# LinkedIn lead scoring: filter leads before outreach to lift reply rates Canonical URL: https://pumpgtm.com/blog/linkedin-lead-scoring-before-outreach [← All guides](/blog) Lead scoring LinkedIn outreach # Why founders get 0.4% reply rates, and how filtering 160 leads down to 148 fixes it Fifteen inboxes, an Apollo list and 5,000 generic emails produce a 0.4% reply rate. Scoring leads on real-time activity and skipping anyone under 60 is what changes it. Here is the 48-second check. Namanyay Goel · September 12, 2026 · 3 min read On this page - [1. The 12 skipped leads](#1-the-12-skipped-leads) - [2. Scoring leads on real-time activity](#2-scoring-leads-on-real-time-activity) - [3. Why this changes reply rates](#3-why-this-changes-reply-rates) - [The last 7 days](#the-last-7-days) - [Questions founders ask about lead scoring](#questions-founders-ask-about-lead-scoring) Founders usually run outbound by sending as many messages as possible. It does not work. - They set up 15 inboxes. - Download a list from Apollo. - Send 5,000 generic emails. - End up with a 0.4% reply rate. It is common sense, but reply rates improve when you filter the list first. This post expands a [thread on X](https://x.com/NamanyayG/status/2097017096232440287) with a 48-second video of our engine checking 160 Sales Navigator leads and skipping the low-value ones before any message goes out. ## 1. The 12 skipped leads Of 160 leads imported from Sales Navigator, 12 were dropped before outreach. Anyone without recent posts, active hiring, or the right stack gets skipped. They are not bad people, they are just not showing a signal that they care about the problem this week. ## 2. Scoring leads on real-time activity Each lead is scored on live signals: hiring posts, profile recency, engagement, stack. If someone scores under 60, no message gets sent. The remaining 148 are queued for the founder to review before anyone is enrolled, so the list you approve is the list that gets messaged. ## 3. Why this changes reply rates Reaching out to people while they are actively showing relevant signals gets actual replies instead of getting your account restricted or your messages sent to spam. The same message to an unfiltered list reads as noise. To a filtered list it reads as timing. ## The last 7 days Metric Result Invites sent 546 Accepted 356 (68% connection rate) Qualified replies 98 Enterprise demo meetings booked 38 Scoring is step two of the [4-step LinkedIn outbound playbook](/blog/linkedin-outbound-playbook-enterprise-meetings). We packaged the whole setup into [PumpGTM](/), which runs the check on every import and only pushes leads that pass into the [multi-touch sequence](/blog/multi-touch-linkedin-outreach-review) from your own account. ## Questions founders ask about lead scoring What is lead scoring for LinkedIn outreach? Giving every prospect a number based on live activity, such as recent posts, active hiring and stack fit, then only messaging people above a threshold. It replaces the assumption that everyone on a list is worth a message. What score threshold should I use? We skip anyone under 60 out of 100. The exact number matters less than having one and applying it before outreach rather than after a week of silence. Why does a smaller list get more replies? Because the people left on it are showing a signal right now. Timing is the largest single factor in reply rate, and a filtered list is a list of good timing. Does filtering leads protect my LinkedIn account? Yes. Fewer, better-targeted invites mean higher acceptance, and high acceptance is what keeps LinkedIn from flagging the account as spammy. [Original source](https://x.com/NamanyayG/status/2097017096232440287) · 2026-09-07 · Adapted and expanded for PumpGTM [Namanyay Goel](https://nmn.gl/) · Founder, PumpGTM Founder of PumpGTM (YC). Writes about founder-led GTM, LinkedIn outbound, and the systems behind it. [X](https://x.com/NamanyayG)[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/namanyayg/) On this page - [1. The 12 skipped leads](#1-the-12-skipped-leads) - [2. Scoring leads on real-time activity](#2-scoring-leads-on-real-time-activity) - [3. Why this changes reply rates](#3-why-this-changes-reply-rates) - [The last 7 days](#the-last-7-days) - [Questions founders ask about lead scoring](#questions-founders-ask-about-lead-scoring) Share Founders doing this with PumpGTM [Browzer Browzer reaches DevRel leaders with outreach that reads like Rahul wrote it](/customers/browzer)[Workers.io Workers.io tests its message with real engineering leaders before the whole team joins](/customers/workers-io)[Supermemory Supermemory put founder-led LinkedIn outreach on autopilot](/customers/supermemory) ## Your first batch of buyers goes out this week. Give us your website. PumpGTM finds the people who have this problem right now, you approve the list, and connection requests start from your own LinkedIn. ## More guides [### How AI runs go-to-market: the closed-loop GTM engine behind 10+ YC companies AI moved from assistant beside the workflow to operator inside the loop. The architecture: company knowledge, live GTM records, defined workflows, tools, human approval, and one rule about structured access first. 4 min read](/blog/ai-gtm-engine-closed-loop-system)[### The 4-step LinkedIn outbound playbook that books 30+ enterprise meetings a week with zero sales reps The exact playbook we run for 10+ YC companies: live hiring signals instead of static lists, a 48-hour warm-up, five objection branches, and the 10% where automation takes over. 5 min read](/blog/linkedin-outbound-playbook-enterprise-meetings)