Key takeaways
- Fit, value and timing are separate tests; a lead needs all three.
- Base your criteria on your best existing customers, not on guesses.
- A timely trigger often matters more than a perfect company profile.
- Write the criteria down so everyone scores leads the same way.
Which fit criteria matter most
The fit criteria that matter most are the ones your best customers share. Look at the customers who bought quickly, stayed and grew, and note what they have in common: industry, headcount, region, business model and the tools they already use.
Then add the person. The same company is a good lead if you reach the head of operations who owns the problem and a poor one if you reach someone who cannot act on it.
How do you judge the value of an account
Judge value by the size of the first deal and the room to grow after it. A company with several teams or sites that could each use your product is worth more than one with a single team, even if both start at the same size.
Cost to serve belongs in the judgement too. An account that needs heavy custom work or long security reviews may be large on paper and thin in practice.
Which trigger events signal good timing
Good timing shows up as a change that makes your problem urgent. Changes create budget and attention; a stable company with no change rarely moves.
- A new leader in the role you sell to, often in their first few months.
- A product launch, new market or new office that stretches current tools.
- Hiring for roles your product supports or replaces.
- A merger, acquisition or new funding that resets priorities.
- A public statement of the problem, in a post, a talk or a job advert.
How should you weigh the criteria against each other
Weigh them as gates, then as a score. Fit is a gate: if the company is outside your market, stop. Among companies that fit, rank by value and timing together.
An illustrative example: a payroll software seller sees two fitting firms. One is larger but has not changed anything in years. The other is smaller but just hired its first finance director and opened a second country. The second is the higher-value lead this quarter, because it is likely to act.
Which criteria look useful but mislead
Some criteria look precise but tell you little about buying. Job title keywords alone miss people with unusual titles; follower counts and website traffic say nothing about budget; and a company's size says nothing about whether the problem is felt.
Treat a single signal, such as one visit to your pricing page, as a reason to look closer, not as proof of intent.
Criteria for high-value B2B leads
Each criterion, what it tells you and where to check it.
| What it tells you | Where to check it | |
|---|---|---|
| Industry and business model | Whether you solve a problem they have | Company website, public filings |
| Company size and structure | Deal size and room to grow | Company pages, job adverts, public profiles |
| Role and seniority | Whether this person can act on the problem | Public professional profiles, team pages |
| Trigger event | Whether now is the time | News, posts, job adverts, launches |
| Current tools | Fit with your product and switching effort | Job adverts, case studies, integrations pages |
Base the weight of each criterion on your own won and lost deals.
Where Pebbles Ai fits
- CapabilityProspecting & customer recordsFind fresh leads takes your fit criteria as filters: role, location, seniority, industry, company size, HQ location, keywords and exclude keywords. The CRM, in Beta, also holds your ICPs and shows a score badge on records.
- CapabilityResearch & analysisAsk an assistant to check a company's public pages for trigger events before you rank it, with numbered citations to each source.
Common questions
How do you turn lead criteria into list filters?
Turn each fit rule into a search filter: industry, company size, location, role and seniority, plus exclude keywords for companies you never sell to. Keep value and timing as notes you check by hand before anyone is contacted.
How many criteria should you use?
Few enough that everyone applies them the same way. Most teams manage with a handful of fit rules, one or two value measures and a short list of triggers.
Should criteria change over time?
Yes. Review them against won and lost deals every quarter, and adjust when you enter a new market or launch a new product.
About this page. Written by the Pebbles Ai team for people who run sales, marketing and growth. Last updated .
