As we’re forced to slow down as a nation, many businesses are harnessing the moment to think big and plan for their post-pandemic recovery. One way your business can stay ahead is with data-driven lead scoring strategies to help you identify where to concentrate your development efforts.
Growing your business takes a two-fold approach: bringing in new leads and converting those prospects to clients. This assessment may seem reductive, yet it hits at the essential issue many face in their business development strategy – how to convert leads.
The hard facts are 80% of new leads never convert to sales. That’s why close to 3/4ths of companies name “converting leads into customers” as their top priority. This persistent problem does have a tried and true solution: lead scoring.
Lead Scoring in Five Steps
Almost 70% of marketers surveyed said lead scoring was a “primary driver of revenue” in their bids to increase lead conversion. Scoring leads is a way to ensure you’re delivering the most-likely-to-buy prospects into the hands of your sales team. Get your lead scoring strategy together in four steps:
- Define categories
Identify and name the buckets into which leads can fall. Examples include a prospect, marketing qualified, sales qualified, and sales ready. Base each category on the score assigned and actions taken by the lead.
A prospect will have simply visited your site, filled out a form, or showed another low level of interest. A sales qualified lead would have a higher score and displayed a need for your services and means to purchase. Pay attention to the different areas and be clear on when a lead is in the right spot to be ready to buy.
- Determine a score sheet
What counts as a 3-pointer and which is more of a free throw? Look at the actions leads can take and decide what point values to assign to each. Responding to a sales email, attending a webinar, and filling out a form are all signals, but your team needs to look at past data and decide which are higher indicators than others. Leverage that analysis to create a score sheet.
Beyond actions, assign value to the inherent qualities of each lead. Place value on their ability to buy (i.e., do they have the funds and authority), how they came to you (cold call vs. referral), and level of interest, among others. Use data compiled by your interactions with the lead, including both calls and emails, to determine such intangibles.
- Set Standards
When it comes to tallying up scores for leads, you need to know when to hold off on putting in the effort. If a lead scores too low, you’re likely to get little or no movement from your outreach, wasting time and resources. Determine your scoring floor and bring those leads back to maintain and visit later. Leverage data to determine what constitutes a viable lead. Look at past leads who hit desired KPIs and work backward to find out who is a good fit.
Also, don’t “throw away” any lead at first pass – 63% of consumers requesting information from a company wait three months before they purchase. A lead may not be viable now, but it could be in the future.
- Create paths
Ensure each lead has an outreach path to follow. You should have more than one outreach plan to meet the needs of different leads. From initial contact to email campaigns and scheduling a demo, each lead should have a marked journey to follow once they’ve been scored.
Each path should be part of your CRM so you can drop leads where they need to be based on their segments and scores.
- Establish an objective feedback loop
The most important part of an effective lead scoring process is evaluating the impact scoring is really making on your pipeline. Make sure you have your CRM set up to assess whether or not the scored leads you’re delivering to your sales team are converting to your pipeline.
Sales generation is the real barometer of a lead scoring program. An effective lead scoring system requires attentive evaluation and tweaking to optimize what’s working and revaluating what’s not. Even with a great system, lead conversion requires significant resources from your organization. Make sure you’re making the most of them.
Hitting Leads Hard with NuGrowth Solutions
With stats like a 20% higher contact rate and doubling in meeting set rates over the industry average, our expert team has the marketing automation and CRM experience you need to bring effective lead scoring to your business.
Our NuGrowth Accelerator app for Salesforce® is specifically designed to ramp up the outreach, scoring, and conversion process. With built-in list progressions, insightful KPI reporting, and easy-to-use workflows, you’ll see your calendar fill up and your sales stats soar.
We’ve worked with hundreds of businesses across a variety of industries, creating custom lead scoring and conversion strategies to help them grow for years to come. Ready to see what NuGrowth can do for your business? Get in touch at http://nugrowth.com/contact/ or 614.304.3917 to find out today.
