SaaS lead scoring can be done in four easy steps. Develop an ICP, define criteria for scoring leads, allot scores to set criteria, and automate the process using a tool.
Automating the SaaS lead scoring process can relieve your teams from constantly doing mundane tasks and rather focus on more important things like engaging and nurturing the leads.
According to Belkins, 85% to 90% of leads don’t convert into deals. Now, that’s startling! And that’s why qualifying the leads before declaring them an SQL (sales qualified lead) is important.
Lead scoring is an inevitable step in the lead qualification process. And since SaaS is all about the speedy functioning of processes, gathering lead data, and improvising customer relationships. It is important to understand the lead-scoring process of this industry.
So, this blog focuses on providing you with everything you need to know about SaaS lead scoring.
How is SaaS lead scoring different from traditional lead scoring?
The process of qualifying leads in SaaS is relatively different compared to other industries. And that’s why SaaS lead scoring has dynamic criteria.
Unlike SaaS lead scoring, which utilizes basic demographic information such as job title or industry, SaaS lead scoring takes into account multiple factors. Here are a few lead scoring factors that are primarily utilized to evaluate prospects:
Demographic data
Explicit data: This is the demographic data of the lead. So this includes factors like job title, deal value, company name, age, gender, and more.
Implicit data: This is the lead’s behavioral data. So this includes factors like time spent on the website, responsiveness to social media ads, newsletter subscriptions, contact form requests, and more.
Scoring
SaaS lead scoring now uses algorithms to constantly adjust the scoring system based on previously processed leads. Due to this, the quality of leads that are being qualified constantly gets updated, and the process ensures that the least promising leads aren’t filtered through.
Personalized scoring
In contrast to traditional lead scoring, SaaS lead scoring is more personalized. It takes into consideration a prospect’s behavior across multiple digital channels. It’s like having a complete tool to work with rather than just a hammer.
Automation is possible
With SaaS lead scoring tool, automation is possible. As a result, a lot of time and resources are saved. So, sales teams and marketers can focus their time on more important tasks.
Automation also ensures that good leads are scored consistently and more accurately, which can help improve the overall efficiency of the lead qualification process.
Benefits of SaaS lead scoring
Lead scoring is paramount in the lead qualification process. This not only helps in qualifying leads accurately but also carries various other benefits mentioned below:
Lead scoring is one of the most important parts of the lead qualification process. It helps identify and qualify the leads that are most promising for the business. However, this is just one way lead scoring can help. Here are a few more:
1. Alignment of sales and marketing teams
Lead scoring isn’t a walk in the park! It requires a team effort to execute efficiently.
Oftentimes, marketing and sales professionals would need to work collaboratively with a common goal and define certain set criteria. This way, they can qualify the most promising leads for the business.
SaaS lead scoring can help bridge the gap between marketing and sales teams. Alignment of sales and marketing teams can help drive a more optimized lead scoring model.
It can also ensure that quality leads are passed to the sales teams at the right time, increasing the chances of closing more deals. Overall, the collaboration of the teams can result in better ROI and increased efficiency in sales efforts.
2. Better sales forecasting
Lead scoring plays a vital role in forecasting sales. While you define lead scoring factors and criteria for analyzing sales-ready leads, you learn a lot about the lead.
You can match the information with your ICP (ideal customer profile) and analyze future sales. This way, the lead who resembles the most with your ICP has a higher chance of sales than the one with less resemblance with your ICP.
3. Saves time & resources for marketing and sales teams
The core purpose of implementing lead scoring in the lead qualification process is to qualify the most promising leads that are valuable for the business. Because of this process integration, sales teams spend their time on valuable leads.
This also means that sales teams can focus on engaging and nurturing potential leads instead of investing time and effort in all the invaluable leads.
4. Increases conversion rate
As lead scoring filters the most promising leads, sales professionals can improve personalization and tailor their outreach communication. It also helps them reach out to the leads at the right time, resulting in an overall increased conversion rate.
These were the significant benefits of SaaS lead scoring.
Having said that, you would need a SaaS lead scoring model to avail these benefits. So, let’s take a look at how you can develop one:
Steps to develop a SaaS lead scoring model
SaaS lead scoring is pretty straightforward and uncomplicated. With a lead scoring model in place, you can easily move your prospects ahead in the customer journey. Here’s how you can develop a SaaS lead scoring model:
1. Develop an ICP (ideal customer profile)
An ideal customer profile fundamentally means the description of your ideal customer. This includes multiple factors such as demographics, behavior, and pain points. Having a defined ICP helps businesses to understand a target their most valuable customers.
