Integrating marketing and sales’ work streams is a challenging problem many businesses face. Most often, departments simply do not communicate or know what the other team is doing. Full alignment on what both teams need from one another is a necessity for a truly effective lead funnel system. Implementing a lead scoring system via CRM platforms will help bridge the gap between marketing efforts and sales results.

What is Lead Scoring?

Lead scoring is an automated way for marketing teams to qualify a leads’ place in the sales funnel based on quantitative tracking of user engagement on digital channels. In simpler terms, it assigns points to different actions taken by a lead on a company’s website or emails. Point allotments for various actions, as well as point thresholds, should be agreed upon between both sales and marketing departments in order to determine how many points warrant moving a lead from “cold” to “warm” status, and “warm” to “hot.” Marketing teams can set up automated email notifications to be triggered to the sales team when a lead moves further down the funnel.

The Benefits of Lead Scoring Programs

1. Sales Efficiency: Information is power, and the more info a sales team has about leads, the less time they are wasting on cold-calling and following up with uninterested parties. By setting up an automated way to qualify leads for the sales team, they can then use their time more wisely by prioritizing leads with higher scores. Filtering out bad or cold leads will leave more room for sales teams to nurture warm and hot leads into a conversion, shortening the sales cycle.
2. Marketing ROI: Lead scoring programs allow marketing teams to effectively measure the return on investment of their efforts. Marketers can see which programs and channels are generating the highest quality leads in order to make more informed decisions in future initiatives.
3. Marketing Effectiveness: By gaining insight into exactly where a lead is in the funnel, marketing teams can then send more relevant, targeted content to push leads further along. Getting in front of a lead at the right time with the right message is the best way to build trust with potential new customers, which can lead to a larger customer lifetime value (CLV).
4. Marketing and Sales Alignment: Lead scoring programs benefit both sales and marketing teams and require buy-in from both sides. Alignment between the two teams can lead to 27% faster three-year profit growth, as well as 208% higher marketing revenue, according to Hubspot. On-going communication between the two teams about point allotments  and qualifications for funnel placement will facilitate a more effective lead scoring system, from which both parties mutually benefit.

As with any marketing automation program, lead scoring requires the most heavy-lifting up front. The quicker alignment can be made between sales and marketing teams, the higher returns both teams’ will garner. When evaluating CRM systems, consider making lead scoring functionality a necessity rather than a “nice-to-have.”