# Lead routing rules and response window

Copy this template once for your inbound routing. Replace every bracketed field. Marketing, Sales and RevOps should all sign it before rules are built in any system.

## Ownership

- Qualification definition owner: [Marketing role]
- Follow-up owner: [Sales role or team]
- Rules and audit owner: [RevOps role]
- Signed off by / on: [names or roles; date]
- Next review date: [date]

## Qualification definition

A lead is sales-ready (MQL accepted for routing) when all of the following are true:

| Criterion | Rule | Source field |
|---|---|---|
| Request type | [for example: demo request, pricing request, contact sales] | [form field] |
| Fit | [segment, size or industry your team agreed] | [field] |
| Region | [regions your team covers] | [field] |
| Consent | [consent required for sales contact] | [field] |

Disqualifiers (route to nurture or review, never to a rep):

- [Students, job seekers, vendors, competitors]
- [Personal email domain with no company named]
- [Other rule]

Record the criterion that qualified each lead in a field the owner can read.

## Matching keys

Match each lead before assigning it, in this order:

1. [Existing contact by email address]
2. [Existing account by email domain]
3. [Existing account by company name, normalised]
4. [Parent or subsidiary relationship, if recorded]

If a match is uncertain or more than one account fits: [send to the review queue owned by ...]. Do not create a new account until the match is resolved.

## Assignment rules

Apply in order. The first rule that finds an available owner wins.

| Order | Condition | Assign to | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matched to an existing customer account | [Account owner] | [Notify the account owner even if a rep follows up] |
| 2 | Matched to an open lead or opportunity | [Current owner] | [Merge duplicate; do not reassign] |
| 3 | Matched to a named or target account | [Named account owner] | |
| 4 | Region and segment match a territory | [Territory pool] | [Round robin among available owners] |
| 5 | Region not covered | [Partner queue or fallback owner] | |
| 6 | No available owner found | [Fallback owner] | |

## Availability

- Source of availability: [calendar, rota or status field]
- Skip an owner when: [on leave, out of hours, at capacity of ... open leads]
- Log every skip with the reason.

## Fallback owner

- Fallback owner: [role]
- Backup when the fallback owner is unavailable: [role]

## Response window

- Agreed window: [the window your team agrees] from submission to first response
- Clock runs during: [working hours and timezone, per territory]
- Counts as a first response: [call attempt, personal email, meeting booked; not an automated acknowledgement]

## Escalation

| When | Action | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Window passes with no recorded first response | [Notify] | [Escalation contact] |
| [Second threshold] | [Reassign, if agreed] | [Role] |
| Lead stuck in the review queue past [time] | [Notify] | [RevOps] |

## Accept, return or recycle

- Accept: [what the owner records]
- Return to review: [reasons allowed, for example: wrong account match, wrong territory]
- Recycle to nurture: [reasons allowed, for example: no current project, not the buyer]. A reason is required.

## Audit fields

Record on every routed lead:

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Qualification criterion met | [criterion] |
| Account match and method | [account ID; key used; confirmed by] |
| Rule that assigned the owner | [rule number] |
| Owners skipped and why | [owner; reason] |
| Assigned at | [timestamp] |
| First response at | [timestamp] |
| Within window | [yes / no / clock paused] |
| Outcome | [accepted / returned / recycled; reason] |

## Review before rules go live

- [ ] Marketing and Sales agree the qualification definition in writing.
- [ ] Every territory has an owner and a fallback.
- [ ] Existing customers route to their account owner.
- [ ] Duplicates attach to the current owner instead of starting a new assignment.
- [ ] The response window states its hours and timezone.
- [ ] The escalation contact knows they are the escalation contact.
- [ ] Consent rules are checked before any contact.

Approving these rules covers routing. Contacting a lead still depends on its recorded consent.