What is a lead scoring software? How to purchase one for your business?

Meet Sarah, a marketing manager who spends countless hours processing leads manually and struggling to identify which leads to prioritize. She's frustrated and feels like she's not making the most out of her marketing campaigns.

That's when she hears about a lead scoring software, a magical tool used by marketing and sales teams to determine a lead's likelihood of purchasing. Intrigued, she decides to implement lead scoring in her business.

What is a lead scoring software?

Lead scoring software is a tool that helps businesses identify which leads are most likely to become customers by assigning a score to each lead based on their characteristics and behavior. This score is calculated based on a set of predefined criteria, which can include factors such as demographics, firmographics, engagement levels, and more.

The software typically uses machine learning algorithms or pre-set rules to assign scores to each lead, and these scores are then used to prioritize leads for follow-up and determine the most effective sales and marketing strategies.

Here's a step-by-step breakdown of how lead scoring software typically works:

1. Data Integration: The software integrates with various data sources, such as a CRM, marketing automation platform, or customer data platform, to collect and analyze data on leads.
2. Criteria Definition: The business defines the criteria that will be used to score leads, such as the lead's job title, company size, or website activity. These criteria are often based on factors that have been found to correlate with a higher likelihood of conversion.
3. Score Calculation: The software assigns a score to each lead based on the defined criteria, using machine learning algorithms or pre-set rules. The score reflects the lead's likelihood of becoming a customer.
4. Lead Prioritization: The software prioritizes leads based on their scores, helping the business to focus their sales efforts on the leads that are most likely to convert. Sales teams can use this prioritization to determine which leads to follow up with first and which leads require additional nurturing.
5. Tracking and Analytics: The software tracks leads throughout the sales funnel, providing insights into their behavior at each stage of the process. This allows businesses to identify areas where they may need to adjust their sales process to improve conversion rates.

Lead scoring software is a powerful tool that can help businesses improve their sales and marketing strategies by identifying the most promising leads and prioritizing their efforts accordingly. However, how do you choose the best lead scoring software for your business? Let’s start by exploring the different types of lead scoring software in the market. 

What are the different types of lead scoring software?

Lead scoring software is designed to help businesses identify which prospects are most likely to become customers. This is done by assigning scores to leads based on certain criteria, such as their behavior on a company's website, their engagement with email campaigns, and other factors. There are several types of lead scoring software available, including:

1. Rule-based lead scoring software:

This type of software assigns scores to leads based on a predetermined set of rules. These rules may include factors such as demographic information, job title, and company size. Rule-based scoring software is relatively easy to set up and can be effective for businesses with simple sales processes. However, it may not be as effective for companies with more complex sales processes, as it does not take into account the individual behavior of each lead.

2. Predictive lead scoring software:

Predictive lead scoring software uses machine learning algorithms to analyze a variety of data points to predict which leads are most likely to become customers. This type of software can take into account a range of factors, including a lead's behavior on a company's website, their engagement with email campaigns, and other factors. Predictive lead scoring is more accurate than rule-based scoring as it can take into account the individual behavior of each lead. However, it may require more time and resources to set up initially.

3. Intent-based lead scoring software:

This type of software uses data from a lead's behavior online to determine their level of intent to purchase. For example, if a lead has visited a company's website multiple times, downloaded a white paper, and engaged with social media posts related to a particular product, they are likely to have a higher intent to purchase than a lead who has only visited the company's website once. Intent-based lead scoring software is highly effective for businesses with a large online presence and can help sales teams prioritize their efforts on leads that are most likely to convert.

4. Account-based lead scoring software:

Account-based lead scoring software takes a holistic approach to lead scoring by assigning scores to not just individual leads but entire accounts. This is especially useful for businesses that sell to other businesses, as it allows sales teams to identify which accounts are most likely to convert, as well as which individuals within those accounts are most likely to be involved in the buying process. Account-based lead scoring can be highly effective for businesses that have a complex sales process and sell to large accounts.

There are several types of lead scoring software available, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Businesses should choose a lead scoring software that is tailored to their specific needs and sales process. 

What are the primary features of lead scoring software? 

Lead scoring software offers multiple features that help businesses identify which prospects are most likely to become customers. These features include:

1. Scoring Criteria:

Lead scoring software allows businesses to set up criteria to determine which leads are most likely to convert. These criteria can include a variety of factors, such as demographics, firmographics, and behavioral data. The software may use pre-set rules or machine learning algorithms to score leads based on these criteria.

2. Lead Scoring Models:

Lead scoring software can provide businesses with different models for scoring leads. These models can be rule-based, predictive, intent-based, or account-based, as previously discussed. Each model has its own advantages and disadvantages, and businesses should choose the model that best fits their sales process and customer behavior.

