How a CRM should split car shipping leads across your salespeople

Lead distribution decides which salesperson gets each new car shipping lead the moment it arrives. In an auto transport CRM it runs on a few settings per salesperson, plus one rule for customers who come back through a second lead site.

Why lead distribution matters when you buy from several lead vendors

Most brokerages buy leads from more than one lead vendor and also take quote requests from their own website. People shipping a car usually ask several brokers for a price, so the same customer can fill in forms on two lead sites in one afternoon. Both leads reach your desk, and without a rule they can land on two salespeople who then quote the same person twice.

When nobody owns the split, the leads go to whoever grabs them first. The fastest person on the desk takes most of them, newer salespeople wait, and a lead that arrives after the last person logs off sits until morning while other brokers quote it. A round-robin rule gives every lead an owner as it arrives, inside the hours you set, and keeps the split where you want it.

Round-robin settings a car shipping desk needs

Look for these settings, one row per salesperson:

Lead multiple and daily limits

Plain round-robin gives one lead to each person in turn. A lead multiple lets you weight it. With a multiple of two, a salesperson takes two leads in a row before the next person gets a turn. Use it to send more of the flow to the people who book, without taking anyone off the list.

A daily limit stops a new salesperson from getting more leads than they can quote while a colleague with time sits idle. Once they reach the cap, the leads go to the next person in line. Leave the cap empty for people who can take everything.

Working hours and leads that arrive after hours

Each salesperson should have their own start and end time. A lead that arrives at 7 PM should go to the person working until 8, and the person who left at 5 should not find it waiting tomorrow. Keep the whole desk's hours in one time zone so nobody has to convert.

A lead that arrives when nobody is inside their hours goes to nobody. Your CRM should show those leads in a queue, and you should check it every morning. If the queue fills at the same hour every day, you have a gap in your shifts.

Returning customers within 30 days

The same phone number will come back. A customer gets your quote on Monday, fills in a form on another lead site on Thursday, and the second lead arrives looking new. Your CRM should notice the phone number and follow a fixed rule instead of handing the customer to whoever is next.

Two cases need different answers. A customer who already has an order has a salesperson and a car in progress, so the new lead should stay where it is. A customer who was quoted and did not book needs a rule for who gets the second try.

Pausing a salesperson without losing leads

Salespeople step away during the day. If the CRM keeps feeding someone who is on a long call, their new leads wait. A pause lets the salesperson take themselves out of the rotation and come back when they are ready, and the owner can turn assign off for anyone on leave. When someone leaves for good, re-assign their open quotes by hand from the quote page.

How to check the split is working

Look at three things each week:

• Leads per person today against their limit, and when each person last got one. Someone with no new lead since noon may have assign switched off by mistake.
• Leads in the queue. Every lead here was given to nobody.
• Results by lead source: leads, quoted, orders, dispatched, picked up, delivered and cancelled for each vendor, your website and quotes made by hand. A vendor that sends many leads and few deliveries costs you salesperson hours as well as money.

The owner dashboard also shows whether your lead vendor connections are working. A vendor that stops sending looks like a slow day until you check. See what an owner should see every day.

Lead distribution questions to ask on a CRM demo

Add these to the list from how to choose a car shipping CRM:

• Can I set how many leads in a row each salesperson gets?
• Can I cap leads per person per day and leave others uncapped?
• Does each salesperson have their own hours, and in which time zone?
• Can a salesperson pause themselves, and can I take someone out for a week?
• What happens when the same phone comes in from two vendors? What if that customer already booked?
• Where do I see leads nobody was given?
• Can I follow each vendor's leads all the way to delivered?

Once leads are split, every quote needs follow-up from the person who got it. That part is in automated follow-up for car shipping quotes.

Before your next demo, write your split on one page: who takes leads, how many in a row, each person's hours, the cap for new hires, and what should happen to a returning customer. Ask the vendor to set it up on the call while you watch. Leader CRM's version is on the lead distribution page.