Lead Scoring Maestro: Optimize Your Lead Scoring Strategy

Are you starting to generate leads, but struggling to distinguish the hot prospects from the lukewarm ones? Welcome to a common hurdle that many B2B software companies face as they scale. The good news? HubSpot has a solution, and it's called Lead Scoring.

In this blog post, we’ll guide you through the process of optimizing your lead scoring strategy in HubSpot using integrated data. By the end of this post, you'll be able to prioritize leads effectively, supercharge your sales efforts, and ultimately boost your revenue. Let's get started.

The Headache = Lead Overwhelm

Picture this: Your marketing team is firing on all cylinders, generating a plethora of leads. While this influx of potential customers is exciting, it also poses a challenge. How do you sift through the leads and identify the ones that are most likely to convert into paying customers? Without an effective lead scoring system, you're left with a lengthy list of leads, many of which might not be sales-ready. This makes it hard to point your sales team in the right direction and ensure you strike when the iron is hot.

The Solution = Lead Scoring in HubSpot

Lead Scoring is a method that involves configuring lead scoring models in HubSpot, taking advantage of integrated data sources. This approach enables you to assign scores to leads based on their behavior, engagement, and other relevant factors.

Step 1: Define Your Scoring Criteria

Before diving into HubSpot, take a moment to define your scoring criteria.

Three things to consider when defining your score:

1. What actions or behaviors indicate a highly qualified lead in your industry? 
   • Common behavourial factors include: number website visits, number of form submissions, marketing email opens/clicks, sales email opens/clicks, product usage (for PLG product), and engagement with specific content or website pages
2. What integrated data sources can you consider?
   • HubSpot allows you to integrate various data sources such as G2, Lead Pages, Zoominfo intent, Apollo signals, Clearbit, RingLead, etc.
   • Determine how these data sources can enrich your view of each lead providing signals on their propensity to buy
3. What fermographic information most closely fits your ideal customer persona?
   • Contact Level: Job title, email domain (i.e. not gmail, hotmail, outlook, etc.), location, seniority level, and department 
   • Company Level: Industry, employee count, revenue range, recent funding, number of open positions, and growth rate

Step 2: Configure Scoring Models

In your HubSpot dashboard, navigate to you Contact Properties, and find "HubSpot Score." Here, you can determine both the positive and negative attributes that contribute to your customized lead scoring model. Configure your models to assign points for each qualifying action or behavior, and adjust the scores to reflect the level of importance.

Things to consider:

• Weight actions/behaviors that signal buying intent more heavily
• Firmographic details typically don't carry as much weight, but you should consider the factors that most accurately define your ICP and assign points for those things 
• Crater the score when leads take an action that signals disinterest or disengagement like unsubscribing or changing communication preferences
• Take time into account when assigning points to a lead score.
  • Add more points if/when a contact takes many high-value actions in a short period of time to surface these as hot leads
  • Deduct points if engagement over time slows down
• Determine your breakpoints that you can use for list building and follow-up

Example HubSpot Score Model

Company Description: B2B legal-tech SaaS company that sells to the legal departments of high-growth insurance companies with 200-500 employees, $10 - $50M in revenue, and have recently raised funding.

Ideal Customer Persona:

• Seniority: VP
• Title: VP of Legal
• Location: US
• Email: Verified company email

Attribute Score

Behavior Score

Step 3: Establish Your Lead Score Breakpoints

Determine the various segments of your lead scoring model by carefully analyzing the range of scores that can be assigned to each lead. Consider how these scores reflect the likelihood of conversion and categorize them into distinct groups such as hot, warm, nurture, cold, and do not contact. This segmentation will help you to effectively prioritize and manage your leads, ensuring that your sales and marketing teams can tailor their strategies and outreach efforts accordingly. 

Example Breakpoints for the above

Step 4: Test and Refine

Implement your lead scoring models and closely monitor the results. Analyze how well your scoring aligns with actual lead conversions. As you collect more data, refine your scoring models to ensure they accurately predict lead quality.

Step 5: Sales and Marketing Alignment

For lead scoring to be truly effective, it must align with your sales and marketing teams. Collaborate to establish lead handoff criteria, ensuring that highly scored leads receive prompt attention from your sales team. Consider an automated workflow for assigning tasks to your sales team when a hot lead comes in.

The Payoff: Enhanced Lead Prioritization and Better Sales

• Focused Sales Efforts: Your sales team can concentrate their efforts on leads most likely to convert, leading to improved close rates.
• Marketing Efficiency: Marketing can tailor their campaigns and content to engage leads at the right time, increasing the overall efficiency of lead nurturing.
• Improved ROI: By focusing on high-scoring leads, you'll optimize your marketing spend and achieve a better return on investment.
• Data-Driven Decisions: With integrated data and refined scoring models, your decisions will be data-driven, leading to better overall strategies.

Lead Scoring is a key component to conquering the lead overwhelm and boosting your sales efforts. By configuring lead scoring models with integrated data in HubSpot, you'll transform your headache into a well-organized and efficient lead prioritization system. 

Ready to dive into the world of HubSpot lead scoring? Reach out to us today to chat about how we can help you get setup. Stay tuned for more recipes to tackle your HubSpot headaches, one at a time.