Do you know what the main methods of lead distribution are?
The opportunity to convert a lead into a customer only begins when assigned to a sales representative. The methods of lead distribution help to company chooses is the tip of the iceberg, and it makes a significant difference in their contact and conversion rates.
The first big difference that comes to mind is the one that separates manual distribution processes from automatic ones. Although the tradition of distributing leads “by hand” to the members of their team (based on an analysis of who is the best candidate to work each opportunity) is still reasonably widespread among business leaders, there are many advantages that they invite to think about a change in the procedure.
Without going any further, and beyond the companies that still use old methodologies such as the use of paper files or handwritten notes, some slightly more technological ones already use email to distribute leads among sellers, and others with more sophisticated sales teams have smart sales processes or CRM systems to quickly deliver leads to reps on the prowl and ready to go!
Automate your Lead Distribution
Based on the distribution criteria you choose and the size and structure of your sales team, your prospects can be assigned to your commercial representatives through a fixed distribution method, in which each lead can only be delivered to a single specialized resource that meets selected criteria, or by using a variable distribution, in which more than one representative qualifies to work with a given type of potential client.
Now, within this last option, there is a subgroup of automatic lead distribution procedures that you can use regardless of the criteria you define to determine the suitability of the seller: push, pull, and the so-called “shotgun,” or shotgun.
Push distribution
In this case, the smart system or sales platform you use “pushes” incoming leads to a row of reps. A possible application example would be assigning points with some predefined characteristics to a specific set of specialized vendors who can respond. Here there are two possible techniques can be distinguished:
Round Robin:
Distribute leads uniformly, systematically, and orderly among your chosen sales representatives. This procedure is ideal when you’re looking to deal as if they were cards in a board game, several leads among a group of equally fair and evenly qualified sellers.
Performance-Based:
Assign leads according to the seller’s (predefined) performance level. Advice! Take advantage of this tactic to reward the best of your team with more and better leads.
Pull distribution
As opposed to the push method, the sales reps actively request or take leads from a lead pool when they are ready to work. In this sense, it is always essential that you have an additional set of potential customers (already contacted or not so qualified) to whom your salespeople can turn when the flow of new leads decreases. Here, too, a distinction of types is necessary:
- Blindly: Sellers demand that leads be assigned to them without access to the full listing of choice. Even though reps would not choose to break the ice with these cold leads, it is an excellent alternative to avoid being excluded.
- Selectively preview or choose: Business reps view the list of potential leads and choose those they feel are most likely to convert. Control will be in their hands, and they will be the ones who select the ones that are best for them.
Shotgun or Shotgun method
Under this system, all representatives are notified when a new lead enters the scene, and the first to respond is the one who obtains the prospect. This strategy is usually useful for boiling points that need an immediate response; that is, from the one available to take it at that time.
One for all and all for one
Just as responding to many leads within the first few minutes results in higher contact rates and better conversion rates, did you know that automatic lead distribution methods improve the percentage of leads contacted in the first few minutes by 91%? And did you imagine that the conversion results increase by 107% when you combine the multiple techniques such as pull, push, and shotgun?