If you’re running B2B sales, you know the pain: too many leads, not enough time, and no one wants to waste hours chasing dead ends. Lead scoring helps, but most sales teams don’t have the time, budget, or patience to wrangle clunky CRM add-ons or expensive “AI” tools that promise the moon and deliver a headache.
This guide is for sales ops folks, founders, and anyone who wants to set up straightforward, low-maintenance lead scoring automations using Zapier. You’ll learn what’s possible, what’s honestly not worth it, and how to get a basic lead scoring system working with the tools you already use.
What is Lead Scoring (and Why Bother Automating It)?
Let’s keep it simple: lead scoring is about ranking your leads based on how likely they are to become customers. Maybe you care about company size, job title, website visits, or whether they opened your last email. The point is to help your sales team focus on what matters, instead of guessing.
Doing this manually is a slog. And while your CRM might have built-in scoring, it’s rarely flexible—or cheap. That’s where Zapier comes in. You can automate lead scoring across tools you already use without hiring a developer or getting locked into some “AI-powered” black box.
Before You Start: What You Need (and What You Don’t)
You don’t need a data science degree. Here’s what’s actually required:
- A Zapier account: Free is fine to start, but paid plans unlock more steps and features.
- Your lead sources: Where do leads come from? Web forms, CRMs, email signups, LinkedIn, etc.
- A place to store/update scores: Usually your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive, etc.), or a spreadsheet.
- A sense of what matters: What makes a lead “good” for you? Don’t overthink it—start with 2–3 criteria.
Pro tip: Ignore the urge to build a “perfect” scoring system out of the gate. You’ll tweak it later.
Step 1: Decide What Makes a Lead “Hot”
It’s tempting to score everything—don’t. Start with clear, simple rules based on the data you actually have. Classic examples:
- Company size: Bigger companies get more points.
- Job title: “VP” or “Director” in the title? Bonus points.
- Engagement: Opened your last email, booked a call, or visited your pricing page.
- Source: Referral, demo request, cold inbound.
Keep it to 3–5 data points. You’ll want to automate, not overcomplicate. Make a quick table like this:
| Criteria | Rule | Score | |------------------|---------------------------|-------| | Company Size | >100 employees | +5 | | Job Title | Contains "Director" | +3 | | Email Opened | Yes | +2 | | Source | Demo request | +4 |
You’ll map these into Zapier in the next steps.
Step 2: Map Out Your Zapier Flow
Zapier works by chaining together “triggers” (when X happens) and “actions” (do Y). For lead scoring, here’s the typical flow:
- Trigger: New lead arrives (from form, CRM, webhook, etc.).
- Enrich: (Optional) Pull extra info—like company size—from a tool like Clearbit or Apollo.
- Score: Add up points based on your criteria.
- Update: Write the score back to your CRM or spreadsheet.
- Notify: (Optional) Alert a sales rep or channel if a lead is “hot.”
Don’t get cute with 10-step Zaps on day one. Start with a basic scoring loop, then layer on bells and whistles only if you need them.
Step 3: Build Your First Lead Scoring Zap
Let’s walk through a practical example. Say you want to score leads from your website’s contact form and update the score in HubSpot.
1. Trigger: New Lead Submission
- Set up the Zap with your form tool (Typeform, Gravity Forms, Webflow, whatever).
- “New Submission” is usually the trigger event.
2. (Optional) Enrich Lead Data
- If your form doesn’t ask for company size or job title, use a service like Clearbit, Apollo, or Hunter to fill in the blanks.
- In Zapier, add an “Enrich” action after the trigger. This usually costs extra, so weigh the value.
Honest take: Data enrichment tools are hit-or-miss. They’re great for B2B, but coverage isn’t perfect and they can get pricey fast. Try it, but don’t build your whole process around it.
3. Score the Lead
- Add a “Formatter” step in Zapier (“Numbers” or “Utilities”) to run simple calculations.
- Use Zapier’s “Paths” or “Filter” steps to assign points. For example:
- If [Company Size] > 100, add 5 points.
- If [Job Title] contains “Director,” add 3 points.
- If [Source] is “Demo Request,” add 4 points.
How to do this in Zapier: - Use “Formatter > Numbers > Perform Math Operation” for basic scoring. - Or, use “Formatter > Text > Extract Pattern” for things like job title matching. - For more complex logic, try the “Code by Zapier” step (JavaScript or Python). But don’t go there unless you really need it.
4. Update Your CRM or Spreadsheet
- Add an action to update the lead record with the new score.
- In HubSpot, use “Update Contact” and map your score to a custom property.
- In Google Sheets, use “Update Row.”
- In Salesforce, use “Update Record.”
What not to do: Don’t try to keep scores in sync across multiple places. Pick one “source of truth.”
5. (Optional) Notify Your Sales Team
- If a lead crosses a threshold (say, 10 points), add a step to send a Slack message, email, or create a task for a rep.
Step 4: Test—and Watch for Gotchas
Run through a few test leads to make sure your Zap behaves. Here’s what trips most people up:
- Bad or missing data: If your forms are inconsistent, your scoring will be too.
- Too many criteria: More rules = more bugs. Resist the urge to overcomplicate.
- Zapier limits: On the free plan, you get limited tasks and update frequency. If you’re scoring lots of leads, you’ll need a paid plan.
- API quirks: Some CRMs (looking at you, Salesforce) can be finicky with updates. Build in error notifications so you know if something fails.
Pro tip: Don’t set and forget. Check your Zapier logs and CRM regularly until you trust it.
Step 5: Iterate, Don’t Overengineer
Once it’s live, pay attention to what’s working:
- Are your “hot” leads actually turning into deals?
- Is your team ignoring the scores? If so, ask why.
- Are you missing good leads because your rules are too tight?
Tweak your criteria every month or so. Add new rules only when you have evidence they help. Kill anything that adds noise.
What Works, What Doesn’t (And What to Skip)
Works well: - Scoring on clear, factual data (company size, job title, source). - Simple point systems with 3–5 rules. - Notifying sales when a lead crosses a threshold.
Doesn’t work well: - Overly complex, multi-step Zaps with tons of branches. - Relying too much on enrichment tools—they’re helpful, but not magic. - Trying to automate “gut feel” or soft signals (like “seems interested”).
Ignore for now: - “AI” lead scoring tools that don’t show their work. - Anything that requires a developer unless you’re truly stuck.
Keep It Simple—And Keep Improving
You don’t need a PhD or a big budget to automate lead scoring in Zapier. Start small. Build a basic scoring system. Watch what happens. Tweak as you go. You’ll save time, cut down on junk leads, and make your sales team a lot happier.
If you’re stuck, keep it simple and iterate. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s fewer wasted hours on bad leads.
Good luck!