Here’s how you can create an ICP:
Start with alist of your best customers and identify a few similar purchasing patterns between all these customers. And list down a few common factors that you find valuable.
Afterward, outline their issues by discovering their pain points and understanding how your product plays a solution role.
Afterward, evaluate the issues they are facing using the products available in the market and identify vital pain points.
Lastly, document all this information. Boom! Your ideal customer profile is ready!
Also, don’t forget to create multiple ICPs! Don’t fixate on creating one and sticking to that. Utilize multiple ones and identify the best one that works for your business.
2. Define criteria for scoring leads
To be qualified as a lead, each prospect must meet a set criterion. So, as we’re done with ICPs, you must know the common factors and pain points the customers are facing.
From those insights, define qualification factors that you find are quite important for your business to qualify a prospect to a lead. And a best practice to keep in mind is sorting them from the most important to the least important.
Moreover, one more thing to keep in mind is that keep updating the qualification factors from time to time, as they are subject to change.
3. Assign scores to set criteria
After defining the criteria, you want to assign scores to each of those factors. These scores help decide which factors amongst all are the most important and which ones are least important.
Some systems also believe in grading these criteria. The grading system denotes “A” as a highly relevant lead and the following letters as less critical. These grades are again set in alphabetical order.
Whilst some models only utilize scores to qualify leads. There are also other models where there is a combination of scores and grading systems. They are usually set in alphabetical order, i.e., A, B, C, D, and so on.
4. Automate the lead scoring process
This is the final capstone in the scoring process. As you must already know, lead scoring isn’t a piece of cake.
It requires a lot of time and resources in order to develop a process that qualifies good quality leads consistently. And it also requires quite a much of manual effort.
So, why not automate the process using a CRM? Utilizing a CRM can not only help you automate the process but also provide a platform to manage those captured leads.
But which is the best CRM, you ask? Look no further! Salesmate CRM can help you automate the entire scoring process.
With Automation Journeys within Salesmate, take advantage of various triggers, conditions, and actions. Let Salesmate take care of scoring the prospects while you focus on engaging with them and nurturing them.
Best practices for SaaS lead scoring
SaaS lead scoring looks easy, but it could become tricky sometimes. Therefore, here are a few best practices to keep in mind, so you can avoid making these mistakes:
1. Consult sales and customer success teams to set rules
Each team thinks from a specific perspective. So, the customer success team might think from a different perspective than the sales team.
That being the case, it’s important to define the qualification criteria in collaboration. Blending different thought processes from marketing, sales, and customer success can help develop solid criteria.
2. Choose a highly customizable tool
As we discussed earlier, the last step is to automate the scoring process using a tool. When choosing the lead scoring tool, ensure that it has highly customizable features.
Salesmate is one of that software that can be customized as per your use. It’s flexible to fit! Check out how you can add your own flavor and nuances to Salesmate.
3. Set up different scoring models for different plans or products
Lead scoring is also a process that’s different for each plan/product. Because each plan/product has a different structure, usage, and target audience. So, the qualification factors also differ.
4. Take feedback from salespeople on lead quality
As a marketing professional, you might think that ‘Oh! This lead satisfied all the qualification factors. It must be a good lead’. But is it really? Sales teams can help you verify that.
Taking feedback from the sales teams can help ensure that quality leads are passed on consistently, resulting in an effective scoring process.
Salesmate – The best lead scoring software!
Salesmate is an all-in-one CRM for all your sales and marketing needs. It offers Marketing Automation Software that can automate the scoring process, do seamless lead management, and so much more.
Moreover, you can also easily view the lead score in the lead’s contact profile view. So, you need not waste time searching for it. It is easy to build and access. You can appreciate or depreciate the score based on the prospect’s behavior.
Moreover, Salesmate not only has the features to manage leads but also capture them. With features like Web Forms, Meeting Schedulers, and Live Chat, you can comfortably capture quality leads the smart way.
Not only that, but it can also help you generate quality reports of qualified leads, evaluate valuable insights, and do so much more. Why don’t you try it for yourself?
To conclude, SaaS lead scoring is an essential component of any successful sales strategy. By utilizing demographic data and behavioral patterns, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their leads and focus on the most promising ones.
