy today!
There’s no doubt that creating a lead scoring strategy is critical to your business’s success. By following these steps, you can easily create a winning strategy that will help you convert more leads and increase your revenue. Just remember lead scoring is a process that requires continuous monitoring, optimization, and improvement.
Are you having challenges creating a winning B2B lead scoring strategy? We’re here to help! virtualROI has been assisting businesses in the Telco and IT space to increase their revenues and streamline their sales and marketing processes through their lead scoring strategies.
For more information, feel free to contact us.