Inbound leads arrive faster than reps can qualify them, and the web form in front of those leads collects contact fields without ever asking a qualifying question.

Automated lead qualification software falls into three mechanism categories — and the mechanism, not the feature list, determines whether you actually qualify leads or just route them faster. Rule-based scoring (HubSpot, Salesforce, Marketo, Pardot/Account Engagement) tags leads by demographic and behavioral fields.