3. Data Integration:

Lead scoring software integrates with a variety of data sources, such as CRMs, marketing automation platforms, and customer data platforms, to collect and analyze data on leads. This data integration helps businesses get a more complete picture of a lead's behavior and preferences.

4. Lead Prioritization:

Lead scoring software prioritizes leads based on their scores, allowing businesses to focus their sales efforts on the leads that are most likely to convert. Sales teams can use this prioritization to determine which leads to follow up with first and which leads require additional nurturing.

5. Lead Tracking:

Lead scoring software tracks leads throughout the sales funnel, providing insights into their behavior at each stage of the process. This allows businesses to identify areas where they may need to adjust their sales process to improve conversion rates.

6. Reporting and Analytics:

Lead scoring software provides businesses with detailed reports and analytics on lead scores, conversion rates, and other metrics. This information can help businesses optimize their sales process and improve their marketing strategies.

Why do businesses need a lead scoring software?

As a business owner, you must be pouring hours into optimizing your website and developing impactful campaigns. You've been successful in capturing a lot of leads, but you're struggling with lead quality. You don't know who is interested in your products and who's just shopping for the best deal. It's important for you to know this because you want to focus on the leads who are most likely to convert, so you don't waste time and resources on leads that are not interested or unlikely to make a purchase.

This is where lead scoring comes in. With a lead scoring model in place, 91% of marketers agree that you’re on your way to success. You can remove the guesswork and evaluate the quality of your prospects quickly. This not only saves you time and resources, but it also helps you close deals faster and increase your revenue. Here’s how - 

1. Efficient lead prioritization: By assigning a lead score to each lead based on various attributes, businesses can quickly identify which leads are most likely to convert into customers. This allows businesses to prioritize high-quality leads and focus their marketing and sales efforts on them, resulting in more efficient sales processes and higher revenue generation.
2. Personalized marketing and sales strategies: Lead scoring allows businesses to personalize their marketing and sales strategies based on a lead's buying intent. By tailoring their messaging to focus on the features and benefits that are most relevant to the lead's interests and needs, businesses can increase the chances of converting the lead into a customer.
3. Faster deal closure: Lead scoring helps businesses to close deals faster by enabling them to identify leads that are ready to make a purchase. By setting a lead score threshold that indicates a high likelihood of purchase, businesses can automatically flag leads that meet this criteria, allowing their sales teams to reach out and close the deal quickly.
4. Improved sales productivity: Lead scoring helps businesses to improve their sales productivity by ensuring that their sales teams focus on the leads that are most likely to convert into customers. This reduces the time and resources spent on low-quality leads that are unlikely to convert, resulting in a more productive sales team and higher revenue generation.

6 things to consider before purchasing a lead scoring software

Convinced enough to buy a lead scoring software? Here are 7 things you need to consider before - 

1. Integration with Existing Systems: Before purchasing a lead scoring software, it's essential to ensure that it can integrate seamlessly with your existing sales and marketing systems, such as your CRM, marketing automation platform, or customer data platform. This will ensure that data is transferred accurately and that the software can work effectively with your current processes.
2. Customization and Flexibility: Every business has unique requirements and workflows, so it's important to choose a lead scoring software that can be customized to meet your specific needs. Look for a solution that allows you to define your own criteria for scoring leads and that can be easily adapted to changes in your business or industry.
3. Machine Learning Capabilities: Machine learning algorithms can help to improve the accuracy of lead scoring by analyzing large amounts of data and identifying patterns and correlations. Look for a software that includes machine learning capabilities, or that can integrate with other machine learning tools.
4. Scalability: As your business grows, so will your lead generation efforts. It's important to choose a lead scoring software that can scale with your business, and that can handle large volumes of data and leads.
5. User Interface and Reporting: The user interface and reporting capabilities of a lead scoring software can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the tool. Look for a solution that provides clear and easy-to-use dashboards and reports, and that allows you to drill down into the data to gain valuable insights.
6. Customer Support and Training: Finally, it's important to consider the level of customer support and training that is provided with the lead scoring software. Look for a vendor that offers comprehensive training and support, and that has a reputation for excellent customer service.

Target the most promising leads with RevenuerHero

For increased sales success, RevenueHero is your instant lead qualification software. With extensive features like automated and custom scoring, RevenueHero helps businesses to identify and target the most promising leads. 

As soon as a website form is filled, RevenueHero qualifies/disqualifies the lead based on pre-set parameters, so your sales team doesn’t have to waste time on non-qualified MQLs. Wanna know more on how it works? schedule a demo today!