How to Use Lead Scoring to Qualify and Prioritize Your Referred Leads

Alright, so you wanted a five-fold increase in your revenue this year.

You executed multiple marketing strategies and gathered a significant number of leads—what a victory!

But somewhere down there, your leads are still just that—leads, not paying customers. While your marketing team tirelessly promotes your offerings, the sales team struggles to convert those opportunities into closed deals.

You got frustrated, discouraged, and disheartened. We completely understand. 

Good news, though; this can be turned around! 

This is where lead scoring comes in. 

Businesses leveraging lead scoring have seen a remarkable 79% boost in ROI in lead conversion compared to those that don’t. That’s exactly the kind of result you’re aiming for, right?

 

If so, continue diving in to uncover how to use it to elevate your business performance.

 

Understanding Lead Scoring: Breaking Down the Basics

What is Lead Scoring?

 

When we zero in on the term lead scoring, it’s easy to think of it as simply assigning scores or values to potential leads. While that idea is on the right track, it’s time to demystify this too-simplified definition. 

 

Lead scoring is a strategic method for ranking each lead based on their potential and commitment to become part of your business’ success. 

Let’s unpack this definition. 

 

 

Moreover, it includes ongoing monitoring, assessment, and fine-tuning to ensure it remains effective and aligned with changing market conditions.

 

 

These indicators will be used to assign values or scores to leads. Their interactions with your brand, their demographics, and the behavioral patterns that they exhibit are just some of the usual indicators being considered.

 

 

Labor intensive? Yes. 

 

But it provides a quantitative measure of each lead’s quality, which will later improve the sales team’s efficiency. Leveraging automation tools can streamline this process significantly. We’ll explore these in detail shortly since we want you to work smarter, not harder.

 

 

It is important to recognize that each business may have different KPIs. But despite these differences, the core idea remains the same: it’s a system for effectively achieving your desired business outcomes.

 

Why does lead scoring work? 

 

It’s straightforward. Assigning an objective point value to new prospects makes it incredibly easy for salespeople to know where to invest time, effort, and finances. 

 

It turns you away from hit-and-miss sales and marketing.

 

Benefits of Using Lead Scoring in Combination with Referral Marketing

The primary purpose of lead scoring is to supercharge the efficiency and effectiveness of your sales and marketing, eventually achieving your desired business outcomes. It is like the strategic GPS that guides you toward high-value leads. 

Referral marketing, on the other hand, is one of the best ways to gain new leads for your business. It isn’t just a fancy term—it’s a powerhouse strategy where businesses get their customers to do the marketing. 

 

Instead of just running ads, you’re encouraging your happy customers to promote and sing praises about your brand. Often, this involves sweetening the deal with incentives or rewards for those successful referrals.

 

But have you ever experienced gaining tons of new referrals but still the conversion rate from referral to customer is too low?

 

If you want to optimize your sales gain, then you must use lead scoring in referral marketing, and here’s why: 

 

A whopping 68% of highly effective marketers considered lead scoring the top contributor to their revenue increase. 

Meanwhile, a comprehensive study conducted by Eloqua revealed that, on average, the adoption of lead-scoring systems can boost deal closing rates by 30% and increase company revenue by 18%.

We told you, it’s a game-changer!

Source: Eloqua

 

 

While you want to ditch cold leads and prioritize hot leads, you must also nurture warm leads to increase sales opportunities. They all require different strategies!

 

This customization enhances engagement, improves conversion rates, and builds stronger relationships with your leads. When you know what makes each lead think and tick, you can build connections that lead to sales. 

 

Some interesting stats, as compiled by HubSpot, revealed that:

 

Every dollar and time spent becomes an investment in real results rather than a gamble on uncertain prospects. 

Not every lead looks good at first glance, which is why implementing a robust lead scoring system is essential—it transforms your approach and maximizes the returns on your marketing efforts.

 

If 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your prospects, it would make sense to find these 20% and focus on them first, right?

