Lead routing

Lead routing describes the transferring of qualified leads to sales. This changes responsibility from the marketing department to the sales department. Lead routing also ensures that leads are forwarded to the appropriate sales people. With suitable software, this process can be automated.

The term routing refers to controlling or maintaining data movement. According to the definition of lead routing, lead routing is about controlling the contact data in the last phase of the lead management process, i.e. controlling the contact data in one direction: from the sales department to a successful transaction. Basically, lead routing describes the content being passed from the marketing department to the sales department.

In the B2B area (where great importance is attached to personal contact), the process follows a classic pattern: When lead nurturing is complete and the maturity (defined by lead routing) has been reached, the lead is then passed on to the appropriate sales representative. They take the contact on and are responsible for further communication with them. The goal is clear: to achieve a successful transaction and to deliver products and services to the customer in a profitable way.

The takeaways from the lead scoring process are essential to complete the lead management process. It is only through clear evaluation that it is possible to estimate how interesting a lead is for the respective sales target – and whether the lead is ready for an offer at all. It’s not just the user-related data or the user profile that play an important role, but also the activity and reactions towards measures that have been tried. All this counts towards the lead routing process.

A lead scoring model evaluates each prospective customer and specifies their priority in the lead routing process. It also defines the exact status in the customer journey. When the lead is at the point where they’re ready to make a decision a critical phase begins: You shouldn’t wait too long before implementing specific measures and you must make personal contact at the right time. The sales representative has everything they need: all essential information and analyses so that they can adapt their sales strategy accordingly.

Even if finalizing the lead management process has been mentioned: it is by no means completed. Lead management, and especially lead nurturing models and lead scoring models, are constantly developing. It is a continuous process.

Controlling and analyzing play a central role here; they show where the purchasing process can be improved and where you can use better methods to win over potential customers. This creates a marketing automation machine, which is based on modern lead management tools.

With programs such as HubSpot, Pipedrive, or Teamgate, you can organize all your actions in a clear way. By allowing all data from different channels to enter into a central platform, you can segment leads more easily and make them accessible to both departments – marketing and sales. It is also easier to define unique lead routing rules.

The big challenge remains to find the optimal balance between automation and personalization. If you then find the right approach for the target group and the right content for the campaign design, the lead management strategy is sorted. Companies are therefore able to establish successful business relationships and to maintain contact with new and existing customers on a sustained basis.