Lead Scoring: Don't throw away the low scores
Mike Wallen, CEO of The Lead Dogs, defines lead scoring as "a method of classifying a sales opportunity by assigning points to responses from qualifying questions based on the importance of each criteria (response) in determining a sales opportunity's overall value (score)." Once your leads are scored, you'll use that score to determine if you should transfer the lead to sales; nurture the lead further; or you might want to just discard the lead if the score is too low.
However, don't be so hasty to trash leads with low scores. Bill Babcock of Babcock & Jenkins details the 5 most common lead scoring mistakes, including throwing away leads that have a low score. His survey found that except for the truly unqualified leads (students and competitors, for example), 80 to 90% of the respondents within a year's time had bought a solution, be it from the client or from a competitor. So, those low scoring leads could very well translate into a sale for you, instead of your competitor, if you engage in a comprehensive lead nurturing program and give those leads the necessary time to ripen.