The question discussed fiercely among lead management software / service providers and customers is still about the pros and cons of using Push and Pull methods for lead distribution to the follow-up team. Though most of the lead management software services incorporates both the methods, the controversy refuses to die down; it is not without a reason. Every lead slipped through the crack is a missed opportunity and will hit the top line.

What is Lead Distribution?

For the beginners or users who are just switching from Outlook or spreadsheet based tracking systems to lead management software, it is nothing more than a jargon. If your leads are originated from the Internet – through own websites or third party lead generation services – then your marketing / sales team does not have immediate visibility to the leads. In most of the cases, the leads land in somebody’s email inbox in the organization. Then, the sales team as well as the prospects are at the mercy of that some one!

The centralized, web based Lead Management Software systems (or services) help to aggregate and capture the leads in one central location and distribute the leads to the inside sales team or field sales team. The process of assigning leas to the sales team is referred as Lead Distribution. Another term used is Lead Assignment; yet another term used is Lead Routing.

Methods of Lead Distribution

A popular, widely used method is known as “Push” method of Lead Distribution. In this process, the lead management system distributes (or pushes) the leads to the sales team based on preset rules. Several rules are used by businesses depending on their respective business scenarios. The major criteria used for lead distribution is:

• By Geography (State, County, Metro Area, County, City, etc.)
• By Area Code
• By Full or Partial Zip Code
• By Sales team / area or agent
• By Sales Region / Office
• By Lead Profile (such as demography, authority, budget, etc.)
• By Round-robin rule

Once the distribution rules are set, the lead management system can automatically route the leads to the respective sales agents. Additional validation rules can also be set based on the complexity of the business requirements. For example, if an agent has a higher number of untouched or un-contacted leads, then the lead assignment to that agent can be avoided until the queue comes below the threshold limit.

Pull Method of Lead Assignment

Since there are several limitations in the “Push” method, many businesses have started following the “Pull” method for distributing leads. In this process, the leads are not pushed or distributed to the sales agents. Instead, the agents have to request and pull the lead from the common queue. This is similar to the “Pull” method and “Just In Time (JIT) Inventory” concept used in manufacturing sector.

How to choose the Lead Distribution method?

Most of the modern lead management systems, including LeadPro Lead Management Service, provide both the options to the customers. It is left to the customer to decide and pick the suitable process during the implementation of the system.

There are no hard and fast rules to decide the suitability of one or the other; it depends on the individual business. Even within the business verticals such as Mortgage industry, Real Estate professionals, and Debt, Credit, Insurance and other Financial services, a uniform rule can not be employed. Several factors such as business size, number of leads acquired, sales team size, vetting or lead qualification process followed by the marketing department and the past practices play a major role in choosing the lead distribution process.

A professional lead management consultant could be used to assess the current scenario, analyze the business requirements, blueprint the to-be process and arrive at a suitable lead management process to be followed. The decision should be made on solid business case rather than emotion and subjective judgment. The consultant can be from the lead management service provider or an independent consultant.