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A Practical Introduction to B2B Lead Scoring
Not every lead deserves the same follow-up — lead scoring is how marketing and sales agree on which ones do.
Published by the Pinwheel team ·
What lead scoring actually solves
Without a shared definition of a 'good' lead, sales often distrusts marketing-sourced leads and marketing has no clear feedback on lead quality. Lead scoring assigns points based on fit and behaviour so both teams work from the same definition.
Fit criteria vs behavioural criteria
Fit criteria (company size, industry, job title) indicate whether a lead matches your ideal customer profile; behavioural criteria (pages visited, content downloaded, email engagement) indicate how close they are to being ready to buy. Both matter.
Start simple before building something complex
A basic point system across five or six clear criteria, reviewed and adjusted monthly, tends to outperform an overly complex model built before there's enough data to calibrate it properly.
Scoring only works if sales and marketing agree on the threshold
The score at which a lead gets passed to sales needs to be a jointly agreed number, revisited periodically — a threshold set unilaterally by marketing rarely survives contact with a skeptical sales team.
Review and recalibrate regularly
As your product, market or sales process changes, the scoring model needs to be revisited — a model that made sense a year ago can quietly misclassify leads if left untouched.