How We Score Leads for Values Alignment

Like any startup, we have way more opportunities than time and some of those opportunities don’t always align with with our ethos.

At Dopamine Labs we build tools to help app publishers of all sizes boost engagement, retention, and revenue inside their products using AI and neuroscience. Our suite of behavioral and persuasive technology tools are designed to shape human behavior by rewarding individual users for completing set actions. With tools this powerful it is not uncommon for companies to try and use them for nefarious means. So when we are validating a sales opportunity we ‘score’ it to get a quick and dirty idea if it is worth pursuing. Our sales scoring breaks down into two categories: Values Alignment & Business Validation.

VALUES ALIGNMENT

When we score for values alignment we aim to determine whether or not a customer has a product making a positive and lasting impression on the user. Simply, is time spent on the platform inherently good for the user or a mindless distraction?

First Question
What is their products core value or premise?
0 — Their product is, at best, a distraction.
1 — Their product is is about the quotidian of life.
2 — Their product clearly elevates and expands the human condition.

Second Question
Are the actions that drive value for the publisher the same actions that drive value for the user?
0 — No! In fact, when the publisher wins, the users loses. A lot of games and gambling apps fall into this category.
1 — Sort of. The publisher provides a lot of functionality, and they’d be happy if the user used it a lot, but there’s not a simple story going from the users action, to the publishers bottom line. (a flashlight app, a note taking app)
2 — Yes! When the user preforms an action the user and the developer see a direct gain. (Example: A healthcare app that gets compensated when a user takes their meds regularly; a productivity app that sells/markets their product on its ability to increase productivity; an education app that only gets paid if a student completes a course; etc)

Third Question
Is an increase in engagement a boost to the publisher, the customer, or neither?
0- Neither the publisher nor the user win if there is a boost in engagement
1- Only the publisher wins if the user becomes more engaged in the product
2- Both parties win if there is any increase in engagement

Process
Add up the leads score on these three questions.
0–2: Politely hang up, and never talk to that person again.
3–4: Normal sales criteria apply.
5–6: Expedite their process through the sales funnel. For these leads, we’re willing to overlook some normal lead weakness (low user count, weak monetization model, low technical ability, etc) to help get them integrated.

BUSINESS VALIDATION

Like any inside sales organization, we also scores our sales leads from a business/economic prospective. Is the customers product capable of seeing and paying for a ROI after integrating with the Dopamine API?

Does the customer have enough users for Dopamine to learn efficiently?
0 — Their product is pre launch or has less than 10000 MAUs
1 — Their product has 50k to 1M MAUs
2 — Their product has over 1M MAUs or user are elite profferers (pro athletes, special forces, etc)

Does the customer have a clear monetization policy in place?
0 — Their product has no monetization policy
1 — Their product monetizes on one time purchases or limited upgrades
2 — Their product has a monetization policy directly correlated to engagement and retention

Does the customer have a product that encourages a daily behavior?
The more frequent the action is, the easier it is for Dopamine to increase it.
0 — Their product has an in frequent 1–3 times a week action
1 — Their product has a daily action
2 — Their product has multiple daily and session based actions

Process
Add up the leads score on these three questions.
0–2: Customer is low priority candidate in the low touch self serve tier
3–4: Customer is given full access to the team
5–6: Expedite through the integration process with a full white glove service

Like any sales scoring process, making a scoring and validation process is almost as important as having a scoring and validation process. The process clarifies what’s important and codifies value for your team, even if you’re just a team of one.

Check out the updated version of this post on our blog.

Boundless Mind is currently growing it’s team. If you’d like to help build the future of behavioral technology please send us a note to team[at]boundless[dot]ai