Qualification Scorecard

Last updated: 2026-05-12

Not every prospect should be pitched. Pitching to unqualified prospects wastes time, inflates your "in progress" pipeline, and trains your team to chase ghosts. A qualification scorecard creates a repeatable standard for who advances to the pitch and who gets moved to nurture.

The Five Qualification Dimensions

Score each prospect on a 1–3 scale (1 = poor, 2 = acceptable, 3 = strong).

Dimension 1 — Pain

Does the prospect have a clearly articulated problem that your service solves?

| Score | Signal | |---|---| | 1 | No pain stated. "Things are fine." or vague dissatisfaction. | | 2 | Acknowledges a problem but not urgent. "We'd like more leads eventually." | | 3 | Acute, active pain. "We're slow right now and I need to fix this this month." |

How to gather: Ask "What's the biggest thing holding your business back?" early in the call. If they struggle to answer or give a vague answer, score low.

Dimension 2 — Authority

Does the person you are speaking with have the authority to say yes?

| Score | Signal | |---|---| | 1 | Clearly a gatekeeper or junior employee. | | 2 | Influencer — involved in the decision but not the final yes. | | 3 | Sole decision-maker. They can sign the contract without asking anyone. |

How to gather: "Are you the one who makes decisions on marketing, or is there a partner involved?" Ask directly. Do not assume.

If score is 1 or 2: Do not pitch. Schedule the call with the decision-maker present or disqualify.

Dimension 3 — Budget

Does the prospect have the financial capacity to invest in the solution?

| Score | Signal | |---|---| | 1 | "We have no budget." or business is clearly underperforming. | | 2 | "We have something set aside." No specific amount. | | 3 | Currently spending on marketing. Can state a rough budget range. |

How to gather: "Are you currently spending anything on marketing, or would this be the first time?" and "Do you have a budget in mind for this?"

A business currently spending on Google Ads is a 3 — they have both the habit and the infrastructure. A business that has never paid for marketing is usually a 1 unless the deal value is so high they can clearly afford it.

Dimension 4 — Timeline

Is the prospect ready to make a decision within a reasonable window?

| Score | Signal | |---|---| | 1 | No urgency. "We're not in a rush." or "Maybe next year." | | 2 | Moderate urgency. "We're hoping to have something going by Q3." | | 3 | High urgency. "We need this now." or "Things are slow and I need help this month." |

How to gather: "Are you looking to get something started soon, or are you still in research mode?"

Timeline score affects your follow-up cadence. Score-1 prospects go to 30-day drip, not the active pipeline.

Dimension 5 — Fit

Does your service actually solve their problem? Can you deliver what they need?

| Score | Signal | |---|---| | 1 | Poor fit — wrong service, wrong stage, wrong market. | | 2 | Partial fit — you can help but need to scope carefully. | | 3 | Clear fit — their problem is exactly what you solve. |

How to gather: This is an internal score based on your honest assessment, not what the prospect says. If a plumber wants a national brand campaign and you do local SEO, that is a 1 regardless of their enthusiasm.

Scoring Thresholds

| Total Score | Decision | |---|---| | 13–15 | Strong — advance to pitch immediately | | 9–12 | Viable — pitch with a scope conversation first | | 5–8 | Weak — move to 30-day nurture sequence | | Under 5 | Disqualify — close the opportunity |

Where to Log Scores

In GHL, add a custom field: "Qualification Score" (number field) to the contact record. Log the score after every discovery call. Use it to filter your pipeline — do not work a pipeline of unscored or low-scored leads.

Common Disqualification Errors

Over-qualifying: Disqualifying someone who scores a 2 on timeline because you want only 3s. A 2 on timeline with a 3 on pain, 3 on authority, and 3 on budget is a 13 — pitch them.

Under-qualifying: Pitching a prospect who scored well on pain but is clearly a gatekeeper (score 1 on authority). You will close a person who cannot say yes.

Skipping the scorecard entirely: "They seemed interested" is not a qualification. Score every prospect.

Adaptation for Different Sales Motions

High-Volume Setter Model

Setters score prospects on Dimensions 1, 2, and 4 only (Pain, Authority, Timeline). If any of the three score 1, they do not book the call — they move to nurture or disqualify.

Full-Service Agency Closer

Score all five dimensions on the discovery call before pitching.

PPL / Lead Gen Outbound

Score Dimensions 2 and 3 first (Authority and Budget) because the cost is lower and the commitment is shorter. Lower threshold for advancing — a score of 8+ is enough to pitch a PPL offer.

Qualification Scorecard — Evaluating Prospects Before Pitching