A, B and C lead grades: who to email first
How to score leads on two axes: how much the business needs your service and how reachable it is. What A, B and C grades mean and how to work with each.
When you have hundreds of contacts, emailing all of them in a row is inefficient. Start with the ones who need your service most and are easiest to reach. That's what A, B and C grades are for. Below is the logic you can apply by hand, and how it works in Vibe Hunters.
Two axes
Each lead is scored on two questions:
- Fit: does the business need your service? Niche, size, rating and reviews, state of the website, whether it runs ads and analytics.
- Reachability: can you actually reach it? A working email (personal or generic), phone, social profiles.
A business can fit perfectly and have no contact at all. Or it has contacts but doesn't need what you sell. Neither is the best place to start.
What the grades mean
In Vibe Hunters every lead gets a score from 0 to 100, the sum of Fit and Reachability.
| Grade | Condition | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A | 60+ points, both axes at least 25, email confirmed by verification | Email first, most personally |
| B | 40+ points | The bulk of your campaign |
| C | under 40 points or no way to get in touch | Last; better by phone or messenger |
One detail matters: an A is given only when the email passed an SMTP check. An email to an address that doesn't exist bounces and hurts your inbox's reputation, so the top grade requires confidence that the email will arrive.
Fit signals worth counting
- A niche with a marketing budget: clinics, dentists, real estate, education, B2B services.
- Rating and reviews. A 4.5-star business with a hundred reviews has customers and money.
- Website. No website, a broken one or no mobile version: a signal and a reason to write.
- Ads and analytics. No tracking pixel or analytics on the site: an agency has something to offer.
- Multiple locations. Several branches mean a bigger budget.
Reachability signals
- An email on the company's own domain (
anna@clinic.com) beats a free one; a personal address beatsinfo@. - A verified address is more reliable than an unchecked one.
- Phone and social profiles give you a backup channel if the email goes unanswered.
How to work with the grades
- Start with A. Write most personally: mention the rating, the website, a specific problem.
- Then B. Variables and spintax help keep emails varied without manual work.
- Leave C for later. Or try another channel: a call, Instagram, WhatsApp.
Track the reply rate for each grade separately. If B replies as well as A, you can widen your audience with confidence. Which numbers to watch is covered in how to measure cold email results.
FAQ
Should I email C-grade leads?
Yes, but last and with different copy. They're often businesses without a working email or website: call them or message them instead.
Why did a lead with a high score get B and not A?
In Vibe Hunters only leads whose email passed the SMTP check get an A. If the address isn't verified yet or the server doesn't answer, the lead stays B even with a high score.