It was my first month at Stop The Vanilla. We had a meeting with our external marketing agency, which was the first time I had met them.
We were discussing our CRM and my responsibility in regards to it.
I was a complete noob regarding marketing automation.
So when the topic of lead scoring came up, I had no clue what it was. Lead scoring is putting a number on a prospect for doing X or Y action.
If they visit the "About Us" page on the website, they get 3 points. If they open an email, they get 2 points.
If they don't engage with us for over a month, they lose 5 points.
{Insert scratching head emoji}
I couldn't understand why you would do this. And for a good reason.
Lead scoring is stupid. (Prove me wrong)
It doesn't work, and most of the top marketing voices today never promote it.
It was a great marketing/positioning play by CRMs to get you to use their software more and "feel" like you were getting value from it.
In the end, it never worked.
The analytical side of marketing was trying to eat too much of the pie.
The journey someone takes from a prospect to a customer is never linear.
They may read one blog post and buy or linger on your email list for years before taking action.
Lead scoring gave the illusion of control—That marketers could predict who was ready to buy and who was cold.
It was all bullshit.
If you work with a marketing agency that does lead scoring, run. Seriously.
They are selling you snake oil.
What should you do instead of lead scoring?
Realize that you cannot predict your prospect's path to purchase.
Instead, talk with recent customers to gain a better perspective of their true journey from "I am unaware of the problem" to "I have X problem and will hire you to solve it."
Yes, this is qualitative rather than quantitative. But it's the only way you can begin uncovering the levers that lead prospects to become a customer.
Also, interview people who picked a different/similar solution. Figure out their journey and see if it's similar to your customers.
Or, take the easy route and slap a number on your prospects.
The illusion of control is strong. I get it.
What are your thoughts on lead scoring? Has it worked for you?
🧠 // JO