Lead scoring also helps develop greater automation and efficiency in the sales process, helping save time and resources overall. So, whether you’re a startup or an enterprise-level business, scoring leads can pay off in a huge way.
Dhanashree Pal
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Lead generation is only the beginning. The real challenge begins after you've collected the leads, and it's time to find out which of them have a higher chance of converting into customers.
Key Takeaways
According to Belkins, 85% to 90% of leads don’t convert into deals. Now, that’s startling! And that’s why qualifying the leads before declaring them an SQL (sales qualified lead) is important.
Lead scoring is an inevitable step in the lead qualification process. And since SaaS is all about the speedy functioning of processes, gathering lead data, and improvising customer relationships. It is important to understand the lead-scoring process of this industry.
So, this blog focuses on providing you with everything you need to know about SaaS lead scoring.
How is SaaS lead scoring different from traditional lead scoring?
The process of qualifying leads in SaaS is relatively different compared to other industries. And that’s why SaaS lead scoring has dynamic criteria.
Unlike SaaS lead scoring, which utilizes basic demographic information such as job title or industry, SaaS lead scoring takes into account multiple factors. Here are a few lead scoring factors that are primarily utilized to evaluate prospects:
Demographic data
Explicit data: This is the demographic data of the lead. So this includes factors like job title, deal value, company name, age, gender, and more.
Implicit data: This is the lead’s behavioral data. So this includes factors like time spent on the website, responsiveness to social media ads, newsletter subscriptions, contact form requests, and more.
Scoring
SaaS lead scoring now uses algorithms to constantly adjust the scoring system based on previously processed leads. Due to this, the quality of leads that are being qualified constantly gets updated, and the process ensures that the least promising leads aren’t filtered through.
Personalized scoring
In contrast to traditional lead scoring, SaaS lead scoring is more personalized. It takes into consideration a prospect’s behavior across multiple digital channels. It’s like having a complete tool to work with rather than just a hammer.
Automation is possible
With SaaS lead scoring tool, automation is possible. As a result, a lot of time and resources are saved. So, sales teams and marketers can focus their time on more important tasks.
Automation also ensures that good leads are scored consistently and more accurately, which can help improve the overall efficiency of the lead qualification process.
Benefits of SaaS lead scoring
Lead scoring is paramount in the lead qualification process. This not only helps in qualifying leads accurately but also carries various other benefits mentioned below:
Lead scoring is one of the most important parts of the lead qualification process. It helps identify and qualify the leads that are most promising for the business. However, this is just one way lead scoring can help. Here are a few more:
1. Alignment of sales and marketing teams
Lead scoring isn’t a walk in the park! It requires a team effort to execute efficiently.
Oftentimes, marketing and sales professionals would need to work collaboratively with a common goal and define certain set criteria. This way, they can qualify the most promising leads for the business.
SaaS lead scoring can help bridge the gap between marketing and sales teams. Alignment of sales and marketing teams can help drive a more optimized lead scoring model.
It can also ensure that quality leads are passed to the sales teams at the right time, increasing the chances of closing more deals. Overall, the collaboration of the teams can result in better ROI and increased efficiency in sales efforts.
2. Better sales forecasting
Lead scoring plays a vital role in forecasting sales. While you define lead scoring factors and criteria for analyzing sales-ready leads, you learn a lot about the lead.
You can match the information with your ICP (ideal customer profile) and analyze future sales. This way, the lead who resembles the most with your ICP has a higher chance of sales than the one with less resemblance with your ICP.
3. Saves time & resources for marketing and sales teams
The core purpose of implementing lead scoring in the lead qualification process is to qualify the most promising leads that are valuable for the business. Because of this process integration, sales teams spend their time on valuable leads.
This also means that sales teams can focus on engaging and nurturing potential leads instead of investing time and effort in all the invaluable leads.
4. Increases conversion rate
As lead scoring filters the most promising leads, sales professionals can improve personalization and tailor their outreach communication. It also helps them reach out to the leads at the right time, resulting in an overall increased conversion rate.
These were the significant benefits of SaaS lead scoring.