Based on findings from a DemandGen Report, businesses using lead scoring in their Lead Management Systems could see a whopping 70% boost in ROI compared to those skipping lead scoring.

Once you’ve fully followed up on the hottest leads, you can move further down the line. It’s good business sense.

 

This understanding enables teams to make informed adjustments to their strategies, ensuring they continue to attract leads that convert effectively for the sales team.

Combining referral marketing with lead scoring isn’t just about converting referrals. It’s about generating the right leads—ones that are primed and ready to become your next big success story.

 

Unveiling Lead Scoring Techniques

Despite these benefits and opportunities, it’s quite astonishing to discover that a staggering 64% of companies, especially in the B2B marketing sector, have yet to leverage the power of lead scoring because their sales and marketing teams don’t agree.


Source: DemandScience

 

Even more perplexing is the fact that 27% of these businesses have no intention of adopting this crucial strategy. 

 

This oversight not only compromises their ability to prioritize high-quality leads but also hampers their overall marketing efficiency. 

With the right strategies in place, businesses can shift away from daunting statistics and toward a more efficient, lead-driven approach. Let’s explore these here. 

 

Explicit Scoring

Think of this as your lead scoring blueprint. The data gives you a clear insight into who your leads are and how likely they are to contribute to your sales. 

In explicit scoring, you’re assigning points based on tangible data, often demographic information about the lead such as: 

Examples:

#1: A CEO of a large enterprise might receive a higher lead score than a junior employee, simply because they wield more influence and budget.

#2: A manager working in a company with an employee size of 200 to 1,000 can have a higher lead score than the director of a company with 2 to 5 employees only.

#3: A company operating in the software industry might prioritize leads from similar sectors due to their higher potential for conversion and alignment with the business’s target market.


Here are some scoring combinations employing explicit techniques:

1. BANT Scoring

This time-honored scoring method centers around four key elements: Budget, Authority or the individual responsible for purchasing decisions, Needs (in relation to your brand’s product or service), and the Time frame for purchase.

Source: HubSpot

 

2. Firmographic Scoring

This approach, particularly beneficial in B2B contexts, leverages crucial data points such as company size, industry sector, geographical location, and revenue.

 

3. ANUM Scoring

This framework prioritizes the Authority in purchasing decisions, the Need of the lead, the Urgency of the purchase, and the Money or budget considerations involved.

 

Implicit Scoring

Now, let’s talk about implicit scoring, where intent can be read between the lines. 

The idea behind implicit scoring is that people who are more likely to buy your product or services will show certain behaviors reflecting their intent to purchase. 

This method focuses on assessing lead behavior and engagement patterns, such as:

Analyzing or tracking a prospect’s online behavior can provide powerful insights into how likely they are to purchase. 

Examples:

#1: A lead who frequently visits pricing pages or watches product demo videos demonstrates a strong intent to purchase, warranting a higher lead score.

#2: Multiple interactions with content such as whitepapers or case studies indicate a deeper interest in the product or service, signaling readiness for further engagement.

#3: In an e-commerce setting, a lead who abandons their shopping cart multiple times but returns to review pricing details exhibits significant interest and should be prioritized in lead nurturing and remarketing efforts.

 

Here’s the kicker: magic happens when you combine explicit and implicit scoring. 

Don’t settle for just one approach—combine them to be able to create a powerful lead scoring model. This hybrid method allows you to identify leads who show both the right actions and hold the right attributes. 

It’s more complicated, sure, but it’s also more effective, letting you focus on leads with the highest conversion potential.

 

Predictive Scoring

Traditional lead scoring has long relied on both implicit and explicit metrics, but let’s be honest—this manual approach can be more of a chore than a charm. 

Setting up these traditional models involves significant hands-on effort, from inputting data to fine-tuning for optimal performance. For many businesses, this can feel overwhelming, drawing away valuable time and resources. 

The real question is: how can we streamline this process, reduce the potential for human error, and make lead scoring not just efficient but truly effective? 

This is where predictive lead scoring can come to the rescue. 

