
5 Tips for Using People’s Names Gracefully
It’s a good idea to develop rapport by addressing people by name when you call them. There are pitfalls, however.
So new leads are flowing into your sales pipeline and generating more revenue for your business. But where will they go from there?
Of course, incoming leads should be assigned to your sales reps. But if your sales organization struggles to do so fairly and transparently, you have a big problem.
The solution? Set up an epic lead distribution system across your sales team — to help build a successful sales organization and assign new leads fairly to your sales team.
But with many available lead routing options, how can you set up an effective system that’s fair, transparent, and simple enough for your entire sales team?
This post will help you understand the lead distribution system, how it works, and how to set up a system that helps drive more sales revenue for your sales reps.
It’s the process of assigning new leads (or potential customers) to your sales team. Assigning incoming leads to the right sales reps can be manual or automatic (using dedicated automation software).
Lead distribution, which is part of the early stage of the lead management process, should assign leads relatively to all your sales team. But most importantly, it should be simple and transparent enough to explain to your entire team.
You need new inbound leads — but not just any leads, qualified leads. So, once you generate leads, you need to qualify the leads through a lead qualification process. That’s how you determine which leads are worth pursuing and can save you time and money.
Once you have qualified leads, ensure to distribute them to individual sales reps on your team. That way, each team member will see which qualified leads they need to keep tabs on and focus on closing more sales.
Now you might be wondering: Which is the best lead distribution method?
There are two methods of assigning and distributing new leads to your sales team:
You can manually assign new leads to your sales team by either picking leads from a lead pool or through a manual assignment process. A brief look at both methods:
The manual method is easy to use, especially when dealing with a low number of leads. But if your sales revenues and team size grow, it becomes difficult and more disorganized to use the manual method.
If manually assigning leads takes more than 20% of your time every week, then it’s time to automate the lead distribution process among your sales reps.
Here are three methods for automated routing:
Creating a simple, automated lead distribution process is easier said than done. Only some people can do it effectively. Here’s a six-step guide to help you set up:
How are new leads coming into your sales pipeline? Find out and then start from there.
Once you know how new incoming leads end up inside your CRM, it’s easier to build automation that’ll pipe them to your sales team.
Here are simple ways you can capture new inbound leads:
So, what's your critical inbound lead capture point? Identifying the journey of how new leads are captured up to when your sales team contacts them will help you start building automation that will bring in more new leads to your sales reps.
Once you optimize your lead capture method, move to the second step.
You want to assign only qualified leads to your sales team. So set up a simple qualification automated process before leads get routed. Qualification helps you assign new inbound leads to your sales reps that aren’t a waste of time.
Here are ways you can set up a qualification process:
Once you have qualified leads, figure out a way to pipe them to your sales team.
Knowing your sales team will help you pick the best lead distribution method.
Are you dealing with a large multi-disciplinary sales team? Divide them into core groups, and then use lead routing to route incoming leads to your sales reps.
But if you're managing a small startup sales team, begin with the round-robin lead assignment process. It’s the best place to start with automation.
The point is, talk to your sales team. Listen to them and be open to their ideas. Then, ask for specific feedback on how they’d like to see new inbound leads assigned to them. There’s no better way of building a transparent and straightforward lead routing system.
There are many different lead capture and assignment tools in the market today. The same is true for lead distribution software options. But did you know you can also assign and distribute new leads using tools you already have?
A good case in point includes, but is not limited to:
This simple stack can help you assign and distribute new leads to your sales reps.
Before you try ways of assigning new leads to your sales team or setting up a round-robin lead assignment routing system, make sure to test your lead routing rules. It helps you know everything works correctly.
And remember to involve your sales team while testing the routing rules. Consider their opinions and ask for feedback on how they’d like incoming leads assigned to them. Keep testing until you're sure about the automation process.
New inbound leads getting piped into your team is just half the journey. You also need to track and measure the results of your automated lead distribution process.
Start lead tracking early-stage activity metrics in your distribution system, and do it consistently. You’ll soon get early warning signs that something is wrong, such as:
Measure each of these early-stage interactions consistently across your sales team. If there’s a drop in a single metric, find out if the distribution system is at fault. Tracking these metrics helps you see where your distribution strategy needs adjusting.
Ensure the process for assigning and distributing new leads to your sales teams runs like clockwork. Then use it to motivate your sales teams. But how exactly do you keep your lead distribution system running smoothly?
Keep the process simple. Make a deliberate effort to maintain simplicity while assigning and distributing new inbound leads to your sales reps. If you can't describe your lead assignment process in brief and short sentences, it's most likely complex.
Keep the lead distribution process fair and transparent. Want to know why most salespeople leave large organizations? You guessed it. A clear and transparent process is a surefire way to attract and retain top sales talent in your organization.
Lastly, document your lead distribution process. Documentation is key to improving ways of distributing new leads to your sales team. So, document every step in the process, and do so alongside your team. That way, you can improve and control the process.
It’s a good idea to develop rapport by addressing people by name when you call them. There are pitfalls, however.
You’ve heard it too: cold calling is dead. But don’t you believe it! It’s just a catchy phrase used to attract attention.
It's much easier to send an email than to call someone — that's why ‘cold calling 2.0’ is getting such hype. It sounds like it's too good to be true — and it is.
I'm an entrepreneur and web developer. I've built or helped build a handful of startups.
I strongly believe in dedicated software that solves one task, but solves it really well. During my experience as an internet entrepreneur, I never found that software for cold calling, so that's why I decided to build Myphoner.
I'm very proud of what Myphoner has become, and I'm dedicated to doing everything I can to make it stay a success. That's why I greet all new customers personally and always read and reply to the feedback I get.
Simple lead tracking solution through a unique cold calling workflow.