Lead scores are based on numerical values placed on factors such as active and latent buying behavior. When you're scoring a sales lead, you must understand the difference between the two buying behaviors:
Active behavior involves sales readiness and purchase intent.
Latent behavior describes a behavior that shows less engagement and sales readiness.
To score a lead, define the buying behavior and score appropriately. For instance, just because someone downloaded a free mini-version of an author's e-book doesn't mean that your sales team should pick up the phone and call her right away. Effective lead scoring will guide you to your next move.
Here's a look at sample lead scoring ranges:
Critical: 10 to 15 points
Important: 5 to 9 points
Influencing: 1 to 4 points
Negative: -1 to -15 points
And here's how you can apply those scores to buying behaviors:
Behavior | Latent Score | Active Score |
---|---|---|
Downloads early stage content | +3 | |
Visits a web page or a blog | +1 | |
Watches a thought leadership webinar | +5 | |
Visits a pricing page | +10 | |
Watches a detailed demo | +10 | |
Downloads late-stage content | +12 | |
Searches for branded keyword term | +8 | |
The key here is that the follow-up for active versus latent leads is very different. For an active score, your sales reps should follow up immediately. For a latent score, trigger a personalized message instead.
You can also score leads negatively based on actions. For instance, a student might download a ton of early-, mid-, and late-stage content for a research paper. If that person fills out your form and indicates she is a student, you can give a negative score, say -15. They're most likely doing research and not actually interested in a purchase. The same is true for a person who visits your website's career page.