What system helps a company decide which potential customers are most ready to buy, based on their actions?

The system that helps a company decide which potential customers are most ready to buy, based on their actions, is primarily known as a Lead Scoring system. Lead Scoring is a methodology used by companies to systematically rank sales leads in order to determine their sales-readiness and the likelihood of them becoming a paying customer. This ranking is achieved by assigning numerical scores to various attributes and, crucially, to the specific actions taken by a lead.

Sales leads are individuals or organizations that have shown some level of initial interest in a company's products or services. The 'actions' mentioned in the question refer to behavioral data, which is gathered as leads interact with a company's marketing and sales touchpoints. Examples of such actions include visiting specific pages on a company's website (like a pricing page or product features page), downloading valuable content such as whitepapers or e-books, opening and clicking links within marketing emails, attending webinars, or filling out a form to request a product demonstration or consultation. Each of these actions is assigned a specific point value, with more indicative or high-intent actions (e.g., requesting a demo) typically receiving a higher score, signifying greater purchase intent.

While the question emphasizes actions, a comprehensive Lead Scoring system also often incorporates demographic data (e.g., job title, seniority) and firmographic data (e.g., industry, company size, revenue) to assess a lead's 'fit' with the company's ideal customer profile. These profile attributes contribute to a holistic readiness assessment. The numerical scores from both behavioral actions and profile attributes are aggregated to produce a total lead score. This total lead score serves as an objective indicator of a lead's sales-readiness, identifying how close they are to making a purchase decision or how qualified they are. Leads surpassing a predefined threshold score are typically deemed 'sales-qualified' and are prioritized for follow-up by the sales team.

These Lead Scoring systems are typically implemented and managed within larger software platforms. The two main types of platforms that facilitate Lead Scoring are Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and Marketing Automation Platforms. A CRM system is technology for managing all of a company's relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. A Marketing Automation Platform is software designed to automate marketing actions and workflows, including lead nurturing, email campaigns, and, critically, the tracking and scoring of customer behaviors. These platforms collect the necessary data, apply the predefined scoring rules, and present the resulting scores to sales and marketing teams, enabling them to focus their resources on the most promising potential customers who are most ready to buy.