Sales teams often waste time chasing low-quality leads. A clear lead scoring and qualification system helps prioritize the right prospects and close faster.

This guide explains what lead scoring and qualification mean, how to build a scoring model, and frameworks to qualify leads better.

What is lead scoring?

In simple terms, lead scoring helps sales teams answer one question: “Who should we talk to first?”

There are two main scoring dimensions:

Explicit scoring: Who they are (industry, company size, role, location).

Implicit scoring: What they do (website visits, email opens, demo requests, pricing page views).

These scores allow prioritization. For example, 

• >70 lead get a call from an SDR
• 49-69 will undergo lead nurturing

These scoring rules can be manual or automated using CRM or AI tools.

Where does lead scoring sit in the funnel

Lead generation > Lead scoring & lead qualification > Sales outreach > Deal closure.

What is lead qualification?

Ask yourself this during qualification: Is this prospect the right fit for our product or service? Rather than forcing a sale, this method allows careful screening and eliminates wasted effort on the sales front.

There are different stages of qualified leads:

• MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead): Shows interest, fits the ICP, but not sales-ready.
• SQL (Sales Qualified Lead): Engaged and ready to talk to sales.
• PQL (Product Qualified Lead): Has used the product (like a free trial) and shows high buying intent. 

Qualification ensures only sales-ready leads are handed over, improving close rates.

According to Insidesales, 64.8% of sales people spend time on non-selling activities (customer support, prospecting, etc) due to lack of time management. 

In this case, if lead qualification is carried out thoroughly:

• It increases selling time & improves sales performance
• Notable increase in deal closures 
• Sales cycle is shortened

Lead scoring vs lead qualification

Lead scoring: How interested is this lead?

Lead qualification: Is this lead worth pursuing?

Remember, scoring uses data and behaviour while qualification is based on context and conversation.

Lead qualification frameworks you can use

BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline): Best for transactional sales.

CHAMP (Challenges, Authority, Money, Prioritization): Modern approach focusing on pain points.

MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Process, etc.): Used in enterprise/complex sales.

Each framework gives sales teams a checklist to qualify leads consistently.

Note: Choose one framework consistently across teams to ensure alignment.

How to build a lead scoring model?

Here’s a simple 5-step process:

1. Define ICP: Who is your ideal customer?

2. Choose criteria: Firmographics (industry, role) + behavior (downloads, demo requests).

3. Assign points:

4. Set thresholds: 60+ points = MQL, 80+ = SQL.

5. Automate in CRM: Tools like Superleap CRM make this easy.

Regularly review the thresholds. If high scores aren’t translating into revenue, adjust the weights.

Sample lead scoring model

Note: Scores are examples. Customize based on your industry and funnel data.

Industry-specific lead scoring examples 

Real estate lead scoring example:

High score signals include property page views, mortgage calculator usage, repeat location searches, and visit scheduling. Low scores apply to browsing-only behaviour.

B2B SaaS lead scoring example:

Key signals include pricing page visits, demo requests, product feature usage, and engagement from decision-maker roles.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Not tracking revenue by source and score (if higher scores don’t correlate with revenue, the model is broken)
• Treating every activity, for example, opening an email, as a high intent signal
• Scoring without involving the sales team (collaborate with SDRs and AEs to validate what high intent looks like)
• Not subtracting points for poor-fit leads
• Setting a model once, and never updating it

Conclusion

Start small. Define your ICP, pick 5 - 6 scoring criteria, and test it in your CRM. Even simple scoring can transform how your team prioritizes leads.