What Is Account Scoring in ABM?
Account scoring ranks companies by Fit, Intent, and Engagement so Marketing, Sales, and RevOps can focus on buying groups most likely to create and expand revenue. It’s a governed capability—not a one-off model.
Account scoring calculates an Account Qualification Score (AQS) by blending three signal sets—Fit (ICP firmographics/technographics), Intent (in-market research and topic surges), and Engagement (first-party behavior across web, email, ads, events, and sales touches). Teams apply weights, thresholds, recency/decay, and negative rules to produce Marketing Qualified Accounts (MQAs), trigger next-best actions, and route with SLAs—measured by pipeline per 100 MQAs, win rate, cycle time, ACV, and expansion.
Core Elements of a Reliable AQS
The ABM Account Scoring Playbook
Use this sequence to design, deploy, and govern account scoring across Marketing, Sales, and RevOps.
Define → Model → Instrument → Activate → Route → Measure → Govern
- Define ICP & motions: Segments, exclusions, buying groups; align to products and territories.
- Model Fit–Intent–Engagement: Weights, MQA threshold, recency windows, decay, negative rules.
- Instrument identity & events: Domain matching, UTMs, standardized forms, intent topics, sales outcomes.
- Activate plays: Personalization, ABM ads, SDR cadences; next-best actions by high-intent topic.
- Route with SLAs: Ownership rules, MQA alerts, acceptance criteria, recycle logic for stalled accounts.
- Measure outcomes: Pipeline per 100 MQAs, meeting rate, win rate, cycle time, ACV/ARR.
- Govern & tune: Backtests, cohort analysis, and versioned release notes—quarterly with Sales.
Account Scoring Capability Maturity Matrix
| Capability | From (Ad Hoc) | To (Operationalized) | Owner | Primary KPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICP Definition | Generic personas | Segmented ICP with exclusions and look-alikes | Product Marketing | % MQAs in ICP |
| Data Foundation | Leads not linked to accounts | Unified lead→contact→account with high domain match rate | RevOps | Match Rate, Duplicate Rate |
| Scoring Model | Single lead score | Fit–Intent–Engagement AQS with decay & negatives | Marketing Ops | Pipeline per 100 MQAs |
| Routing & SLAs | Manual assignment | Automated territory routing, acceptance, recycle logic | Sales Ops | Speed-to-First-Touch |
| Activation | One-size campaigns | Plays by segment & intent topic; ABM ads + SDR cadences | Demand Gen/SDR | Meetings per MQA |
| Governance | Untracked tweaks | Versioned models, backtests, release notes | RevOps Council | Win Rate, Cycle Time |
Client Snapshot: MQAs that Create Pipeline
After unifying identity and launching a Fit–Intent–Engagement model with recycle rules, a B2B SaaS team increased pipeline per 100 MQAs and shortened sales cycles. Explore results: Comcast Business · Broadridge
Start by mapping signals to journeys with The Loop™, then activate ABM programs that use AQS to trigger next-best actions across channels.
Frequently Asked Questions about Account Scoring
Operationalize Account Scoring
Map Fit–Intent–Engagement to next-best actions, route with SLAs, and measure what matters: pipeline, win rate, and expansion.
Activate ABM Account Scoring Map Signals with The Loop™