Not all sales opportunities deserve your attention, but most CRMs treat them like they do.
Sales teams waste a huge amount of time manually reviewing deals, relying on gut feel, or chasing opportunities that were never a good fit to begin with. Deal Scoring in Pipedrive is designed to solve exactly that problem.
In this guide, we’ll walk through what deal scoring is, how it works in Pipedrive, and how we actually use it in our own business to decide when to persist, and when to move on.
What Is Deal Scoring in Pipedrive?
Deal scoring is a way to automatically rank your deals based on predefined criteria, so you can quickly see which opportunities are worth focusing on.
Instead of:
- Clicking into deals one by one
- Reading through notes and emails
- Relying on instinct or incomplete information
Deal scoring gives each deal a numerical score out of 100, based on how closely it matches your definition of a “good” deal.
The higher the score, the more attention it deserves.
When Deal Scoring Is Actually Useful
Deal scoring is most useful when:
- You have a busy pipeline
- Multiple team members are following up on deals
- Not all deals are equal in value, quality, or likelihood to close
In the video, we show how deal scoring helps:
- Cut through pipeline noise
- Reduce time spent on low-quality opportunities
- Give the team confidence in when to persist and when to walk away
It’s quick to set up, immediately useful, and becomes more powerful as you refine it over time.
A Quick Note on Plans and Availability
Deal scoring is a premium feature in Pipedrive.
If you’re on the Light or Growth plan, you’ll need to upgrade to use it.
If you’re new to Pipedrive, you can request a quote and purchase licenses through us, which also gives you access to complimentary support.
How Deal Scoring Works (Important Constraints)
Before setting anything up, there are two key things to understand:
- Deal scoring is set up per pipeline
You can’t apply one scoring model across multiple pipelines at once. - Scoring is rule-based
Each deal earns or loses points based on whether it meets certain criteria.
This means your scoring logic should reflect how that specific pipeline works — not your entire business at once.
Setting Up Deal Scoring in Pipedrive
You’ll find Deal Scoring in the Scores section of the Pipedrive sidebar.
To create a scoring set:
- Choose the pipeline you want to score
- Name the scoring set and add a description
- Start defining your scoring rules
In the video, we create a scoring set for a Pipedrive subscriptions pipeline, but the same structure applies to any sales process.
Understanding Scoring Rules: Positive, Neutral, and Negative
Pipedrive supports three types of scoring rules:
Highly Positive Scores (+25 points)
These represent strong buying signals or high-quality indicators.
Examples shown in the video include:
- Highly engaged deals (recent emails and activities, with a follow-up scheduled)
- Deals sourced from client referrals
- Higher-value deals (e.g. $5,000+)
Multiple highly positive rules can apply to the same deal, meaning a single opportunity can earn 50 points or more if it ticks several boxes.
Slightly Positive Scores (+10 points)
These indicate deals that are still active, but cooling off.
For example:
- Communication happened within the last month
- Activity exists, but engagement isn’t as strong as before
These deals aren’t urgent, but they’re not dead either.
Negative Scores (–10 points)
Negative scores help you identify deals that probably shouldn’t be prioritised.
Examples from the video:
- Very low-value deals (e.g. $1,000 or less)
- Deals with warning signs or “bad vibe” labels
- Prospects who haven’t replied despite multiple follow-ups
Negative scoring is crucial, it prevents your team from spending disproportionate time on opportunities that are unlikely to convert.
Testing Your Scoring Logic
Before activating your scoring rules, Pipedrive lets you test them against real deals.
This step is important.
In the video, we recommend:
- Testing a deal you believe is high quality
- Testing a deal you know is low quality
This helps confirm:
- Points are being applied correctly
- Your logic matches how your team actually sells
Once you’re confident, make sure to activate the scoring set, otherwise it won’t work.
Viewing and Using Deal Scores
Once scoring is active:
- Each deal displays its score in the summary view
- You can click the eye icon to see exactly how points were awarded
You can also:
- Show deal scores directly on pipeline cards
- Create filters like “Score ≥ 50”
- Instantly surface your best opportunities
This is where deal scoring really pays off, it turns prioritisation into a simple visual decision.
How We Use Deal Scoring in Our Own Business
We use deal scoring across different pipelines, including:
- Pipedrive subscriptions
- Consulting and implementation deals
Some examples of what we score highly:
- Client referrals and previous customers
- Higher-value opportunities
- Retainer deals (because recurring revenue matters more to us)
- Deals that have reached later pipeline stages
We also score deals negatively when:
- The value is too low
- Engagement has stalled
- The opportunity isn’t a good fit
Importantly, these rules aren’t static. As the feature is still relatively new, we’re constantly tweaking and refining based on results.
When to Persist, and When to Walk Away
One of the biggest benefits of deal scoring is clarity.
Instead of asking:
“Should I keep following up on this deal?”
You can look at the score and decide:
- High score → persist
- Low score → move on
That doesn’t mean every high-scoring deal will close, but it does mean your time and energy are being spent in the right places.
Final Thoughts
Deal scoring in Pipedrive can be set up in under ten minutes, but it can fundamentally change how your team works a pipeline.
It removes guesswork, creates consistency, and helps everyone focus on what actually matters.
If you feel like you’re only using a fraction of what Pipedrive can do, start with deal scoring, and then build from there.
👉 If you’d like help reviewing or optimising your Pipedrive setup, book an intro call with us. We’ll start with a full audit and show you exactly where you can get more value from your CRM.