Keys to B2B Lead Scoring Using Buyer Intent Signals

What is lead scoring and why is it important?

A lead scoring model ranks prospects according to the perceived value they represent to your company — in terms of the revenue opportunity and the likelihood of a purchase.

You score leads by assigning fit and behavior scores that separate sales-ready leads from others. To do so, your marketing and sales teams use buyer intent data to identify traits or actions that indicate a lead’s profile fit, funnel stage and willingness to buy.

To use lead scoring models, your organization needs data on account histories and activity logs to identify a prospect’s characteristics and behaviors that can be used for scoring. Then, you assign points to each trait and action, and define the follow-up process for marketing and sales reps based on the lead scores.

According to Gartner, companies with a high conversion rate use an average of four criteria to score leads. That means you don’t need dozens of factors weighing into a lead’s ranking, but instead should look at past conversions to establish specific criteria that identify the best leads to pass on to sales. (Full report available to Gartner clients).

Cutting through the noise, knowing what data to use and analyzing the right intent signals is key to scoring leads effectively and converting customers.

How to calculate a lead score based on intent signals

The first step to calculating a lead score is understanding key demographic and firmographic characteristics of target customer segments. As a B2B software provider, you should know which prospects have the attributes and behaviors that make them high-quality leads. You should also qualify leads based on their potential lifetime value as a future customer.

With that data, assign points to each lead based on their demographics, behavior, funnel stage and potential deal size. Distribute weights to lead scoring categories based on your marketing and sales teams’ definition of a high-quality lead.

What signals do you need to score SaaS leads?

You can tap various data from your website, content engagement, CRM system and third-party intent data providers to create a lead scoring system that works for your business.

The two main lead qualification categories are for profile fit and behavioral fit, according to Gartner (full report available to Gartner clients):

Measure and improve your lead scoring model

Lead scoring is not a “set it and forget it” process. Software providers must continually score incoming leads’ actions and regularly update the scoring model.

Additionally, for each score threshold, organizations should refine follow-up actions for marketing and sales based on leading indicators of conversion. Sales outreach related to previous interactions or website traffic is the most effective for improving lead acceptance, according to Gartner.

With ongoing collaboration between your sales and marketing team, consistently monitor sales’ follow-up rates and win rates on each marketing qualified lead (MQL).

Here are questions that can influence your lead scoring model, according to Gartner:

• What type of campaigns or content drive top prospects into the sales funnel?
• Where are the biggest mismatches between the lead scoring system and marketing campaigns?
• What are the most common reasons for sellers to reject marketing-qualified leads?
• Do the qualified leads lack any critical characteristics or have undesirable traits?
• What are the most common challenges sellers face in winning deals from qualified leads?
• Where does the scoring method fail in tracking a prospect’s interest in the product?

With a data-driven, constantly evolving lead management process, your B2B organization will find higher productivity for your team and more opportunities to engage high-value prospects.

Learn more about collecting and using intent signals in our webinar, “Launch Your ABM Strategy with Buyer Intent Data.” Register Now.

Aaron Henckler

Aaron Henckler is the Managing Vice President of New Market Programs for Gartner Digital Markets. He is an experienced strategy consultant and proven operations leader with a track record of establishing scalable capabilities in product development and insights generation. When not at work, Aaron likes to spend time with his family and break it down on the dance floor. Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn.