If you are in Leadgen business, then you know the criticality and central nature of lead distribution rules and strategies for the success of the business. Crafting suitable strategies, pricing options and prioritizing customers are important facets of everyday life for a lead seller.

Determination of Priority Criteria

Lead Distribution can be carried out based on several priority criteria, such as:

• Pricing
• Volume
• Loyalty of the Customer
• Lead Availability (Demand and Supply)
• Lead Profile Filters (as such Geography, Demography, Services, Source, etc.)

When you are dealing with a number of customers and large volume of leads, it will not be easy to apply rules manually and determine the priority.

Lead Distribution Software

Employing a suitable Lead Distribution Software will help automating the lead distribution process to a great extent. However, note that it is not a panacea for all ills. Still considerable thoughts and efforts are to be invested in crafting the distribution rules and strategies.

For example, as a lead seller, you can assign a higher priority for a customer based on their loyalty and past business.

If you are in real time lead distribution business, it becomes all the more difficult. When a new lead comes in from a lead generation source, a decision has to be made in seconds. Obviously, price offered by a lead buyer alone may not be a suitable criterion. For example, a buyer who intends to purchase a small volume of leads might offer a high price; however your long term buyer may be offering a slightly lower price, but the volume may be much higher.

Lead Distribution Rules

Depending on your business and nature of operations, following rules can be used to distribute the leads:

• Based on Exclusivity:

• Exclusive Leads (Lead will be sold to ONE exclusive buyer)
• Semi-Exclusive Leads (Lead will be sold to TWO semi-exclusive buyers)
• Non-Exclusive Leads (Lead will be sold to multiple non-exclusive buyers, subject to Maximum Number of Times a Lead can be sold)
• None (Exclusivity not specified – Can be sold to one or more buyers based on the demand)

• Based on Round Robin Method
• Based on Price Offered (Highest Bidder)
• Based on Buyer Priority

The lead filters will be applied before determining the price, as the filters might impact the final price of the lead. If every other parameter remains equal for more than one lead buyer, then a round robin rule can be applied – in addition to other rules. Depending on your vertical and industry practice, combined with your specific scenario, you have to decide on the strategies to be employed such as round-robin, ping tree / auction /bidding, or buyer loyalty. Usage of a flexible lead distribution and sales tracking software solution helps you to apply these rules with ease.