AI Lead Scoring: How It Works

Pulse AI's lead scoring assigns every lead in your pipeline a score from 0 to 100, reflecting how likely that prospect is to become a paying member. This article explains the scoring methodology, what the numbers mean, and how to integrate scores into your daily sales workflow.

Scoring Methodology

Pulse AI evaluates leads across three categories of signals: engagement, demographics, and behavior. Each category contributes to the overall score.

Engagement Signals

These measure how actively a lead interacts with your gym:

• Email opens and clicks — Leads who open your emails and click links score higher than those who ignore outreach.
• SMS replies — Responding to a text message is a strong intent signal.
• Form field completeness — Leads who fill out optional fields (fitness goals, preferred schedule, how they heard about you) demonstrate more interest than those who submit only required fields.
• Inbound communication — Leads who initiate contact (call, email, or walk in) after the initial form submission receive a significant score boost.

Demographic Signals

These provide context about how well the lead fits your typical member profile:

• Proximity — If your lead form collects a zip code or address, Pulse AI factors in distance to your gym. Closer leads score higher.
• Referral source — Leads from high-intent sources (e.g., Google search for "gym near me") tend to score higher than those from broad social media ads.
• Interest alignment — If the lead's stated goals (weight loss, muscle gain, group fitness) match your gym's primary offerings, the score reflects that fit.

Behavioral Signals

These track actions the lead takes after entering the pipeline:

• Tour scheduled or completed — One of the strongest positive signals.
• Trial pass used — Leads who actually visit your gym during a trial period score very high.
• Response time — How quickly a lead responds to your outreach. Fast responders score higher.
• Pipeline velocity — How quickly a lead moves through stages. Leads that stall in early stages see gradual score decay.
• Repeat website visits — If tracked through your form or booking widget, return visits indicate sustained interest.

Score Ranges and What They Mean

Range	Label	Meaning
80-100	Hot	Strong buying signals. Contact immediately.
60-79	Warm	Genuine interest, needs one more push. Prioritize within 24 hours.
40-59	Moderate	Some interest but not urgent. Include in nurture sequences.
20-39	Cool	Limited engagement. Check in periodically but do not over-invest time.
0-19	Cold	Minimal or no engagement. May be spam or a passive inquiry.

Pulse AI also provides a Score Breakdown for each lead, accessible in the lead detail panel. This shows the top three factors driving the score with brief explanations (e.g., "Opened 3 of 4 emails," "Tour completed yesterday," "No response to SMS in 5 days").

How to Use Scores in Your Sales Workflow

Morning Routine

Start each day by reviewing your pipeline sorted by lead score:

1. Open Marketing > Pipeline for the Kanban board view.
2. Sort columns by Lead Score (Highest First).
3. Work through Hot leads first, then Warm leads.

Score-Based Task Assignment

Set up notifications so that high-scoring leads get immediate attention:

1. Go to Marketing > Automations.
2. Create a rule: "When a lead's score reaches 75 or above, notify the lead owner via email and in-app notification."
3. This ensures no hot lead sits uncontacted.

Score-Based Filtering

When your team has limited bandwidth:

1. Use the Pipeline board filter to show only leads scoring 60+.
2. Focus all follow-up effort on these high-potential prospects.
3. Let automated sequences handle nurturing for lower-scored leads.

Handoff Trigger

Some gyms use scores to trigger handoffs between sales roles:

• Leads scoring below 50 are handled by the general sales team through automated sequences.
• Once a lead crosses 50, they are reassigned to a senior sales rep for personal outreach.

Score Updates and Frequency

Lead scores are not static. Pulse AI recalculates scores when:

• The lead opens an email or clicks a link.
• A note, task, or stage change is logged.
• The lead responds to an SMS or email.
• A tour or trial is scheduled or completed.
• A defined inactivity period passes (scores decay over time).

You can also manually trigger a score refresh from the lead detail panel by clicking Refresh Score. Each refresh consumes one AI credit.

Scores typically update within a few minutes of a triggering event.