I’m not sure anyone really asks, “What’s your sign?” as a pick-up line these days, but with the rising popularity of marketing automation, perhaps more people should be asking, “What’s your score…lead score, to be exact?”

Isn’t it every sales person’s dream to know exactly how qualified a prospect is and the intended purchase timeframe?  By knowing this information, sales could focus on the hottest prospects – the ones that are in the buying phase and judged most likely to close.  The remaining leads could receive additional follow-up communications until they move closer to the decision-making process.

Using the lead scoring feature within a marketing automation system, this dream scenario can become reality.  Lead scoring tracks the leads’ interaction with your website, emails, online events, etc, and then automatically assigns a numerical value.

The guesswork associated with a prospect’s level of engagement is substantially reduced, if not eliminated, because you can assess interest based on a finite value…the lead score.  Additionally, the score is adjusted automatically by the system so you don’t need to login each time an event occurs and adjust the score manually (although that can be done if an offline action occurs that necessitates a change in the score).

To get started thinking about how lead scoring applies to your lead database, imagine the different actions, attributes or behaviors a lead might have that would make him/her more qualified.  Here is a quick list of lead criteria that we’ve found particularly helpful:

Visitor attributes

• Referred by a high-value lead source such as a technology partner, application exchange website, etc
• Searched for a specific keyword strand that implies familiarity like brand or product name
• Came to the website from a specific geographical area where your company is well-positioned

Website activity

• Clicked on a high-value link such as a white paper download
• Viewed a certain amount of pages or spent a specified length of time on your site
• Returned to the website multiple times
• Submitted an inquiry form such as “Contact Us” or subscribed to your Blog feed

Emails

• Clicked on specific links within the email or went to landing pages
• Interacted with a specific number of emails received

Online events

• Registered or attended an event such as a webinar

As you can see, the possibilities of assigning and adjusting a lead score based on a lead’s attributes or actions are limitless and provide a great way to identify the most qualified leads without adding manual bulk or processes.  Here’s to knowing your leads’ scores instead of their signs!