Having said that, you would need a SaaS lead scoring model to avail these benefits. So, let’s take a look at how you can develop one:
Steps to develop a SaaS lead scoring model
SaaS lead scoring is pretty straightforward and uncomplicated. With a lead scoring model in place, you can easily move your prospects ahead in the customer journey. Here’s how you can develop a SaaS lead scoring model:
1. Develop an ICP (ideal customer profile)
An ideal customer profile fundamentally means the description of your ideal customer. This includes multiple factors such as demographics, behavior, and pain points. Having a defined ICP helps businesses to understand a target their most valuable customers.
Here’s how you can create an ICP:
Also, don’t forget to create multiple ICPs! Don’t fixate on creating one and sticking to that. Utilize multiple ones and identify the best one that works for your business.
2. Define criteria for scoring leads
To be qualified as a lead, each prospect must meet a set criterion. So, as we’re done with ICPs, you must know the common factors and pain points the customers are facing.
From those insights, define qualification factors that you find are quite important for your business to qualify a prospect to a lead. And a best practice to keep in mind is sorting them from the most important to the least important.
Moreover, one more thing to keep in mind is that keep updating the qualification factors from time to time, as they are subject to change.
3. Assign scores to set criteria
After defining the criteria, you want to assign scores to each of those factors. These scores help decide which factors amongst all are the most important and which ones are least important.
Some systems also believe in grading these criteria. The grading system denotes “A” as a highly relevant lead and the following letters as less critical. These grades are again set in alphabetical order.
Whilst some models only utilize scores to qualify leads. There are also other models where there is a combination of scores and grading systems. They are usually set in alphabetical order, i.e., A, B, C, D, and so on.
4. Automate the lead scoring process
This is the final capstone in the scoring process. As you must already know, lead scoring isn’t a piece of cake.
It requires a lot of time and resources in order to develop a process that qualifies good quality leads consistently. And it also requires quite a much of manual effort.
So, why not automate the process using a CRM? Utilizing a CRM can not only help you automate the process but also provide a platform to manage those captured leads.
But which is the best CRM, you ask? Look no further! Salesmate CRM can help you automate the entire scoring process.
With Automation Journeys within Salesmate, take advantage of various triggers, conditions, and actions. Let Salesmate take care of scoring the prospects while you focus on engaging with them and nurturing them.
Best practices for SaaS lead scoring
SaaS lead scoring looks easy, but it could become tricky sometimes. Therefore, here are a few best practices to keep in mind, so you can avoid making these mistakes:
1. Consult sales and customer success teams to set rules
Each team thinks from a specific perspective. So, the customer success team might think from a different perspective than the sales team.
That being the case, it’s important to define the qualification criteria in collaboration. Blending different thought processes from marketing, sales, and customer success can help develop solid criteria.
2. Choose a highly customizable tool
As we discussed earlier, the last step is to automate the scoring process using a tool. When choosing the lead scoring tool, ensure that it has highly customizable features.
Salesmate is one of that software that can be customized as per your use. It’s flexible to fit! Check out how you can add your own flavor and nuances to Salesmate.
3. Set up different scoring models for different plans or products
Lead scoring is also a process that’s different for each plan/product. Because each plan/product has a different structure, usage, and target audience. So, the qualification factors also differ.
4. Take feedback from salespeople on lead quality
As a marketing professional, you might think that ‘Oh! This lead satisfied all the qualification factors. It must be a good lead’. But is it really? Sales teams can help you verify that.
Taking feedback from the sales teams can help ensure that quality leads are passed on consistently, resulting in an effective scoring process.
Salesmate – The best lead scoring software!
Salesmate is an all-in-one CRM for all your sales and marketing needs. It offers Marketing Automation Software that can automate the scoring process, do seamless lead management, and so much more.
Moreover, you can also easily view the lead score in the lead’s contact profile view. So, you need not waste time searching for it. It is easy to build and access. You can appreciate or depreciate the score based on the prospect’s behavior.
Moreover, Salesmate not only has the features to manage leads but also capture them. With features like Web Forms, Meeting Schedulers, and Live Chat, you can comfortably capture quality leads the smart way.
Not only that, but it can also help you generate quality reports of qualified leads, evaluate valuable insights, and do so much more. Why don’t you try it for yourself?
Wrapping up
To conclude, SaaS lead scoring is an essential component of any successful sales strategy. By utilizing demographic data and behavioral patterns, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their leads and focus on the most promising ones.
Lead scoring also helps develop greater automation and efficiency in the sales process, helping save time and resources overall. So, whether you’re a startup or an enterprise-level business, scoring leads can pay off in a huge way.
Dhanashree Pal