If you’re tired of sifting through endless junk leads or manually researching every company that fills out a form, this guide is for you. Whether you’re in sales ops, marketing, or just the default “person who sets up lead workflows,” I’ll walk you through using Clearbit firmographic data to actually make your lead funnel better—without falling for buzzwords or over-complicated systems.
No magic bullet here—just a clear process for sorting out who’s worth your time and who isn’t.
Why Segment and Score Leads in the First Place?
Let’s get one thing straight: not all leads are created equal. Some are potential goldmines. Others? Well, they’re probably just someone kicking tires. The goal isn’t to chase every lead—it’s to focus on the ones most likely to become customers.
Segmenting lets you group leads by traits that matter to your business (like company size or industry). Scoring is about ranking those leads so sales doesn’t waste time on dead ends.
Firmographic data—info about a company, like industry, employee count, revenue—helps you do this quickly and (mostly) automatically. That’s where Clearbit comes in.
Step 1: Get Your Clearbit Integration Set Up
Before you can score anything, you need reliable data in the first place.
What Clearbit Actually Does:
Clearbit enriches your incoming leads with company info based on email or domain. For example, if someone at acme.com fills out your form, Clearbit can pull in their industry, number of employees, funding stage, and more.
How to connect Clearbit:
- Most marketing automation tools (HubSpot, Marketo, Salesforce, etc.) have Clearbit integrations or connectors.
- You’ll need an API key from your Clearbit account. Plug this into your tool’s integration area.
- Map the Clearbit fields (like company_industry, company_employee_count, etc.) to custom fields in your CRM or database.
Pro tip:
Test this on a staging environment first. Data mapping mistakes are common and can get messy fast.
What to ignore:
Don’t try to enrich every single lead if you’re on a tight budget—Clearbit charges per enrichment. Focus on key forms or high-intent leads first.
Step 2: Decide Which Firmographic Data Actually Matters
Clearbit gives you a ton of data, but more isn’t always better. Pick the fields that make sense for your business.
Common firmographic fields to consider: - Industry: Are there industries your team loves (or hates) working with? - Employee count: Useful for B2B—bigger companies often have bigger budgets. - Annual revenue: If available, but take it with a grain of salt—it’s often estimated. - Location: Do you only sell in certain countries or regions? - Tech stack: Sometimes helpful if you sell to companies using specific tools.
What works:
- Industry and employee count are the two most reliable filters for most B2B companies.
- Use location if you have geographic restrictions.
What doesn’t:
- Don’t get too granular. “Number of Twitter followers” or “last funding round” rarely matter for initial segmentation.
- Be wary of relying on revenue numbers—they’re often guesstimates.
Step 3: Build Your Lead Segments
Now that you know which data points matter, create real segments.
Examples:
- Ideal Customer Profile (ICP):
- Industry: SaaS, E-commerce
- Employees: 50-500
- Region: US/Canada
- Small Business:
-
Employees: 1-10
-
Enterprise:
- Employees: 1000+
How to do this:
- In your CRM or marketing tool, set up lists or views using the Clearbit-enriched fields.
- Use logic like: “Show me all leads where company_employee_count > 50 and company_industry is SaaS.”
Pro tip:
Less is more. Start with 2-3 segments. You can always get fancier later, but complex segmentation usually just creates more work.
What to ignore:
- Don’t segment based on aspirational “wish list” customers—segment on who actually buys from you now.
Step 4: Set Up Lead Scoring Rules
Now for scoring. This is where you rank leads so your team knows who to talk to first.
Simple scoring model: - Assign points for: - Company fits your target industry (+10) - Employee count in your sweet spot (+10) - Based in your target region (+5) - Uses a key tech in their stack (+5) - Subtract points for: - Wrong industry (-10) - Too small or too large (-10) - Outside your region (-5)
How to set up: - Most CRMs have a lead scoring feature—plug your rules in there. - If not, use a calculated field or basic automation to add/subtract points based on Clearbit data.
Pro tip:
Keep your scoring model dead simple at first. Overly complex models break easily and are hard to maintain.
What works:
- Positive points for clearly good fits.
- Negative points to weed out obviously bad fits.
What doesn’t:
- Don’t try to score every possible field. Focus on the 2-4 that matter.
- Avoid “black box” scoring where nobody knows why a lead gets a certain score.
Step 5: Route and Prioritize Leads Based on Your Segments and Scores
Now it’s time to actually use this info.
How to handle it: - Set up workflows to route “hot” leads (high score, right segment) directly to your sales team. - Put “meh” leads into nurture campaigns or lower-priority queues. - Trash obvious junk automatically (e.g., students, personal email domains, wrong industries).
Example workflow: - Score ≥ 20 and in ICP segment → assign to sales rep within 5 minutes. - Score 10-19 → add to marketing nurture sequence. - Score < 10 or red-flagged segments → mark as low priority or disqualify.
Pro tip:
Always have a “human override” option. Sometimes the data’s wrong or out of date, and good leads slip through the cracks.
What works:
- Fast routing for high-priority leads.
- Automated nurturing for everyone else, so no lead gets totally ignored.
What doesn’t:
- Don’t expect automation to catch all edge cases. Sales should still have a way to flag missed opportunities.
Step 6: Review, Tweak, and Don’t Be Afraid to Change Things
Scoring and segmentation isn’t set-and-forget. Your business changes, your best customers change, and so should your rules.
How to iterate: - Check regularly: Are your best leads getting high scores? Are sales reps happy with what’s coming in? - Look for false positives/negatives. Is junk slipping through? Are good accounts getting missed? - Adjust your rules every quarter (or more often if things aren’t working).
Pro tip:
Ask your sales team what’s working and what isn’t. They’ll spot flaws in your logic faster than any dashboard.
What works:
- Regular feedback loops.
- Quick, small changes over time.
What doesn’t:
- Don’t just “set it and forget it.” You’ll end up with a broken system and annoyed salespeople.
Keep It Simple, Stay Skeptical, Iterate
Lead scoring and segmentation with firmographic data is about working smarter, not harder. Resist the urge to overcomplicate things or chase every new data point Clearbit offers. Start simple: pick your top 2-3 firmographic traits, set up basic segments, and score leads with clear, easy-to-understand rules. Listen to your team, adjust as you go, and don’t be afraid to ditch what isn’t working.
At the end of the day, the most valuable system is the one your team actually uses. Keep it practical, keep it grounded, and don’t fall for the hype.