Glossary

What is lead scoring?

Lead scoring explained: what it is, fit vs intent scoring, how to build a simple B2B lead scoring model, and the mistakes that make scores meaningless.

By the GTM Plays teamUpdated 1 min read

Definition

Lead scoring is a method of ranking leads by how likely they are to become customers. It combines fit, meaning how closely a lead matches your ideal customer profile, with intent, meaning how much interest they are showing now, so sales teams spend time on the best leads first.

Lead scoring ranks leads by how likely they are to buy, so sales works the best ones first. A good score combines two things: fit, or how closely the lead matches your ideal customer profile, and intent, or how much interest they are showing right now. Either one alone gives you a misleading score.

Fit scoring vs intent scoring

Fit

Fit is about who the lead is. For B2B, that means company size, industry, location, tech stack, and the person's role and seniority. It comes from your ideal customer profile and changes slowly.

Intent

Intent is about what the lead is doing. Examples are visiting your pricing page, engaging with a competitor on LinkedIn or hiring for a relevant role. It comes from intent data and decays quickly.

How to build a simple lead scoring model

  1. List your best customers and note what they have in common.
  2. Assign fit points to those traits, and negative points to disqualifiers.
  3. Assign intent points to buying signals, weighting stronger and more recent ones higher.
  4. Set thresholds, such as the point at which a lead becomes sales-ready. See MQL vs SQL.
  5. Check it against outcomes every quarter, and adjust.

Common mistakes

  • Scoring activity, not interest. Opening ten newsletters is not buying intent.
  • Ignoring decay. A signal from three months ago should count for little.
  • Too many rules. If nobody can explain a score, nobody trusts it.
  • No negative scoring. Students, competitors and job seekers should score down.

Lead scoring and GTM Plays

GTM Plays scores fit for you on LinkedIn. Its agent finds people showing buyer intent, scores each one against your ICP, then writes and sends a message from your own account. Replies come into one inbox. Start a 7-day free trial.

Frequently asked questions

What is a lead scoring model?

A set of rules, or a statistical model, that adds points for traits and behaviours linked to buying and subtracts points for those that are not. The total decides who sales contacts first.

What is the difference between fit and intent scoring?

Fit scoring asks whether this person or company matches your ideal customer. Intent scoring asks whether they are showing interest right now. Good models use both.

What is predictive lead scoring?

Scoring where a model learns from your past wins and losses which traits predict a deal, instead of you assigning points by hand.

How often should a lead scoring model be reviewed?

Review it at least every quarter, by checking whether high-scoring leads actually convert better than low-scoring ones.

Keep reading

GlossaryWhat is an ideal customer profile (ICP)?What an ideal customer profile (ICP) is, how it differs from a buyer persona, what to include, and a simple B2B ICP template you can fill in today.Read GlossaryWhat is intent data?Intent data explained: what it is, first-party vs third-party intent, examples of B2B intent signals, and how sales teams use it to time outreach.Read GlossaryMQL vs SQL: what is the difference?MQL vs SQL explained: what marketing qualified and sales qualified leads are, how a lead moves from one to the other, and how to define each for your team.Read

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