Automatic versus Manual Lead Distribution

Automatic versus Manual Lead Distribution Lead distribution, which is a step in the entire lead nurturing process, is a process all on its own. Well, each step is a detailed procedure that needs to be done. In this case, lead distribution is necessary in order to make sure each lead is handled by somebody that is best qualified to do something with it like selling products or services. Here’s how lead distribution by a lead tracking company is done. The Leads Are Grouped Into Categories The first order of business for an outsourced lead handling company is to group incoming leads. The reason for this is that an outsourced lead handling firm does lead handling for several companies. If they don’t group these leads into categories, then they’ll end up sending leads to the wrong companies. Even if they manage to send the right leads to the right companies, they might end up sending non-qualified leads. The categories are usually the niches that the lead handling company is working on. If they get a lead from a website that is intended for promoting home improvement services, then they file that under “home improvement.” The list goes on and on. Under each category, one might also want to further segregate the leads by their scores, which makes it easy for the company to know which leads needs more “pushing” or more efforts to increase their interests in the product. Looking into the Dealer-Company Relationship The tricky part of referring leads to companies is the firms’ relationship to the lead handling company. For example, some lead companies are governed by contracts with a dealer that compels them to submit to them the leads that are located on the area in which the dealer is located. Some companies may be free to submit leads to whatever dealer is near to the potential customer. Afterward, the company would have to consider several other factors. These include the manner of priority in which they deliver which lead to which dealer, and many others. Should the Process be Automated or Still Left Manually? And now, there arises the question on whether or not the lead handling or distribution process should be automated. We shall answer the question by looking again at the first two processes and how a company can benefit from automating the procedure. First, we could see how daunting and how time-consuming it is for the company to segregate the leads. Even if you have a lot of people handling the segregation



for you, you can still actually save time and improve the efficiency of your business if you introduce the automation of your lead distribution function. Special software can handle the job better than a simple Excel sheet; the program has the advantage of using a database, which makes the second process better. Although entering the information into the database can be similar to entering the same information into a spreadsheet, the only difference lies on how it affects the ease or difficulty of the next process. With the advantage presented to you by the software’s database, it is now easier, quicker, and more efficient to distribute the leads using the factors keyed in to the data fields for each lead. For example, the program can just pull out the leads that are located in, say, Iowa and send them out to the dealers that are located in the same area. If you are still using a spreadsheet to do that, you’d have to manually send out the leads to the qualified distributors to receive them. That can take a lot of time and effort; a program clearly increases your efficiency. Content provided by: www.leaddistribution-info.com Visit our lead management software sponsor: www.leads360.com