Approach lead scores as strategy in HubSpot, not a mechanical process

There is a tendency for most companies to focus on recent leads. And since there are instances where the lead time from inquiry to conversion is short, it builds a bias as well.

The lead score should reflect the actual conversion metrics. That is evident when an evaluation is done involving all the stakeholders within the company and how each of them plays a part in the process. So, if time is taken to go over the signups in a particular time frame, whether it is a quarter, a half-yearly period, or even an annual period, do not go by the number of signups alone or who achieved them. Dig deeper into what was involved.

Ryan Durling, Senior Inbound Consultant at HubSpot, expanded on the subject in an Admin Hug video from HubSpot. He began by defining what lead scoring is. It is how you assign value to Contacts in your database.

Leads can be scored on multiple attributes, including the information they have shared with you and how they have engaged, either on landing pages or on your website. Scoring helps sales and marketing teams prioritize leads, respond to them appropriately, and increase the rate at which those leads become customers. Lead scoring affects all contacts. It is addictive. It is attribute-based. And by itself, scoring is non-actionable.

Setting the stage for lead scoring

For some of the readers who are experts in lead scoring in HubSpot, what follows may be redundant. Some of you may be new to it, in which case this explores ways to structure it.

First and foremost, anytime you create a scoring property or assign even a single attribute to a scoring property inside of HubSpot, it will score every single contact in the database. There are things you can do within the scoring system to set filters. Then, work with automation to determine how that score impacts the database in terms of actionability. It is the automation of off-lead scoring that drives the value of the whole project.  

Another important aspect is that scoring is additive Some companies will create a lead score property, which could have three different attributes: For example, if a contact has opened more than two emails, give them one point. If a contact opens more than five emails, give them two points. If a contact has opened more than 10 emails, give them five points. Now, because lead scoring is additive, if contact were to get 10 email opens, they are not just going to have five points; the points from before will add up, and they will end up having eight points. This is where shortlisting and understanding attributes play a crucial role.

Use parameters that impact conversion and score it.

In every industry, the buying behavior of customers is tied to a set of actions.  Understand what those actions are and the stage at which they move into a higher consideration set. Use the extreme cases where conversion happens overnight or takes months to close as bookends. And then, see how most modifications in between have progressed.

Ideally, contacts should have both a context and a score property for behavior - meaning website visits, page views, email opens, form fills, or the other factors that matter. And a separate score property for the kind of persona or who they are - job title or job level, company, industry—to arrive at relative scores.  

It is vital to have the most desirable attributes when a score is being set. If it is behavioral, then that desirable attribute should be identified.

This is where the real work is, and once this can be pinned down, the system can be scaled, and the scoring happens almost seamlessly. Provided the workflows are proper.

Don’t look for 100 percent scores when it comes to leads

It is essential to understand that lead scoring is pragmatic. There could be clients who ask, - What do we need to do to get contacts to 100 so they can be a Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) The short answer is, - Why does a contact need to have 100 as the lead score to qualify? They don't. In some companies, the threshold for scoring an MQL could be 10 or 15 points because they have a few specific actions that they're scoring on. This is not a game where the maximum marks indicate the best possible leads. Instead, it should be seen as an output score for a required action.

Once a contact is owned and is being worked on by a sales rep, it is the responsibility of the sales rep to evaluate the quality of that contact based on the conversations they're having and the information they're gathering. It no longer matters how many marketing emails that connection has opened because it's now up to sales to push that contact through the pipeline into closing.

The handover and the point of transition are the most important and should be the focus.

Talk to us at BlueOshan to help set up lead scores and MQL for the teams. From the experience we have gained working across a cross-section of clients, we can bring fresh perspectives to how automation and workflows can be structured.

As we mentioned at the top of this post, the lead scores should be strategic for them to have the most effect—something the entire team plays a part in setting up in the first place.

Get in touch with us anytime here.

Blueoshan is a HubSpot Diamond-Tier Solutions Partner. Delivering worldwide from India