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Lead Routing 101 for Small Teams

How to route leads to the right person fast using forms, email rules, and simple alerts—without expensive tools.

5 min read

Key Takeaways: Route leads by location/service type → use email rules to auto-forward → set up SMS alerts for instant notifications.

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1

Why Lead Routing Matters

Speed matters. If you don't respond within 5 minutes, you're losing leads to competitors.

78% of customers go with whoever responds first
Automated routing eliminates manual forwarding delays
Leads go to the right person for their specific need

2

The Simple Routing System

Step 1: Tag by Service/Location

Use your form to capture what service they need and their location. This becomes the routing key.

Step 2: Email Rules Auto-Forward

Set up email rules that automatically forward leads to the right team member based on tags.

Step 3: SMS Alerts for Hot Leads

Set up SMS notifications for urgent leads so nothing slips through the cracks.

3

What You Need

A contact form with dropdown fields for service type and location
Email software with filtering rules (most email tools have this)
SMS tool like Twilio or Google Voice for alerts

Common Mistakes

All leads going to one person (bottleneck)
No system for after-hours leads
Manual forwarding that takes too long
Not tracking who responds to which leads

Lead Routing Checklist

Setup

Form captures service type
Form captures location/area
Email rules set up for routing

Alerts

SMS alerts for hot leads
After-hours response plan
Escalation path if no response

Need Help Setting Up Lead Routing?

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