Sales lead distribution is a critical component of every successful organization, yet it is frequently neglected. It’s pretty simple to lose track of your leads, and you may sometimes take too long to answer their inquiries.

Lead distribution is an essential aspect of a business since it can either improve conversion rates or send potential consumers rushing to your competition. The main advantage of lead distribution is the faster response time, which is a problem solver because long waiting times are the main impediments to converting leads.

Lead Distribution Process and How Does It Work in Business?

It may seem obvious, but you can’t work with leads if there aren’t any to distribute. Therefore, any good lead distribution strategy begins with an efficient lead collection and delivery process, which is usually supplemented by automated lead generation tools such as Phonexa’s industry-leading performance marketing software and all-in-one marketing automation solution for calls, and leads, clicks, email, SMS, accounting, and more.

Lead Generation

Not everyone who visits your website is looking for your product or service. It’s even less probable that they’ll take the next major step and purchase from you the first time they see your website. Lead capture or lead generation, on the other hand, may help prevent your website traffic from going to waste.

Lead generation is the process through which a company allows a website visitor to submit personal information such as their name or email address in exchange for something in return. The visitor is classified as a lead when a company collects this information. It is the final stage in the lead generation process.

Knowing Who Your Leads Are

Collecting information from potential clients is the foundation for developing long-term relationships. It is also an excellent way to gain a better understanding of the individuals who are interested in your company’s brand. 

Here are some examples of how companies can gather this data:

• A new follower on one of your social media accounts
• Email list subscriber
• A frequent visitor of your platform or website
• A lead capture form on the website
  

When a lead is generated, it must be routed and given to the appropriate team with the assistance of a manager or supervisor. A manual assignment takes time and is unfeasible when your organization receives hundreds or even thousands of leads.

Lead Filters

Lead filters allow sales representatives or a lead distribution software to determine if a lead meets the buyer’s requirements. These criteria can be as simple as location, company, job title, and industry. A more sophisticated filter allows you to see how long a prospect or a lead has spent on a website or even the number of visits.

Knowing the level of engagement of potential leads makes it easier for you to distribute them further down the funnel. Likewise, this data allows you to determine if a lead has an intent to purchase.

Lead Forms

A lead capture form has at least one field in which a prospect may input their email address. An email address is the most important piece of information you require from a website visitor since it allows you to contact them later in a non-intrusive manner.

A lead capture page, like any other sort of landing page, has a single aim in mind: the call to action (CTA). A convincing call to action will entice a prospect to provide particular information in return for content, a service, or a product. The more information you require on a form, the more qualified the lead is, so it is critical to match the lead capture form to the offer’s goal.

Manual vs Automated Lead Distribution

There are several lead distribution methods available. However, there is a distinct difference between automated and manual distribution.

Pull-based lead generation or distribution, also known as manual distribution, is one of your options. It is up to your sales professionals to choose leads depending on their expertise or availability.

The leads will not be assigned to the team automatically by the system. Instead, your sales representatives ‘pull’ leads to your organization.

On the other hand, the automated distribution uses established lead routing criteria to route leads to the appropriate sales representative.

A lead routing rule is a criterion (or combination of criteria) that a company uses to determine which leads should be sent to which sales agent. A criterion can be a set of rules for the leads or it can employ established filters such as the availability of your agents, the language they speak, and the country from whence the leads originate.

Before you choose the lead distribution method for your business, it is crucial to weigh all ins and outs of the lead distribution types available.

Types of Manual and Automated Lead Distribution

Manual lead distribution delegates the job of selecting prospects from a shared database to your sales staff. In most cases, the software involved screens inbound leads discard unqualified leads, organizes qualified prospects, and sets them in an online pool where sales representatives can choose which leads to work.

◉ Blind Pull

When a lead is claimed by the team, the blind pull technique reveals information about them. This guarantees that all leads are handled evenly and minimizes funnel leakage. However, treating all leads equally may cause the sales cycle to lag significantly, resulting in decreased revenue.

◉ Shark Tank

A shark tank is a mechanism through which the system notifies sales reps anytime it receives lead information. Whoever responds to the notification first gets to connect with the lead. Unfortunately, leads are not spread evenly in this manner. Sales representatives that take too long to answer will miss out on the opportunity to complete the sale.

◉ Cherry Pick

This strategy enables your sales representatives to select prospects that match their expertise. For example, if your sales staff are skilled at sealing deals with marketing firms, they might choose leads from that area.

◉ Shotgun

The shotgun technique assigns leads to sales teams depending on their experience or product specialty. As a result, this method of lead distribution works effectively in a specialized sales team, allowing them to reduce the sales cycle.

Examples of Automated Lead Distribution Methods

When you set up guidelines for automatic lead distribution, the software will send leads to the sales representatives. After that, the software filters, categorizes, and allocates them depending on parameters such as the lead’s location or the agent’s skill level.

