So, you want to stop wasting time chasing dead-end leads and actually focus on people who might buy? This guide is for you. If you’re using Sellmethispen (here’s the link to their product page), or you’re thinking about it, and you want to automate lead scoring—without drowning in buzzwords—keep reading.
We’ll walk through exactly how to set up lead scoring workflows, what to actually pay attention to, and what features look nice on a demo but don’t really matter. No magic bullets, just stuff that works.
Why Bother With Automated Lead Scoring?
Manual lead scoring is usually a mess: everyone has a different opinion on what makes a “good” lead, and nobody updates the spreadsheet. Sales and marketing point fingers, and good leads slip through the cracks. Automating lead scoring in your CRM means:
- You react faster to hot leads.
- Your sales team stops guessing.
- You don’t need to remember to update anything—if it’s set up right.
Just know: automated scoring isn’t perfect. It’s a tool, not a fortune teller. Garbage in, garbage out. Still, it beats “gut feel” and sticky notes any day.
Step 1: Define What a Good Lead Looks Like (Don’t Skip This)
Before you build anything, you need a clear idea of what a “good lead” actually means for your business. Automation can’t fix vagueness.
What matters? - Demographics: Job title, company size, industry, location—whatever actually affects buying. - Behavior: Opened emails, visited your pricing page, requested a demo, etc. - Fit: Are they in your target market? Or someone who’ll never buy, no matter how many webinars they attend?
Pro tip: Start simple. Pick 3-5 factors that actually make a difference. Don’t get sucked into scoring every tiny data point.
Step 2: Map Out Your Lead Scoring Criteria
Now, translate those definitions into something Sellmethispen can use.
Assign points for each action or attribute. For example:
- Downloaded a whitepaper: +5
- Opened 3+ emails: +3
- Job title is “Director” or above: +4
- Company size 1000+: +2
- Visited the pricing page: +7
- Generic email address (e.g. gmail.com): -3
You get the idea. Make it additive, and don’t overthink precision. You’ll tweak this later.
What not to do: - Don’t assign points to things just because you can (“owns a dog” is probably not relevant). - Don’t copy generic scoring templates from the internet. Your customers aren’t generic.
Step 3: Set Up Lead Scoring Fields in Sellmethispen
In Sellmethispen, you need a field to store the lead score. Usually, this is a custom number field on the lead/contact record.
Here’s how: 1. Go to your Sellmethispen admin/settings area. 2. Find “Custom Fields” (sometimes under “CRM settings” or similar). 3. Add a new number field called “Lead Score” or something obvious.
Optional but smart: Add a “Lead Grade” field (A/B/C/D) if you want to bucket leads later.
Step 4: Build Your Lead Scoring Workflow
This is where the magic (okay, logic) happens. Sellmethispen uses workflows/automation to update lead scores based on triggers.
To set it up: 1. Go to the “Workflows” or “Automation” section. 2. Create a new workflow. Name it something you’ll recognize, like “Lead Scoring Engine.” 3. Add triggers for the actions/attributes you mapped out. For example: - Trigger: Email opened → Action: Add 3 points to Lead Score. - Trigger: Demo requested → Action: Add 10 points. - Trigger: Company in target industry → Action: Add 5 points. - Trigger: Email is @gmail.com or @yahoo.com → Action: Subtract 3 points.
- For each trigger, set the workflow to update the Lead Score field accordingly.
If Sellmethispen supports “branching” (if/then logic): - Use it to avoid double-counting points. - Example: Only add demo request points once, not every time they resubmit the form.
Pitfalls: - Watch for workflows “stacking” too many points for a single behavior. Test and monitor. - Don’t try to automate “gut feel” stuff like “seemed nice on the phone.” Keep it to things you can measure.
Step 5: Set Up Notifications or Lead Routing (Optional, but Useful)
Scoring is pointless if you don’t do something with it.
What you can automate next: - Notify sales: If a lead hits a certain score (say, 20+), send a Slack/email alert to the right rep. - Change lead status: Automatically move leads to “Qualified” or “Hot” stage when they pass your threshold. - Assign rep: Auto-assign high-score leads to your best closers.
How to do it: - In your workflow builder, add actions for notifications or record updates. - Don’t overdo it—avoid spamming your team with every tiny lead change.
Step 6: Test With Real Data (Not Just Dummy Leads)
Don’t trust the test button alone. Put a few real leads through the process and watch what happens.
Check: - Are points being added/subtracted as expected? - Any leads getting scored way too high or low? - Are notifications hitting the right people?
Pro tip: Ask your sales team if the top-scoring leads actually feel better than the rest. If not, go back and tweak.
Step 7: Review and Adjust Regularly
No lead scoring model is right forever. Your business changes, customers change, and what worked last year may not work now.
Set a calendar reminder every quarter to: - Review your top 20 scored leads—did they close? - Are any “A” leads actually junk? - Is your sales team ignoring high-score leads? (That’s a red flag.)
Tweak your points and triggers as you learn. Don’t chase perfection. Good enough is better than a fancy system nobody trusts.
What to Ignore
Let’s be honest: there’s a lot of fluff out there.
- Don’t obsess over AI scoring unless you have mountains of data. Most small teams get more value from simple, transparent rules.
- Ignore “engagement” metrics that don’t correlate with real sales. Just because someone clicks every email doesn’t mean they’ll buy.
- Don’t try to score every possible behavior. More complexity usually means more confusion.
If a workflow step or data point doesn’t help you close more deals, drop it.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple and Iterate
Automating lead scoring in Sellmethispen isn’t rocket science, but it does take some real thought. Start simple, focus on the behaviors and attributes that actually matter, and don’t let the tech distract you from your real goal: talking to people who might actually buy.
You’ll never get your model perfect on the first try. That’s fine. Just keep it honest, check your results, and adjust as you go. The less time you spend fiddling, the more time you get back for selling—which is kind of the point.