Lead Scoring: Target achievement and analyzing your current position

Lead scoring can be much easier than you think. Developing a lead scoring system culminates from strategic planning, regular reassessment and using effective lead scoring tools.

There is much talk about lead scoring and developing the perfect lead scoring strategy.

A lead is a prospective customer. Some customers are genuinely interested and keen to buy your product, while others are just browsing through your website and might be interested in what they see.

Lead scoring for CRM allows a business to gain a competitive edge among peers. It is an essential element for business growth. A business which targets high quality leads as a priority has better conversion rates and more sales. So what's your lead scoring plan?

Understanding lead scoring

Each day numerous leads are added to your CRM lead pool. Some leads are hot prospects, and ready for conversion, while some people are still in the process of making up their minds or are not sure.  How do you rank these leads in order of priority? How do you know which leads are valuable and should be targeted first?

Lead scoring involves determining the worthiness of a lead. Lead scoring analytics is carried out by studying the individual online behavior of each lead. Their search patterns, interests as presented on social media, track record of websites visited and links clicked on, and various other online behavioral patterns are analyzed to asses a lead. Based on this information the lead is given a score. The score determines the value of the lead and how the lead is to be handled.

Why is lead scoring important?

With lead scoring a business can efficaciously employ resources to deliver maximum output. The basic essence is to target valuable prospects rather than random leads. Every business which is generating leads need to formulate a lead scoring plan which will qualify each lead in order of the next step of action.

Each business is different and there is no general lead scoring strategy that will work for all businesses. The value of a lead is determined based on the type of business. While some leads may have great value to one business, it may not be as valuable to another business. It is important to score each lead as per your business requirements. Developing a lead scoring system enables a business to assign the right function to a lead.

Benefits of lead scoring

A good lead scoring model has many advantages in terms of lead conversion and business growth. Every business is seeking ways in which to increase sales and their customer base. Lead scoring has proved to deliver beneficial results.

• Sales efficiency by focusing on leads ready for conversion

• The marketing team can targets valuable leads which have high potential

• Identified leads which need nurturing

• Helps to remove unworkable leads from the database

• Increased revenue generation through higher sales

Lead scoring plan

The basic essence of lead scoring rests upon determining the criteria on which the leads can be graded. What is the criterion which determines whether the Sales Team should call the lead and push for a sale or tele-prospect and nurture the lead for ripening?

Lead scoring helps to determine the future course of action for each individual lead. The leads which are ready can be converted without further delay. These leads are highly volatile and delay may culminate in the loss of the prospective customer.

Some prospective leadsneed nurturing. Lead nurturing entails prospecting by sending regular information through emails. Encouraging the lead to visit your website for further information or to participate in surveys where they can present their opinion. Based on the response you can decide when the lead is ready or whether it should be discarded.

Lead Grading System

The lead scoring tools enablesa business to priorities its leads using a predefined lead grading system. This system helps to measure the lead quality.The value of lead scoring for sales can be gauged against the use of resources and the conversion success rate.

A lead grading system segregates the leads in to different segments. One way to categories the leads is as: hot, warm and cold. This is a common grading system. By this method, the appropriate functions can be assigned for each lead.

The first step in the lead grading system is to have clearly defined grading criteria's. What is your threshold for lead scoring?

A standardized system needs to be implemented to asses various essential criteria pertaining to the lead:

• What is the likelihood of purchase?

• An approximate calculation of the size of the purchase

• What is the estimated time frame during which they are expected to purchase

From the practical aspect it is futile to waste resources on prospects that have a small chance of purchase or those with an indefinite time frame. Every business requires a well-balanced lead scoring for CRM grading system.

How to score your leads

By developing a lead scoring system a business can identify potential customers and increase their revenue generation. It allows quick conversion of ready leads and lead nurturing for potential leads.

What is a lead scoring model?

There are a few standard lead scoring models used by business. To attain optimal results from leads, a business should develop its own customized lead scoring model. Some of the common techniques applied to lead scoring involve:

• Different scores for different line of products: Business with different lines of products can score leads differently for each line.

• Negative scoring: Not all visitors to your website are interested customers. For example: a higher score is given for customer engagement. At times returning visitors may be job hunters who spend time on the careers page of your website. Some visitors appear to spend a long time on the website, but there is no activity. It may be a case of inadvertently leaving the page open while away from the screen. These leads can be given a negative scoring.

Lead scoring automation

Lead scoring automation is one of the most powerful marketing tools. It helps to generate high quality leads as well as initiate the lead nurturing process.

Automated lead scoring for CRM saves time. Salesforce lead scoring can be automated with customized lead grading specifications. The output is filtered leads, which are ready to be assigned with an appropriate function. An automated lead scoring process can be successfully implemented only when your business has developed a sound lead scoring system.

Analysing your position

To know where your business stands in relation to any process, a review and analysis is necessary. After implementing a lead scoring strategy it is important to analyse your current position regularly. Are you grading your leads correctly? Check your conversion rate for an accurate estimation. If you are falling short of the target, it means your lead grading criteria needs some modification.

A lead scoring matrix can be used to formalize your lead scoring strategy. The matrix is a graphical representation of the scoring process. It gives a clear image of your current position in relation to your target achievement. It can also be used to view conditions that need tweaking to improve performance.

At the end of a day every business is keen on increasing their bottom line with more sales and higher revenue generation. Developing a streamlined and effective lead scoring system is one of the best methods to effectively use resources and achieve desired targets.

Maximum Value. Achieved.