Hubspot Scoring property vs Value property

[ASchendl]

So I'm running into this problem that the scoring property provided by Hubspot runs into its limitations again and again. Am I crazy or is it easier to just use a normal value property that I increase and decrease via the Workflow function? The way I see it, the scoring criteria acts as "mini workflow" with limited functionality.

The limit for workflows is higher, the reporting works the same and I have all the functionalities of re-enrollment and refined triggers.

Is there any benefit whatsoever in using a Scoring property over a Value property?

Would love everybody's thoughts on this.

[ASchendl]

Thank you @karstenkoehler!

You have helped me a lot. 🙂

I will play around with counting properties for additional form downloads and see how much i can minimize the potential for human error in general.

best regards! 

[karstenkoehler]

Hi @ASchendl,

Which limitation exactly are you referring to?

One downside to workflows which increase/decrease values is that fill up the activity timeline on the contact record. Depending on what exactly you want to do, they might offer more flexibility. An issue with workflows is that they don't update and check a contact in real-time. A workflow will execute calculations but if there are issues with enrollment or HubSpot has workflow issues, then the end result might be incorect. A scoring property will always run the calculation again and again and again and will always show a real-time result.

Best regards!

[ASchendl]

Limitations i've run into so far:

You can't add more than 100 Scoring Criteria.

You can't score an additional download from the same form.

You can't reset scoring completely.

You can't reset scoring to a certain value.

You can't control which contacts get updated when criteria are adjusted.

I am sure there is more.

All of these seem to be very easily solvable by just using workflows with a numerical value property instead of the lead scoring property.

AFAIK scoring doesn't need to be checked continuously, as most scoring is based on events like form submissions, or on criteria like company size. These can easily be triggered at the exact points needed via workflows with allowed re-enrollment.

It's true that it would definitely clog up the activity timeline. Most user would have to turn "show workflow activity" off in their contact activity feed.

I won't count "if there are issues, there are issues" as an argument.

Are there any other negatives you can think of?

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @ASchendl,

Workflows have issues 1-2 times a year, see the HubSpot status page. These will not automatically resolve – with scoring properties, they will. There is a huge differences in how scoring properties and workflows work. Scoring properties will check all criteria in real-time. Workflows won't. (I'm actually using scoring properties for other purposes due to that, as I know that they'll "survive" during outages.)

Personally, this is a big one for me. Workflows are reliant on correct settings (especially enrollment/re-enrollment) and how they're managed. It would be possible to choose settings which result in an incorrect manual number property score updated by workflows. It's not possible to do this with a scoring property.

Concerncing a clogged timeline; workflow troubleshooting in general will become a bit more annoying as you can't unselect specific types of workflows, just all.

Regarding your points:

"You can't add more than 100 Scoring Criteria." – correct. In some cases, lists or number properties can be used to bypass this.

"You can't score an additional download from the same form." – This can be achieved with a counting property, using a workflow.

"You can't reset scoring completely." – correct. I personally don't mind this at all. I usually deduct enough points to push a contact below 0 which yields the same result.

"You can't reset scoring to a certain value." – correct, this could be solved by using workflows and number properties.

"You can't control which contacts get updated when criteria are adjusted." – correct.

If all of the above are important for you, then a workflow solution is indeed the way to go. If you feel comfortable in setting up these workflows and don't see a risk of human error, I'd say go for it.

Big benefit: You'll see why a score is what it is by looking at the property history and workflow actions. (Another downside of the scoring properties.)

Best regards!