When you get a new lead, the clock starts ticking. Lead routing, or lead assignment, is how you decide who follows up with the lead and how quickly. Sometimes, it might look like sending every new inquiry to the next rep in line or the first rep available. Other times, it might mean matching leads by territory or experience. However you structure it, lead routing can help you build — or lose — momentum with leads.

Vincent Lee, a copywriter at Traction Complete, says there are many kinds of lead routing strategies, from round-robin routing to account-based routing. Many teams use a combination of strategies. In this issue of PromoPro Daily, we share his top tips to make your lead routing as efficient and productive as possible.

  1. Regularly update lead-assignment rules. Lee recommends using a visual flow builder. For example, if you’re targeting both small businesses and large enterprises, you might create rules that assign leads from smaller businesses to a sales team specializing in SMBs and enterprise leads to a team that handles complex and high-value deals. As your business evolves and expands into new industries, take time to revisit and adjust these rules to route leads to the most appropriate sales reps. 

  2. Implement a lead-scoring system. Each lead should have a value based on criteria like demographic information or engagement level. This info helps your team quickly identify and act on high-quality leads. Lee says each action and criterion has a point value, and the total score indicates the lead’s overall quality and likelihood of conversion. Leads with a higher score have higher priority and get more quickly routed to a sales rep, ensuring they receive immediate attention.

  3. Use a lead-response timer. How fast you engage with new leads directly correlates with conversion rates. Lee points out research that shows that engaging with leads within the first 5 minutes makes your conversion rates 8 times higher. Leads learn that you’re reliable, attentive and eager to solve their pain points. Lee says immediate responses also prevent hot leads from cooling off and exploring your competition.

  4. Enrich your lead data with multiple third-party data sources. Lee suggests integrating third-party data providers into your CRM to ensure you’re working with the most updated and accurate information about your leads and accounts. Keep in mind, though, that these data providers may sometimes deliver conflicting information, especially if you’re using multiple providers.

  5. Use advanced automation. Manually routing leads becomes more difficult as your business grows. Lee says the complexity of who should receive which lead, based on account ownership, product interest or geography, quickly outgrows what spreadsheets or basic rules can handle. That’s why he recommends using flexible routing systems that can adapt as you grow.

When it comes to lead routing, speed is important but precision is what really counts. Remember to regularly revisit and adjust your lead-routing rules. Be thoughtful with your lead-scoring system and explore different routing software that can help you move faster. You might need to make a few changes to your current system, but the result is a sales team what converts more without so much scrambling behind the scenes.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Vincent Lee is a technical copywriter at Traction Complete.