glossary/Lead Scoring
glossary term
Definition
Lead scoring is assigning a numeric score to a lead or account so you can rank who to work first. A good score has two parts: fit, how well the account matches your ICP, and signal, the weighted sum of live buying signals.
Fit works as a gate. If an account is out of range on a hard filter, size, stage, geography, motion, it is out, no score can save it. Once an account is in range, signals rank it. Each verified signal carries a weight, and the account's score is the sum of the signals it fires. Higher score, higher up the list. Fit decides who is on the list at all. Signal decides the order.
Not all signals are equal, so they are not weighted equally. A recent raise with a lean sales team is a heavier signal than a team that has merely plateaued, because it points to more urgency. The weights are a judgment call you tune with results, and every fired signal should be verified before it counts. A signal you assumed but did not confirm is worse than no signal, because it puts a bad account at the top.
Reps have finite hours. Scoring is how you spend them on the accounts most likely to close now instead of working an alphabetical list. Done well it also makes the motion honest: the score is a written, inspectable reason an account is prioritized, which is exactly the kind of thing that should live in a system rather than in a rep's gut. Score direction matters too, judge whether the company is a buyer for you, not what their product does.
Free tools · value calculator · 60-second diagnostic · lead finder
The harder question
Knowing the concept is step one. Getting a working system shipped into your live stack, in weeks, is the job. That is what a fractional GTM engineer does: find the one lever, build the first working fix, hand you a system a hire can run.