Definition
Lead scoring is the practice of ranking your prospects based on how likely they are to buy, using factors like how well they match your target customer profile and whether they are showing signs of being ready to purchase.
In Depth
Lead scoring helps your sales team focus on the best opportunities first. It works by assigning points to prospects based on two things: how well they fit your target customer profile, and how much buying activity they are showing. A construction company in your service area with 50 employees that just filed a building permit scores higher than a random company in another state that has not done anything recently. Some scoring systems are simple, using rules like 'add 10 points if they are in our target industry' and 'add 20 points if they posted a relevant job.' Others use more sophisticated methods that learn from your past wins and losses to predict which prospects are most likely to close. Either way, the goal is the same: make sure your sales team calls the hottest leads first.