Inbound Lead Qualification
CRM record updated with: enrichment data, ICP score breakdown, qualification tier, response sent, next action scheduled. Slack notification for Tier A leads.
Before you start
- ICP scoring criteria defined (company size, industry, role, budget signals)
- CRM connected with lead capture forms
- Response templates approved for each qualification outcome
- New form submission (name, email, company, message/request)
- ICP scoring rubric (must-have vs nice-to-have criteria)
- Current sales capacity (available meeting slots this week)
The steps
- Receive and parse inbound submission — Pull new lead from CRM inbox or webhook. Extract: name, email domain, company name, stated need, and any qualifying fields from the form. Log timestamp and source (which page/form they came from).
- Enrich company and contact data — Look up company by domain: employee count, industry, funding stage, tech stack, revenue estimate. Look up contact: title, seniority, LinkedIn profile. If company not found in enrichment, check LinkedIn company page manually. Store all enrichment data on the CRM record.
- Score against ICP rubric — Apply scoring rubric: company size (1-5), industry fit (1-5), seniority match (1-5), stated need alignment (1-5), budget signals (1-5). Total score out of 25. Tier A: 20+, Tier B: 14-19, Tier C: below 14. Log score breakdown on record.
- Route based on qualification tier — Tier A: Send calendar link with personalized note within 5 minutes. Notify AE in Slack immediately. Tier B: Send value-add resource + soft meeting CTA, schedule follow-up in 48h. Tier C: Add to nurture sequence, send helpful content, no meeting push.
- Send response and update CRM — Deliver appropriate response via email (or chat if they used live chat). Set CRM lead status: Tier A = 'Sales Qualified', Tier B = 'Marketing Qualified', Tier C = 'Nurture'. Set owner, next action date, and qualification notes. Confirm response delivered without bounce.
If it goes wrong
Enrichment API returns no data for small companies
Fall back to LinkedIn scrape for company size and industry. If still unclear, qualify based on form data alone and flag for human review.
Tier A lead doesn't book after receiving calendar link
Auto-follow-up at 24h with a different angle (case study or ROI stat). If still no booking at 72h, have AE send personal video.
High volume of Tier C leads consuming capacity
Review form qualification questions — add a disqualifying question earlier. Adjust ad targeting if source is paid.
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