Enhance Lead Generation Process with Lead Scoring

According to Gartner, “By converting segmentation criteria into business rules how leads are rated, or scored, providers see an immediate boost in lead volume and lead quality.”
Lead scoring is an essential part of the lead generation process. Lead scoring helps measure sales readiness aspects for potential prospects and assists sales and marketing automation teams across B2B enterprises in judging their prospects’ stage in the buying lifecycle.

Using robust marketing automation applications, leads can now be automatically scored and prioritized based on their activity, interest and intent. It helps marketing teams to differentiate between leads that are sales ready and those that are not. Accordingly they can pass on the sales ready leads to Sales and focus their efforts on lead nurturing for the others. Also, lead Scoring makes Sales more efficient by helping them focus on the hottest leads first and get to them with a relevant solution in real time.

Using robust marketing automation software, lead scoring process is easy and simple to execute.

• It allows Sales and Marketing teams to define the parameters for a 'good' lead in advance, based on which it then classifies all leads.
• It monitors every click and keystroke, to understand where the visitors are in their buying cycle and which of them are exhibiting key buying indicators.
• It determines their identity and quality. This data when accumulated over a period of time and when combined with a company level view, becomes a powerful tool in qualifying leads.
• Uses of lead scoring tools.
• B2B lead scoring tools are widely used by companies as they can now directly gauge the actual effectiveness of what is working with their potential clients and what fails to create an impact.
• With the help of real time updates, sales reaction time has become faster.
• Automated lead scoring techniques employed by enterprises these days come with the additional focus on enhanced analysis of prospects.
• Scoring analysis helps to nurture leads effectively.

Lead scoring model should use both implicit and explicit behavior of the leads. Explicit information throws light on the “fit” of a prospect to a product. Explicit scores are primarily based on the information about the prospect like company size, industry segment, job title or geographic location. Implicit scores are more realistic and are derived from monitoring the prospect’s online body language like the type of whitepaper downloads, email activities, number of website visits, webinars, blogs, article, virtual shows etc.

By implementing the right lead scoring model and using a robust marketing automation system B2B marketing companies can enhance the effectiveness of the lead generation process.

Also read on - lead management, lead nurturing