Rethinking Round Robin Lead Distribution

Start feeding your hunters the hot leads and rewarding them for their effort at building opportunities by giving them more.

Don’t Reward Salespeople Who Rely On Luck

There are all kinds of ways to distribute leads that come into the sales organization. One of the most popular is to distribute leads using a round robin system, giving each salesperson a new lead when it is their turn in the rotation. This kind of system looks fair. But it isn’t.

Giving the leads based on a rotation rewards some salespeople for waiting. It allows them to produce numbers when luck happens to tap them on the shoulder.

When the lead is really hot, it gives the salesperson the false impression that they are doing well in sales—even though they may not be doing the work that leads to results.

Chance may even provide its lucky recipient with a lead that allows them to make their number.

Hunters Do The Hard Work And Make Their Own Luck

Your hunters are out working to develop business. They’re in the field, and they’re doing the difficult work of opening relationships and opening opportunities.

Hunters are obsessed with keeping their pipeline full of qualified prospects. They are always hunting for their next opportunity. Hunters are the first to embrace telephone prospecting, email prospecting, cold calling, networking, asking for referrals, knocking on doors, following up on leads, and striking up conversations with strangers.

They aren’t waiting for lady luck to smile upon them. They are out making their own luck. If anyone has done the work to deserve the leads that come into the sales organization, it’s the hunters.

So Who Gets The Hot Leads?

I like a plan where a salesperson that creates a new opportunity is eligible to receive a new lead for having done so. The group that does the work to build opportunities deserves to be in the round robin for the hot leads that come to the sales organization.

By giving your hunters the leads, you reward healthy sales behaviors. You reward the salespeople who are hustling, helping them to do even better. This isn’t punishing the salespeople that are content to sit and wait.

First, the leads that they no longer receive were never theirs to begin with. Second, they have the same opportunity to hustle and get into the rotation—even if they’d have to really step up their game to get there.

Feed your hunters the hot leads and reward them for their effort at building opportunities by giving them more.

Ask Yourself:

• Should leads be distributed fairly? In this context, how do you define fairness?
• What happens when you give hot leads to a sales rep that isn’t prospecting?
• Alternatively, what happens when you give a hunter a hot lead?
• What is your current method for distributing leads to your sales force?
• Would you change this approach going forward, and if so, how?

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