Predictive lead scoring is currently the crystal ball of lead scoring and the way of the future. It uses advanced analytics and machine learning algorithms to forecast lead quality based on historical data and predictive analytics. 

Connected Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and marketing automation systems, including your referral marketing software, supply the necessary internal data for these algorithms.

This predictive model can leverage various data points, such as website behavior, demographics, and purchase history, much like traditional lead scoring. However, it offers enhanced adaptability and deeper insight, allowing for a more nuanced understanding of potential leads.

According to insights from 6sense, nearly 450,000 companies, mostly in the USA, have embraced predictive lead scoring tools, with most having between 1 and 49 employees. 

This statistic underscores the growing reliance on predictive lead scoring as a dependable strategy for improving sales effectiveness and refining marketing efforts across diverse sectors.

 

From Data to Decisions: Developing an Effective Lead Scoring Model

Companies may use different lead-scoring systems based on their goals, but the basic principles of lead-scoring remain consistent. 

Let’s now examine how you can craft a lead-scoring model that is as sharp as a tack.

 

Step 1 – Identify and Understand Your Target Market

Before you begin scoring leads, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of who you’re scoring. Knowing your ideal customer profile is crucial to evaluating their quality accurately. Grasping the nuances of your target market forms the foundation for creating an efficient lead scoring model.

Get ready to get under their skin. 

Key questions to consider to be able to understand your target market include:

But don’t stop there. Use these guide questions to dig deeper:

Image source: SpiritBoxNation

 

Finally, it’s essential to analyze historical customer data to pinpoint the key characteristics of your ideal customers. This is particularly important when employing a predictive lead scoring model, as past data plays a crucial role in assessing lead quality effectively.

 

Step 2 – Create Your Point System

Now that you know your ideal customer, let’s build your scoring system. 

Developing a structured point system involves defining criteria and assigning weights based on their impact on lead quality. Imagine that you’re creating a recipe, and you need to get the specific weight of each ingredient. 

Here’s how you can mix it: 

 

 

 

Referral leads typically receive a high score due to the trust factor involved; they come from satisfied customers or trusted contacts who vouch for your services.

This pre-existing trust often leads to higher conversion rates, as these leads are more likely to engage and make decisions based on positive recommendations. Additionally, referral leads tend to have a better understanding of your offerings, resulting in a smoother sales process and a more meaningful relationship from the outset.

 

 

 

Lowering lead scores can help accurately measure the lead’s current conversion probability. Deduct scores accordingly, but always watch for your leads’ signs of renewed interest that could bump their scores back up. 

If leads show more frequent opens and clicks, it might suggest that they’re ready to buy, this should trigger a sales follow-up.

 

Here’s an examples of a lead scoring system based on the aforementioned indicators:

 

Assigning points for specific actions allows businesses to prioritize leads effectively. 

For instance, downloading a whitepaper might contribute +10 points, while unsubscribing from emails could result in a deduction of -20 points. 

 

Step 3 – Assign Point Categories

Next, decide how many points make a lead hot, warm, or cold: 

The sales and marketing team should determine these thresholds through a series of tests. These thresholds help you prioritize your follow-ups and focus your efforts on where they matter most.

Note: An MQL is a prospective customer who has shown interest in your product or service but hasn’t yet engaged with your sales team.

We’ll talk more about qualifying leads in a bit.

 

Step 4 – Automate Lead Scores using CRM Software

Here’s where it gets more exciting: integrating your lead scoring model with the CRM software. 

This software streamlines your lead scoring process and keeps the marketing and sales teams in sync by providing the following:

Once you have entered the lead-scoring criteria into the CRM software, it’s now time for CRM to do its job. It will automatically assign scores to the leads and track any changes in their scores. 

For instance, if a lead has been imported from your referral program software, you can immediately assign it high points. The lead’s engagement with your follow-up email campaigns can be added to its score.

Examples of CRM software with lead scoring are Zoho and HubSpot.

Your CRM can also employ predictive scoring through an algorithm based on the criteria you set to automatically identify the leads with the highest conversion probability. HubSpot has this feature. 

