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Route leads

How to route leads to the right rep

Set up priority-ordered routing rules so every new lead is assigned the instant it arrives — to a fixed rep, a round-robin pool, or the rep who owns its territory — with a default owner catching the rest.

Updated June 2026

Lead routing is what makes sure a scored lead actually reaches someone who can work it. Without it, hot leads sit in an unassigned queue while a manager hand-assigns rows every morning. In KudosCRM, routing rules run automatically the moment a lead lands, so the assignment is on the record — not in someone's head.

This guide shows you how to build a routing model: a couple of specific rules for named segments, a round-robin pool for shared inbound, and a default owner so nothing ever falls through. Every assignment is written to the lead's timeline, so you can always see who got what and why.

Who this is for

Admins and sales managers who own how inbound is distributed. If you can describe who should get which leads, you can write the rules.

Before you start

  • A KudosCRM account with permission to manage routing rules.
  • Your reps added as users (and, for fair sharing, grouped into the pools you want to rotate across).
  • Optionally, territories set up if you plan to route by region or segment.

Which assignment methods are live

KudosCRM routes by fixed rep, round-robin pool, territory, and a workspace default owner. Weighted routing — giving some reps a larger share of the rotation — is on the roadmap, not yet built, so plan your pools as even rotations for now.

Set up routing, step by step

  1. Open the routing rules

    Go to Settings → Lead routing. Rules are evaluated top to bottom in priority order, and the first rule whose conditions match wins — so order matters. A new workspace starts with just the default owner.

  2. Set the default owner

    Choose the workspace default lead owner first. This is the safety net: any lead that matches no rule is assigned here, so nothing ever lands unowned. Pick a sales manager or a shared queue owner you trust to triage.

  3. Add a specific, high-priority rule

    Create your most specific rule at the top — for example 'if industry is Healthcare, assign to Maria Lopez'. Specific rules go above general ones, because the first match wins and you don't want a broad rule grabbing a lead a specialist should own.

  4. Add a round-robin pool

    For shared inbound where any qualified rep can take the first call, add a rule that rotates across a pool — for example 'if source is Website demo form, round-robin across the SMB pool'. Each matching lead goes to the next rep in rotation, so volume is shared evenly with no manual tracking.

  5. Add a territory rule (optional)

    If you sell by region or segment, add a rule that assigns by territory — the lead goes to the rep who owns the matching territory. Territories carry their own hierarchy and priorities, so this scales as your team grows.

  6. Order the rules by priority

    Drag the rules so the most specific sit at the top and the broadest (or the round-robin catch-all) sit at the bottom, just above the default owner. Re-read the list top-down and ask: for a typical lead, which rule fires first?

  7. Save and test with a real lead

    Save, then submit a test lead that should hit a specific rule — say a Healthcare demo request. Open the lead and confirm the owner is correct and that the assignment is recorded on the timeline ('Lead routed via …').

What you get

  • Every new lead assigned the instant it arrives — no morning triage, no unassigned queue.
  • Specific segments routed to named owners, shared inbound rotated fairly across a pool.
  • A default owner guaranteeing no lead is ever ownerless.
  • Every assignment written to the lead's timeline, so the hand-off is auditable.

Related articles

Set up lead scoring rules

Score leads first so routing sends ranked, qualified leads to your reps.

Read article

Set up territories

Route by region or segment with a territory hierarchy, effective dates, and managers.

Read article

Lead scoring & routing

Everything the routing engine does, on the feature page.

Read article

Round-robin scheduling

The scheduling cousin of round-robin routing — share inbound meetings fairly too.

Read article
Part of Lead Qualification

Lead qualification is the second stop in the KudosCRM journey — scoring, grading, and routing every captured lead to the right rep. See the full picture on the Lead Qualification platform overview.

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