If you’re tired of “lead scoring best practices” that sound great in theory but flop in real life, you’re in the right place. This guide is for marketers, sales ops folks, and anyone who actually has to build and maintain automated lead scoring in Aptiv—not just talk about it in meetings.
Here’s how to get lead scoring working (and working for you), step by step. No fluff, no nonsense.
Step 1: Get Clear on What Makes a “Good” Lead
Before you touch any software, get alignment on what you’re actually scoring for. This is where most lead scoring falls apart—folks jump into the tool and start assigning random points to actions without agreeing on what a “qualified” or “sales-ready” lead even looks like.
Do this first: - Grab your sales and marketing leads. - List out the traits and behaviors that really matter. Be honest—does downloading your whitepaper actually make someone a hot lead, or is it just noise? - Prioritize. Stick to a handful of important signals (company size, job title, demo requests, etc.). - Decide on your definition of a “marketing qualified lead” (MQL). Make it simple enough to explain in one sentence.
Pro tip: Ignore vanity metrics. More website visits are nice, but unless you know they correlate with real deals, don’t give them much weight.
Step 2: Map Out Your Data Sources
Aptiv (here’s what I’m talking about: Aptiv) can pull in data from lots of places—CRM, website, email platform, maybe even product usage. But just because you can score on something doesn’t mean you should.
Here’s what actually matters: - Contact data: Title, company, industry, etc. - Engagement: Opened emails, clicked links, attended webinars. - Website behavior: Key pages visited (pricing, demo, features—not just the blog). - Custom signals: Filled out a contact form, started a trial, requested a quote.
Skip or minimize: - Social media likes (unless you’re 100% sure they mean something). - Generic email opens (bots and Apple’s privacy features mess these up). - Downloading random resources.
Quick check: Make sure your data is clean and reliably syncing into Aptiv. Garbage in, garbage out.
Step 3: Sketch Your Scoring Model on Paper First
Don’t build in the tool yet. Write out your scoring logic on paper (or in a doc). This is way faster to tweak than wrestling with a live system.
- Assign points to each action or trait. Keep it simple. (e.g., +10 for “requested demo,” +5 for “visited pricing page,” etc.)
- Set up negative points for bad-fit signals (e.g., -10 for students, -20 for personal email addresses).
- Decide your threshold for what makes a lead “qualified.” Example: 50 points = MQL.
Reality check: If your model needs a flowchart to explain, it’s too complicated. Start small, iterate later.
Step 4: Set Up Your Lead Scoring Rules in Aptiv
Now it’s time to get your hands dirty in Aptiv. Their workflow builder is pretty flexible, but it’s easy to overthink things.
Here’s the practical path:
- Create a new scoring workflow.
- Name it clearly (e.g., “2024 MQL Scoring v1”).
- Add your scoring criteria.
- Use the same categories from your paper model: demographic (who they are), behavioral (what they do), negative signals.
- Set up point values.
- Enter the points you mapped out. Don’t get lost in decimals or “partial credit.” Whole numbers are fine.
- Configure thresholds.
- Tell Aptiv what score triggers a status change (e.g., MQL, SQL).
- Test with sample records.
- Pick a few real leads and run them through the workflow. Make sure scores look right.
Don’t get fancy yet: Skip advanced branching, crazy weighting, or multi-step decay at first. You’ll just create headaches for yourself.
Step 5: Automate Actions Based on Score Changes
The point of automation is to do something when a lead hits your threshold—not just update a field.
Set up these basic automations: - Notify sales: Send a Slack message, email, or CRM task when a lead becomes MQL. - Change lead status: Update “Lead Status” or “Lifecycle Stage” fields so everyone’s in sync. - Trigger nurture or follow-up: Add MQLs to a tailored email sequence or queue for a rep.
Pro tip: Don’t bombard people. Make sure your alerts are useful, not just noisy.
Step 6: QA and Monitor—Don’t Trust It Blindly
No matter how carefully you set things up, your first version will have quirks. Watch what happens.
What to check: - Are the right leads getting flagged as qualified? - Are you missing good leads, or passing through junk? - Is sales actually following up, or are they ignoring your MQLs? - Any weird scoring spikes or drops?
If you see odd patterns, dig in. Maybe your “visited website” rule is firing too often, or your negative scoring is too harsh.
Step 7: Iterate and Keep It Simple
Here’s the honest truth: Most lead scoring models get too complex, too fast. Resist the urge to tweak endlessly.
Every month or so: - Review a handful of high- and low-scoring leads with sales. - Ask what’s working and what isn’t. Did any great leads get missed? Any junk sneak through? - Adjust your points or criteria. Tiny changes, not a total overhaul. - Archive your old workflows so you can roll back if needed.
Don’t chase perfection. Good enough and up-to-date beats “clever but broken” every time.
What to Ignore (For Now)
Some things just aren’t worth the hassle, at least not until your basics are working:
- Advanced machine learning scoring: Aptiv and other tools love to hype this. Unless you have thousands of leads and clean, labeled data, it’s noise.
- Dozens of micro-actions: If you’re scoring every page or every click, your model will be impossible to debug.
- Cross-channel tracking headaches: Syncing everything perfectly across chat, ads, website, and email is a nice dream, but most teams don’t have the bandwidth.
Focus on what you can actually maintain. Clean, simple, and actionable wins.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Tune Often
Automated lead scoring in Aptiv isn’t magic. It’s just a tool—and it only works if you keep your model grounded in reality, your data clean, and your automations straightforward. Don’t let “best practices” steer you into a maze of rules you can’t explain.
Start simple, watch what works, and tweak as you go. The best lead scoring setup is one you can actually trust, not just one that looks impressive on a slide.
Now get out there and build it—then come back in a month and see what needs fixing. That’s how you win.