The seventeen checks
- Trigger sources
- Native interactive data-collection and qualification depth
- Contact context retained from capture
- Properties, tags, scores, segments, and audiences
- Branching and conditional logic
- Waits, timing, frequency controls, and exit conditions
- Personalization and dynamic content
- Native personalized multi-step email sequences
- Email authoring, sending controls, and reusable content
- Channel breadth
- Behavior signals
- Lead scoring and sales-readiness logic
- Native CRM continuity and sales handoff
- Analytics, attribution, and journey reporting
- Deliverability and governance controls
- AI workflow depth
- Time to launch and realistic total cost
Nurture Context Depth
| Level | Retained context | Decision value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Email address only | Supports basic identity and routing |
| 2 | Profile and company fields | Supports basic identity and routing |
| 3 | Declared needs, preferences, and use case | Can change message, recommendation, and route |
| 4 | Score, outcome, readiness, or recommended path | Can change message, recommendation, and route |
| 5 | Sequence state, email engagement, ongoing behavior, and sales state | Supports stateful nurture and sales handoff |
More context is useful only when it changes the message, route, timing, or next step. We do not reward unused data collection.
Evidence ladder
- Workflow tested: a dated hands-on path with captured evidence.
- Public demo observed: a dated observable product workflow.
- Documentation verified: current official documentation supports the claim.
- Vendor stated: a current official marketing statement without enough product detail for a stronger label.
- Not verified: no reliable current evidence.
Ranking logic
The overall order balances continuity, trigger fit, context retained, branching depth, handoff quality, evidence clarity, realistic cost, and time to launch. It is not a universal quality score. Every product receives a distinct best-for lane and a disqualifier.
Category boundary
Lead nurturing starts after initial interest and ends when the next useful sales or purchase action occurs. Cold outbound, newsletters, transactional email, support, and post-purchase retention are included only when they clarify a distinct pre-sales nurture workflow.