Another plus point of predictive scoring through the CRM software is that the longer you use it, the smarter it gets, consequently providing you with more accurate data.

 

Step 5 – Continue Monitoring and Optimization

Lead scoring is not a stagnant process but is a dynamic one that requires ongoing monitoring and optimization, as well as continuous refinement, to remain effective:

 

How to Qualify and Prioritize Your Best Prospects

 

Once you have established your lead scoring system and assigned scores to your prospects based on the data that you have collected, it is now time to weave your results into your business process. 

 

Here’s where the magic happens: segment your leads based on their scores. 

 

From there, you can design strategies to engage them, each one designed to meet their unique needs and preferences. This is not just a process – it’s your roadmap to turning scores into sales. 

 

 

The High Scorers: The Hot Lead to Prioritize

When your best leads wave the flag and say, “We are ready!” roll out the red carpet for them. 

 

These are the things to keep in mind to ensure that your top leads will not slip through the cracks: 

 

  1. Have a personalized outreach strategy. Send them tailored emails addressing their needs. You can mention the recent interactions with your business and how you can solve their problems. 
  2. Always prioritize follow-ups. Leads with high scores deserve a quick response. Always coordinate with the best salespeople in your company who will follow up and seal the deal. 
  3. Why not make them feel extra special? Offer them exclusive deals early access to new features and promos. This way, you can make them feel special and valued. 

 

Your Referred Leads as Hot Leads

 

Think back to our previous conversation about referral marketing—it’s more than just a tactic; it’s a powerful strategy! Your referrals aren’t just ordinary leads; they’re hot and eager prospects hand-delivered to you by satisfied customers. 

 

In most cases, they are called qualified leads. 

 

Unlike cold leads, referred leads have already been vetted by a mutual connection, which enhances their credibility and makes them more receptive to engagement. 

 

As a result, businesses often prioritize these leads in their sales process, leveraging the existing relationship to facilitate deeper conversations and ultimately drive conversions.

 

Data speaks volumes when it comes to its power. Referred leads boast four times better conversion rate compared to other lead generation channels, which is impressive on its own. 

 

Additionally, these leads offer a 16% higher lifetime value.

If these statistics don’t convince you of the undeniable value of referred leads as hot leads, then it’s hard to imagine what will!

 

When someone vouches for you, it carries a seal of trust, opening the door to new opportunities. This personal touch not only makes them more receptive but also sets the stage for meaningful connections that can seamlessly transition into loyal clients.

 

The Mid-Scorers: Warm But with Potential

 

These are your leads that show interest but are not yet there. They have engaged with you in several channels, but they need nurturing. 

 

But how can you nurture them? 

 

  1. Provide them with educational content that addresses their pain points or problems. 
  2. Invite them to join webinars or live demos to see your product in action.
  3. Keep your communication with them open. Do regular, but not overwhelming, follow-ups. Show them how others have benefitted from the solutions you offer. 

 

But here’s the deal. Nurturing requires customization. 

 

Effective nurturing campaigns are not universally applicable; they require careful customization to align with the specific stage of the sales cycle and the unique traits of each lead. By strategically developing your nurture paths that reflect these factors, you can significantly enhance engagement and conversion rates.

 

The Low Scorers: The Cold Contacts

 

These are your leads who, maybe, have only visited your website once or twice. They’re not ready to purchase yet, but that doesn’t mean that they never will. So how can you turn them into high scoring leads? 

 

  1. Set up automated email sequences to keep them engaged over time. Provide success stories that they can relate to. 
  2. Connect with them on social media and share content that might interest them. 
  3. Provide updates about your product or industry news. Keep your business on their radar without being too demanding. 

 

However, among the three segments, this is where you should least prioritize your resources the most. Implementing automation can significantly enhance the effectiveness of the tips outlined above while reducing costs.

 

Remember that in segmenting and qualifying leads, it’s not just the score that matters – it’s what those scores tell you. Always customize your approach based on where the leads are in the buying journey. 

