HubSpot’s lead scoring framework provides a structured method to evaluate leads across two dimensions: Fit and Engagement. Rather than relying on a single composite score, organizations can now independently assess how well a contact aligns with their Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and how actively that contact is demonstrating buying intent. This separation has led to more intelligent segmentation, cleaner automation, and improved sales alignment. Below are some best practices informed by how leading B2B organizations are applying the model in real-world scenarios.
Define Fit with Precision, Not Preference
The Fit Score allows companies to qualify leads based on profile attributes that are predictive of deal success. In practice, this often includes:
- Job function and title: A SaaS company selling to IT departments, for example, may award higher points to contacts in infrastructure or security roles, while deprioritizing general operations titles.
- Company size: A consulting firm specializing in midmarket accounts might apply positive scoring to companies with 100–500 employees, while scoring enterprise or small business leads neutrally or negatively.
- Industry: Many firms build industry-specific campaigns and align their Fit scoring to reflect vertical relevance. A manufacturing ERP vendor may score industrial companies higher than service firms.
Example:
An HR software provider uses Fit scoring to focus only on contacts from companies with over 200 employees, in industries with strong compliance requirements. They track conversion rates by industry to inform score weightings and refine them quarterly.
Prioritize Engagement Signals That Reflect Intent
The Engagement Score captures behavioral indicators such as:
- Website visits to pricing or product pages
- Email interaction, especially multiple clicks or responses
- Webinar registrations or attendance
- Resource downloads (e.g. whitepapers, case studies)
- Live chat with sales or use of a scheduling link
Example:
A cybersecurity firm applies higher engagement points to contacts who complete ROI calculators, register for product demos, or return to the site within a 14-day window. These activities have proven to precede opportunity creation by less than three weeks.
Use Score Decay to Focus on Recency
HubSpot allows scores to decline over time, ensuring that recent actions carry more weight. This is particularly useful in preventing outdated leads from cluttering CRM views or sales pipelines.
In the field:
A B2B agency decays engagement scores by 5 points per week after inactivity. This nudges the sales team to prioritize re-engaged leads over dormant ones, improving the relevance of outreach and tightening follow-up timing.
Build Segments with Composite Logic
Rather than combining Fit and Engagement into a single number, high-performing teams create rules such as:
- High Fit + High Engagement → Route immediately to SDR
- High Fit + Low Engagement → Enroll in content-based nurture
- Low Fit + High Engagement → Flag for manual review or deprioritize
- Low Fit + Low Engagement → Exclude from sales sequences
Example:
A professional services firm uses these combinations to assign ownership: marketing keeps low-engagement leads for nurturing, while high-fit and high-engagement contacts are pushed directly to consultants via round-robin assignment.
Exclude Non-Opportunities Proactively
Rather than assigning negative points, exclusion lists are widely used to prevent scoring of:
- Internal staff
- Partners or vendors
- Customers under active contracts
- Competitors
- Students, job seekers, and generic domains
Example:
A SaaS vendor excludes any contact using a free email domain or known customer IP range. They also maintain a competitor exclusion list synced weekly from CRM data.
Review, Report, and Iterate
Scoring models perform best when reviewed regularly. Use lifecycle stage conversion reports, deal source attribution, and sales feedback to evaluate the predictive quality of your scores.
Example:
An IT services company holds quarterly scoring reviews, comparing scoring thresholds against win rates, time to close, and SDR-to-meeting conversion. Over time, they’ve removed underperforming criteria (like Twitter followers) and elevated newer ones (such as recent job changes tracked via LinkedIn integrations).
Summary Tip: Use Fit and Engagement scoring to isolate high-quality leads, refine thresholds using real conversion data, and apply decay and exclusions to maintain accuracy and focus.