If your sales reps are wasting time on leads that never buy, you’re not alone. Manual lead scoring is slow, inconsistent, and—let’s be honest—nobody keeps up with it for long. Automated lead scoring promises to fix that, but it only helps if you set it up right. This guide is for B2B sales teams who want to use Revenue to score leads automatically and actually get value out of it—without turning the whole thing into a science project.
Let’s get straight to the point.
1. Get Clear on Why You’re Scoring Leads
Before you go poking around in Revenue settings, ask: What’s the problem you want lead scoring to solve? Usually, it’s one of these:
- Your reps chase junk leads and ignore the good ones.
- Marketing hands off a mess and sales doesn’t trust the list.
- You’re drowning in data, but have no way to prioritize.
Don’t score leads just because some blog said you should. Start with a specific pain point. If you can’t point to a real problem, fix that first.
Pro Tip: If your sales team ignores lead scores, it’s usually because the scores don’t match reality. Garbage in, garbage out.
2. Decide What Makes a “Good” Lead for Your Team
Automated lead scoring only works if you feed it the right signals. Sit down with your best reps and ask:
- Which leads turn into real sales?
- What are obvious red flags?
- Are there “magic” fields (company size, title, web activity) that matter more than others?
List out the 5–10 things that separate buyers from tire-kickers. These are your scoring criteria. Be ruthless—more criteria doesn’t mean better scores.
What usually works: - Firmographics: Industry, company size, geography. - Job titles or seniority. - Recent buying signals (requests a demo, downloads a high-intent asset). - Website activity (multiple visits, key pages viewed).
What to ignore: - Vanity metrics (opened an email, follows on Twitter). - Anything you “think” matters but can’t back up with wins.
3. Map Out Your Data in Revenue
Automated scoring is only as good as your data. In Revenue, you’ll need to make sure the info you care about is actually being collected and synced.
Check: - Do your leads have the right fields mapped? (Industry, company size, etc.) - Is your CRM or marketing automation tool integrated with Revenue? - Are web tracking and enrichment tools feeding into Revenue?
If you’re missing key data, fix that first. Otherwise, your scoring model will be guessing—or worse, misleading.
Pro Tip: Don’t trust default fields. Double-check the data quality. “CEO” in the title field isn’t the same as “Chief Executive Officer.”
4. Set Up Your Lead Scoring Model in Revenue
Now you’re ready to actually build your scoring logic.
A. Go to Revenue’s Lead Scoring Settings
- Navigate to the Lead Scoring section in Revenue’s dashboard.
- Choose “Create New Scoring Model” or similar. (Names may vary depending on your version.)
B. Add Your Scoring Criteria
For each criterion you identified, add it to the model:
- Assign points based on importance (e.g., +20 for VP-level titles, +10 for 100-500 employee companies).
- Set negative scores for clear red flags (e.g., -30 for students, -20 for personal email addresses).
- Don’t overcomplicate it. You can always tweak later.
Honest Take: The first version won’t be perfect. That’s fine. Start simple—complex rules can wait until you see what works.
C. Set Up Triggers and Thresholds
- Decide what score equals a “hot,” “warm,” or “cold” lead.
- Set up automatic actions (e.g., assign hot leads to sales, send cold ones back to nurture).
- Test the rules with sample data—make sure you’re not flooding reps with noise.
5. Test and Tune Before You Go Live
Don’t unleash your new scoring model on the team without pressure-testing it.
How to test: - Run your last 100 leads through the model. - See if the “hot” leads actually closed, or if you’re just picking up noise. - Ask reps for gut-check feedback: Do the scores match their experience?
If you get a bunch of false positives or negatives, adjust the weights. It’s normal to iterate a few times.
What not to do: Don’t get bogged down in months of testing. Ship it, watch what happens, and adjust fast.
6. Roll It Out to Your Sales Team (Without the Hype)
Now the fun part: get your team to actually use the scores.
- Announce the new process, but keep it simple—“Here’s what the scores mean. Here’s what you do next.”
- Show them how to see lead scores in their pipeline view.
- Make it part of your sales meetings: “Let’s look at hot leads this week.”
- Don’t make the score the only factor—remind reps to use their judgment.
Pro Tip: If you make it too complicated, reps will ignore it. The best lead scoring models are dead simple and actually help salespeople close more.
7. Keep an Eye on Results and Iterate
You’re not done after launch. Like any automation, lead scoring needs regular checkups.
- Track how many “hot” leads are converting compared to before.
- Ask reps what’s working and what’s not. (They’ll tell you, usually bluntly.)
- Review the model every quarter—adjust weights, add/remove criteria, and kill what’s not working.
What to ignore: Don’t chase “AI-powered” features unless you’ve nailed the basics. Most teams get more value from fixing their inputs than adding more tech.
Quick Troubleshooting: Common Lead Scoring Pitfalls
- Bad data: If scores feel random, your data’s probably messy. Clean it up before blaming the model.
- Over-engineering: More rules ≠ better scores. Start simple and only add complexity if it solves a real problem.
- Ignoring feedback: If sales keeps ignoring scores, figure out why. Usually, poor alignment or unclear logic.
- No follow-up: If nobody’s working the “hot” leads, automate the next step or fix your process.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Improve as You Go
Automated lead scoring in Revenue should help your sales team focus on the leads that actually matter. Don’t aim for perfection on day one. Get a basic model running, watch how it performs, and adjust. Most importantly, keep it tied to real sales outcomes—if it doesn’t help close deals, it’s just noise.
Start simple, listen to your team, and don’t let the “automation” hype distract you from what actually works. Happy scoring.