 

Mastering Lead Scoring in Referral Marketing: Best Practices

 

Are you ready to turn lead scoring from just a basic tool into a secret weapon for sales success through referral marketing? These are the best practices that will help you score leads like a pro. 

 

Best Practice #1: Simplified Criteria

To make your lead scoring work like a charm, keep your criteria clear, concise, and relevant to avoid confusion and ensure consistency across teams. If you use too many data points, leads may seem similar than they really are, defeating the purpose of your lead scoring process. 

Here are other things to remember to keep things on track: 

By keeping your lead scoring criteria simple, communicated, and aligned with your business goals, you’ll ensure that your system remains effective and easy to use. So simplify, communicate, and keep it fresh!

 

Best Practice #2: Sales and Marketing Teams Should Agree on the Lead Scoring Rules

The wild world of lead scoring—a place where sales and marketing teams often find themselves at odds. Imagine this: you’ve got two teams, each with their own set of rules and priorities. Sounds like a recipe for chaos, right? That’s the major pitfall of lead scoring when these teams don’t see eye to eye on what makes a lead “hot.”

 

For instance, Marketing may classify a lead as high-quality if it is a referral for a free plan. However, the Sales team might disregard these leads due to a perceived lack of fit with the ideal customer profile (paying customers). 

 

Talk about a disconnect! This can lead to wasted resources and a whole lot of missed chances—frustrating for everyone involved.

 

So, what’s the solution? It’s simple: collaboration! The magic happens when sales and marketing work together to nail down those scoring criteria. 

 

Regular meetings or workshops are a must—think of them as a fun brainstorming session where everyone gets to chime in. What’s working? What’s not? What does the data on results say? Let’s hash it out!

 

These meetings can even help improve your referral program, ensuring that you receive only referrals that have a high chance of turning into qualified leads.

 

Also, let’s not forget about documentation. A shared doc that spells out key terms and scoring parameters can do wonders for alignment. It’s like having a playbook that everyone can reference. 

 

And why not get both teams involved in testing the scoring system? Their feedback is gold and can help shape a model that actually meets the ever-changing needs of the business.

 

Bottom line? Open communication and teamwork are your best friends here. By aligning efforts, sales and marketing can create a lead scoring system that works like a charm, leading to better conversion rates and fewer headaches. 

 

Best Practice #3: Leveraging Referrers Influence

When inundated with a plethora of referred leads—many of which are ripe for conversion—how can you effectively filter and prioritize them?

The key is to leverage referrers’ influence!

Here’s some criteria you may use in categorizing your referrals based on their quality and potential impact:

By assigning scores based on these criteria, you can prioritize your outreach effectively.

 

Best Practice #4: Continued Testing, Monitoring, and Optimization

To truly harness the power of lead scoring, it’s crucial to adopt a mindset of continuous testing, monitoring, and optimization.

If you’re new to lead scoring, start by establishing multiple scoring models to find what resonates with your brand and audience—this is where the magic happens.

Remember, the mantra here is to test, test, and test again!

Even after discovering effective models, the journey doesn’t end; regular monitoring and periodic re-evaluation of these models are essential. The insights gathered from these actions will empower you to fine-tune your approach, ensuring you maximize your sales opportunities and stay ahead in the game.

 

Closing the Loop: Referral Marketing and Lead Scoring

Imagine a world where every lead you approach is not just a shot in the dark but a well-lit path paved with data-driven insights! It can be done! 

Lead scoring fine-tunes your lead generation approach by pinpointing the referrals that are most likely to close.

This dynamic duo empowers you to zero in on those golden opportunities with laser accuracy, boosting your conversion rates and making your sales pipeline a powerhouse of potential.

Don’t wait—start blending these strategies today and watch your sales soar. Dive into your CRM, set up those scoring criteria, and harness the power of referrals. Your future loyal customers are out there, just waiting for that perfect pitch. 

So, what are you waiting for? Implement these insights now and turn every lead into a win!

 

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