Lead scoring

Also called: Lead qualification score, Prospect scoring.

A lead score adds up signals. Fit signals describe the business: right trade, right area, size, has a website. Behavior signals describe what the lead did: replied, clicked, visited your pricing page. In outbound to local businesses, you have mostly fit signals until someone replies.

Keep scores simple and explainable. A few rules tied to your offer beat a complex model trained on too little data. For a review-management agency, "rating below 4.5" and "more than 20 reviews" might each be worth points; for a web designer, "no website" or "site on an old platform" might be the main signal.

Scores should change what you do: who gets a personalized first line, who gets a call, who waits. If every lead gets the same sequence regardless of score, the score isn't doing anything.

Check scores against outcomes. After a few campaigns, compare reply and close rates by score band, and drop the signals that don't predict anything.

Example

A web agency scores roofers: +3 for no website, +2 for fewer than 10 reviews, +1 for being inside its home county. The 8-point and above group gets a personal email and a call; the rest get a short sequence.