If your sales team is drowning in “leads” but closing too few deals, you’re not alone. Most B2B teams struggle to figure out which prospects are worth their time. That’s where lead scoring and qualification come in—and why you're probably here, poking around for a no-nonsense guide on getting this right in Ortto.
If you’re running B2B sales and want to separate hot opportunities from tire-kickers, this is for you. We’ll walk through a practical setup, highlight what’s actually useful (and what’s fluff), and show you how to keep things simple enough to maintain.
What is Lead Scoring—And Why Use Ortto?
Let’s keep it simple: Lead scoring means ranking your leads based on how likely they are to buy. You assign points for actions (like visiting your pricing page), characteristics (like company size), or whatever actually matters to your process. The goal? Spend less time with dead-ends and more time with real buyers.
Ortto is one of those “all-in-one” customer data and marketing automation platforms. It does a lot—sometimes too much—but its lead scoring tools are solid if you take the time to set them up right.
Step 1: Define What a Qualified Lead Looks Like
Before you touch any software, talk to your sales team. (Yes, really.) If you skip this, no tool will save you.
Ask: - What traits do closed-won leads have in common? - What actions usually signal strong interest? - Who wastes your time most often?
Typical signals to consider: - Job title or seniority (e.g., “CTO” > “Intern”) - Company size or industry - Website behavior (visited pricing, booked a demo) - Engaged with emails or webinars - Tech stack or budget
Pro tip: Don’t overcomplicate it. Start with 3-5 factors that actually matter. You can always adjust later.
Step 2: Map Out Your Data Sources
Ortto can pull in a lot of data, but only if you connect it. Here’s what you need:
- CRM: Salesforce, HubSpot, or whatever you use. Make sure contact and company data flows in.
- Website: Set up tracking so you know who’s doing what on your site.
- Email/Marketing: Connect your existing campaigns so you can score engagement.
- Other tools: Zapier, APIs, or direct integrations for support tickets, product usage, etc.
What works: Native integrations are easiest. If you’re stuck using CSVs, automate it ASAP. Manual uploads are a pain and almost guarantee your data will get stale.
Step 3: Set Up Lead Scoring Rules in Ortto
Now for the meat and potatoes: building your scoring model.
a) Find the Lead Scoring Section
- In Ortto, go to “Audiences” or “Leads.”
- Look for “Scoring” or “Lead scoring rules.” The UI changes a bit, but it’s always there.
b) Create Your Scoring Model
You’ll assign points for each signal you’ve picked out.
Examples: - +10 points: Visited the pricing page - +20 points: Job title contains “Director” or higher - +15 points: Opened 3+ marketing emails in a week - -10 points: Email bounced or unsubscribed - +30 points: Requested a demo
Pro tip: Don’t obsess over the exact points. Just make sure the relative value makes sense. You’ll tweak this over time.
c) Set Decay/Expiration
People lose interest. Set your rules so points expire (e.g., “Visited pricing page” drops off after 30 days). Ortto lets you set this per rule.
What doesn’t work: If you never expire points, your scores become meaningless after a few months. Old leads will look “hot” forever.
Step 4: Define Qualification Thresholds
A lead score is just a number until you decide what it means.
- MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead): What score means “worth passing to sales”?
- SQL (Sales Qualified Lead): What’s the bar for serious outreach?
- Disqualified: What score or criteria mean “stop wasting time”?
In Ortto, you can set up automations to trigger when a lead crosses a threshold (e.g., notify reps, enroll in sequences, flag in CRM).
Keep it simple: Pick one or two thresholds to start. You can add nuance later, but complexity kills adoption.
Step 5: Automate Handoffs and Alerts
You want your sales team to know about hot leads instantly—without digging through dashboards.
In Ortto: - Set up workflows so when a lead hits your threshold, they’re assigned to a rep or sent to your CRM. - Trigger Slack or email alerts for new hot leads. - Automatically enroll leads in nurture or follow-up sequences if they’re not quite ready.
What works: Automate as much as possible. If you rely on manual review, stuff will slip through the cracks.
What to ignore: Don’t try to automate everything right away (like hyper-personalized emails). You’ll just end up with a tangled mess and annoyed prospects.
Step 6: Review and Refine—Don’t “Set and Forget”
No lead scoring model is perfect out of the box. Set a reminder to check in every month or quarter.
Look for: - Are too many junk leads scoring high? - Are reps ignoring “hot” leads because the score is off? - Are good leads getting missed?
How to fix: - Adjust the weight of actions or traits that don’t correlate with actual deals. - Add or remove rules based on real feedback, not just gut feel. - If sales aren’t using it, ask them why—then fix the pain points.
Pro tip: Keep a changelog of tweaks. If performance drops, you’ll know what changed.
What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore
What works: - Simple, transparent rules everyone understands - Clear thresholds for handoff - Automations for alerts and assignments - Regular reviews and feedback loops with sales
What doesn’t: - Overly complicated models with dozens of rules - Never updating your model - Relying only on activity (ignoring fit/firmographics) - Treating lead scoring as a “set and forget” project
Ignore the hype about: - AI “predictive” scoring unless you have tons of clean data (and even then, trust but verify) - Tracking every possible signal—stick to what really moves the needle
Troubleshooting: Common Pitfalls in Ortto Lead Scoring
- Scores aren’t updating: Check your integrations and data sync. If your CRM or website data is lagging, scores will be wrong.
- Leads missing from lists: Make sure you’re filtering by the right fields and not using conflicting rules.
- Sales not using the system: Usually a sign your scores don’t match reality, or alerts are buried. Go back, ask for feedback, and iterate.
Keep It Simple. Iterate Fast.
If you remember one thing: Don’t let perfect get in the way of better. Start with a basic model, get feedback, and tweak as you go. The best lead scoring systems are the ones sales teams actually use—not the ones with the fanciest logic or longest list of rules.
Plug in your data, set up a handful of common-sense rules, and watch what happens. If you’re getting better leads in front of reps faster, you’re on the right track. If not—adjust and try again. Simple is sustainable. That’s what moves the needle.