Lead Scoring: Enter the Matrix

Here's the long-delayed second half to this post, which takes you through your initial lead scoring project.

After meeting with your sales team, the next step would be to complete a lead scoring matrix, the purpose of which is to identify criteria required for lead ratings and the actions that should be taken for leads with that rating.

Here are some common form fields that would represent key explicit (things that people say about themselves or that can be researched) data:

a. Revenue
b. Employees
c. Industry
d. Geography
e. Completeness of business information (phone, email, first name, last name, etc.)

For each form field you select for lead scoring, list the possible input values for that form field and the points to be awarded for each of those values.

Next, think about what implicit (behavioral) data you want to track. You've got a ton of options here. It's best to start simple and then build on your matrix over time.

Here are some implicit attributes that some of our customers have used. If this is your first time, a word of warning.

Don't go nuts.
Just because you can use all of these criteria doesn't mean you should.

8 implicit lead scoring criteria you can use to track prospect behavior

Type	Criteria
Website visits	1.   Website Visit: Scores website visitors within the last N days. Recent visitors are scored, and return visitors in the following week are re-scored. 2.   High Value Web Content Visit: You may tag a variety of content (HTML pages, videos, catalogs, etc.) that represent high propensity for conversion.  Scores all visitors downloading what you deem as high value web contentt in the last N days. 3.   Visited Minimum of N pages ever and Returning Visitor:  Evaluates contacts who have reached a predefined threshold of page views (say 30 page views) and have been on the website as a returning visitor within a given timeframe. Scores contact interest based on both frequency and recency.
Forms	4.   Form Submit:  Checks if the contact has submitted one of your forms within a given timeframe. This implicit attribute does not consider the data submitted in the form, simply if the form was submitted.
Search Engine	5.   Search Engine Keyword: Contacts are scored if they enter a particular keyword in any search engine and return as a website visitor within a given timeframe. Examples of keywords that can trigger higher lead scores might include names of product lines or solutions.
Email	6.   Click-through from Campaign to Website: Similar to above, except that contacts that click-through all email in a specific campaign are scored. This is valuable if a campaign is used to aggregate all related content (product releases, newsletters, etc.) and score contacts based on interest level in that content. 7.  Opened any Email from Campaign: Evaluates if a contact has opened any email brochure from a specific campaign folder more than Ntimes.
Event	8.  Webinar/Tradeshow Attendee: Event attendees can be scored at any time.

Have you completed a lead scoring project at your company?  What results have you seen?

Comments

[John Stewart]

Good points on lead scoring.

Maybe the first step is to identify the company of the visitor.
As only 2% to 3% of your website visitors will submit contact details on an online form, 97% of your potential leads are lost.

There are several 'website visitor identification' solutions and web services available to reveal the company name and url.

[John Stewart]

Good points on lead scoring.

Maybe the first step is to identify the company of the visitor.
As only 2% to 3% of your website visitors will submit contact details on an online form, 97% of your potential leads are lost.

There are several 'website visitor identification' solutions and web services available to reveal the company name and url.

[Dale Wolf]

Those of us who practice demand generation need also to practice customer experience marketing. Yes, of course, visitor tracking and profiling is a critical step in lead qualification and business revenue.

It is also a critical component in customer experience marketing. The goal of the customer experience process is to learn about customer needs, wants, interests and expectations so we can develop products, services and campaigns that are relevant to their needs. Over time, this enables us to build trust and people buy from companies they trust.

That said, I reprinted your chart on my blog because it gives us 8 very interesting ways to listen to customers so we can learn more about how to please them with a valued, differentiated and consistently delivered customer experience.

-- Dale Wolf, www.perfectCEM.com

[James Obermayer]

In order to give salespeople qualified inquiries (sales ready leads), you have to ask questions of the inquirer. Too many marketing managers are timid and hesitate to ask questions so they can qualify an inquiry before it is sent to sales. On the Sale Lead Management Association site we have many articles agreeing with Steve Gershik. In my own book, I said:

“Profiling is asking and getting the answers to questions from prospects so that their potential can be assessed. Profiles give the sales rep information about their inquiries needs before calling on them.”

James Obermayer, Managing Sales Leads: Turning Cold Prospects Into Hot Customers, (Mason, Ohio, Textere an imprint of Thomson/South-Western, 2007), and Racom Books, Page 226

Simple but so true….