Establishing 'Making it Happen' as a 'Formal & Predictable' Discipline

Sales Leads Classification and prioritization	Sales Leads follow-up and Closure

ENCYCLOPEDIA→ Functional Management → - Sales & Distribution → - Sales Leads Management →

Sales Leads Allocation and Distribution

After the prioritization and classification is done, the leads are to be forwarded to the appropriate staff for follow-up and closure. There various factors by which one can allocate the leads.

After the prioritization and classification is done, the leads are to be forwarded to the appropriate staff for follow-up and closure.

Following are the mechanics for sales leads allocation and distribution:

Sales office Location in proximity to the leads.
The account/relationship manager, if the lead is of an existing customer.
The sales group handling a specific product line, if the lead is linked to a specific product.
High value sales function- Lead may be forwarded to high value OR institutional sales groups, which are focusing on high value accounts.
Senior level sales executives for high value leads.
Efficient and high performance sales executives for high value, complex OR urgent leads.
To sales staff, which have a good track record of converting leads. This is an interesting one- Sometime high performance sales staff may be poor in converting leads given to them as they stay focused and place priority on the leads generated by themselves, instead of the ones given by others.

TIP- A distribution process can be manual OR automated. This becomes a touchy subject, as it generates a conflict in the organization and there are allegations and counter allegations on the effectiveness and impartiality of the leads distribution system. One can make an automated system, which is able to distribute the leads on complex business rule. However, We have seen in real life that you can be more successful in distributing a chunk of leads to a sales group and then leave it to the owner of the sales group to distribute the same within the function. This also gives a better sense of accountability at higher level.

The success drivers for sales leads distribution and allocation efficiency

The right level of complexity (neither too loose nor too rigid) business rules.
Single point accountability of leads. A lead may be forwarded to more than one person OR to a group, but there should be one name linked to a lead as the lead owner.
Automated system of distribution- While lot of leads are still distributed as excel sheets, but sooner one is able to have a basic workflow system (which is now available via cheap tools), it will make the whole process more efficient.

Measure/Facts for sales leads distribution & allocation efficiency

No. of leads distributed
No. of leads generated, but not-distributed

KPIs/Measures for sales leads allocation efficiency

Aging of leads generated, but not distributed.
Turn-around time of leads distribution from the point of lead generation.
Through-put of the leads distributed for a given period of time.

Dimensions/Attributes over which you can slice and dice the KPIs/Measures

Lead management unit
Product
Lead value-slab (high value, medium value)
Lead priority (high, medium, low)
Lead Source (external database, existing customer, point of sale..)
Lead confidence
Time period
Lead Source
Lead owner (the person to who the lead is forwarded for action)

SWOT for sales Leads Distribution

This is the reference list of what could be part of the SWOT of lead generation distribution. Within strengths/weaknesses- if an item is rated high, it will be strength and if it is rated low, the same item will be considered a weakness. Same rule applies on items within threats and opportunities (unless marked specifically as O OR T)

Strengths/Weaknesses

Robust distribution and allocation business rules.
Speed of leads distribution
Leads distribution system and work-flow
Quality and business experience of people who are review, manually distribute the leads.
Level of efficiency of leads distribution at the second level. For example, once a chunk of leads is given to sales group owner, the level of efficiency with which she distributes the leads within her group, is a determinant of success.