Here is the list of typical examples of automated lead distribution methods:

❖ Round Robin

An algorithm to distribute leads based on the availability of agents is called a round-robin. In this method, leads will not be routed to representatives who are already on another call or who are busy. This method decreases lead response time by routing the caller to the next available representative.

❖ Push-Based Routing

When sending leads to your sales staff, push-based lead routing favors high-performing leads. These sales representatives are expected to generate more leads and convert more customers. However, these sales representatives frequently get overwhelmed by the number of leads.

❖ Country of lead

Alternatively, you can send leads to sales reps in the same region if you have many sales reps in various parts of the globe. This type of routing also helps to eliminate the timezone issue, so your sales agents don’t have to stay up late to complete the sales cycle.

❖ Company size

Different sales tactics are required to successfully market your product or service to companies of various sizes.

The company size routing rule allows you to segment your sales efforts based on agents’ expertise in dealing with a specific size of potential clients. Leads will then be distributed as needed.

❖ Other routing rules

The beauty of automated lead distribution is that several alternatives are available to you. You may distribute leads based on the language they speak, the experience of your sales staff, and the business functions you want.

In essence, the ideal lead distribution software should be easily customizable to meet all of your lead distribution requirements. In addition, automated features should assist you with increasing your earnings while saving time during the lead distribution process.

One example of this type of software is Phonexa’s lead distribution suite which simplifies the entire distribution process. On top of that, it features high-quality lead filters and optimized forms that work with most of the popular lead funnels. Phonexa’s experts are ready to provide a demo and recommend you the optimal solution that suits your business.

Hybrid Lead Distribution

When using a hybrid lead distribution method, you push leads to a limited pool of sales agents based on your guidelines. The few agents who have access to that pool will then select the ones they wish to contact. It combines an automatic and a manual distribution mechanism.

Managers employ this method when they wish to limit the supply of leads and foster competition to increase reaction time.

Today, marketers are working hard to convert every click into a conversion since consumers have become increasingly tech-savvy. In 2020 alone, spending on digital advertising exceeded $378 billion. In addition, the competition to turn most of the clicks into prospects and then leads is fierce, and it’s only bound to become even more competitive by 2024.

Several obstacles will obstruct the sales process down the road. These challenges include leads from all over the world, varying interests and requirements, or simply the sheer volume of information your employees must sift through.

Why You Should Consider Automated Lead Distribution

Lead distribution software, instead of pull-based lead distribution, employs push-based lead routing principles. The whole idea of lead distribution is to match representatives with leads that they are best suited to handle – this cannot happen arbitrarily. And, unless you intend to spend a significant amount of time manually distributing the leads, you must have strong criteria in place for establishing which leads should go to certain sales reps.

The bigger your lead funnels become — and the more complex the lead distribution becomes — the harder it will be for your business to control. This is the primary source of headaches for people who manage the lead distribution process. With dedicated lead distribution software, all of this is no longer an issue.

As leads are gathered, the program qualifies, filters assign, or organizes them. Front-end lead capture forms are also available in some applications. An effective all-in-one, automated lead distribution software, will perform the following:

• Capture and qualify leads
• Distribute leads in accordance with the routing rules
• Inform your sales reps or agents
• Provide detailed reporting

As you can see, lead distribution software automates the whole lead distribution process, freeing up time for your sales personnel to focus on other tasks. Your sales representatives do not need to rely on criteria or sort through huge lists of prospects to call. Instead, potential leads are sent directly to them without wasting any time.

Costs of Manual vs Automated Lead Distribution

Each lead distribution software’s pricing can be separated into three categories, as is the case with many SaaS solutions.

• Basic ($25 – $100 per month)
  Most lead distribution software’s basic plans have only basic capabilities. As a result, you receive the essential lead distribution features required to minimize lead response time.
  
  It may be more appropriate for small businesses that don’t have as many leads to filter as opposed to larger corporations.
  
• Mid-Range ($100 – $500 per month)
  Mid-range plans often have a broader range of lead routing rules and can distribute more leads for you. Therefore, this option will benefit small to medium-sized businesses that deal with a broader range of leads regularly.
  
• Enterprise ($500 – custom pricing)
  Other, more sophisticated features that enhance your software’s lead distribution capability and more configurable components are often included in enterprise-level plans. Ultimately, users that purchase this plan are capable of dealing with a more significant number of leads.

Follow the Right Strategy and Make the Best Use of the Lead Distribution Process

Lead distribution becomes increasingly crucial when your sales force expands beyond five dedicated representatives. Lead distribution, when done correctly, is a key high-value element of your entire inbound marketing and sales plan.

As mentioned in this post today, there are two different kinds of lead distribution — automatic and manual — and each has its own strengths and weaknesses. So, for even better results, experiment with the one which aligns best with your organization for even higher efficiency. Of course, you also have the ability to combine them and utilize their strengths to improve your lead distribution process.

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