Why Account Scoring Matters
Not all target accounts are equal. Without scoring, you treat a perfect-fit account showing buying signals the same as a marginal account with no activity. Account scoring fixes this by quantifying which accounts deserve your limited resources.
The goal: Create tiers that drive different treatment levels.
The Three Scoring Pillars
Every account score should incorporate three dimensions:
Pillar 1: Fit Score (40%)
Fit measures how closely an account matches your ideal customer profile. This is static data that rarely changes.
| Criteria | High Fit (10 pts) | Medium (5 pts) | Low (0 pts) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industry | Target vertical | Adjacent vertical | Out of scope |
| Company Size | 500-5000 employees | 200-500 or 5000-10000 | <200 or >10000 |
| Revenue | $50M-$500M | $20M-$50M or $500M-$1B | Outside range |
| Tech Stack | Uses complementary tools | Neutral stack | Uses competitor |
| Geography | Primary market | Secondary market | Not serviceable |
Data Sources: CRM firmographics, ZoomInfo, Clearbit, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, BuiltWith
Pillar 2: Intent Score (30%)
Intent measures whether an account is actively researching your category. This is dynamic data that changes frequently.
| Signal | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Researching your category keywords | +15 | Bombora, G2, TrustRadius |
| Visiting competitor websites | +10 | Bombora, 6sense |
| Reading category review sites | +10 | G2, Capterra intent |
| Job postings for related roles | +5 | LinkedIn, Indeed |
| Recent funding round | +5 | Crunchbase, news |
Intent data is directional, not precise. A "surge" doesn't mean they're buying tomorrow. Use it to prioritize outreach timing, not to guarantee pipeline.
Pillar 3: Engagement Score (30%)
Engagement measures how the account is interacting with YOUR content and brand. This is first-party data you control.
| Action | Points | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple contacts engaged | +20 | CRM |
| Visited pricing/demo page | +15 | Website analytics |
| Attended webinar/event | +10 | Event platform |
| Downloaded content | +5 | Marketing automation |
| Opened emails (account-level) | +3 | Marketing automation |
| Clicked ads | +3 | Ad platforms |
Key insight: Weight multi-threading heavily. An account with 3 engaged contacts is far more likely to close than one with a single champion.
From Score to Tier
Once you have scores, assign tiers based on percentiles or thresholds:
| Tier | Score Range | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | 80-100 | 1:1 personalized campaigns, executive outreach, custom content |
| Tier 2 | 50-79 | 1:few campaigns, industry-specific content, SDR sequences |
| Tier 3 | 20-49 | 1:many programmatic ads, scaled nurture |
| No tier | <20 | Not actively targeted (demand gen only) |
Scoring Best Practices
- Start simple: 5-10 criteria total. Complexity doesn't improve accuracy.
- Validate against closed-won: Your scoring should correlate with what actually closes.
- Decay engagement: A webinar from 6 months ago isn't as relevant as last week.
- Review quarterly: Adjust weights based on what's actually predicting pipeline.
- Document everything: Sales needs to understand why accounts are tiered.