Speed to lead matters. Studies show you're 7x more likely to qualify a lead if you respond within an hour vs. waiting 24 hours.
But when leads sit in a form submission queue until someone notices, hours pass. Sometimes days.
Automated lead routing fixes this. New leads hit the right person's inbox in seconds, not hours.
What Lead Routing Actually Does
When a new lead comes in (from your website, ads, referral, etc.), the system automatically:
- Captures the lead information
- Evaluates routing rules (territory, deal size, product interest, etc.)
- Assigns to the appropriate salesperson
- Notifies that person immediately
- Logs everything to your CRM
All within seconds of form submission.
Common Routing Rules
By Territory
Route leads based on geographic location. Northeast goes to Rep A, Southwest goes to Rep B.
By Company Size
Enterprise leads (500+ employees) go to senior reps. SMB leads go to the general queue.
By Product Interest
Leads interested in Product A go to the Product A specialist.
By Lead Source
Referral leads get priority routing. Cold leads go to the SDR team.
Round Robin
Distribute evenly across the team. Rep A gets one, then Rep B, then Rep C, repeat.
Weighted Distribution
Top performers get more leads. New reps get fewer until they ramp up.
The Technical Setup
Step 1: Capture leads in one place
All lead sources (website, ads, referrals) should flow to a central system. Usually your CRM, but can be a spreadsheet or database.
Step 2: Define routing rules
Document exactly how leads should be assigned. Be specific. "Big deals go to senior reps" isn't specific. "$50K+ annual value goes to Tier 1 reps" is.
Step 3: Build the automation
Connect your lead sources to your routing logic. When a lead comes in, evaluate the rules and assign accordingly.
Step 4: Set up notifications
Email, Slack, SMS - whatever gets your reps' attention fastest. Include the lead details so they can respond immediately.
Step 5: Handle edge cases
What if no rep matches? What if the assigned rep is on vacation? Build fallback logic.
What Changes
Response time drops dramatically. From hours to minutes.
No leads fall through cracks. Every lead gets assigned to someone.
Fair distribution. No more reps cherry-picking the best leads.
Better data. You know exactly how leads are being handled.
When to Automate Lead Routing
- You have more than 2-3 salespeople
- Leads are sitting unworked for hours
- You're manually assigning leads and it's taking time
- Distribution across the team is uneven
- You can't track who got which leads
If any of these sound familiar, lead routing automation would help.
I build lead routing systems for sales teams. If leads are slipping through the cracks, book a call and we'll figure out the right solution.