• Stop being a LURKER - join our dealer community and get involved. Sign up and start a conversation.

TAKE POLL Round Robin or Lead Bucket

Rob

Boss
Apr 9, 2011
137
80
Awards
4
First Name
Rob
Alright folks, it's 2014, and I haven't seen this question asked in a while. Are you guys / gals using a lead bucket or a round robin system?

We have gone back and forth through the years, and are current using a lead bucket. It has warts, of course, and I am contemplating a switch back to round robin. We have a hybrid BDC of sorts - 4 appointment setters (who work more leads, naturally) and 2 salespeople (who work less leads.)

Since we added the salespeople, I haven't been comfortable with round robin - we all know the issue there. However, it seems like they get the short end of the stick when using a bucket as well.

Anyway, what are you using today, why, and how do you like it?
 
Rob,


I currently have 5 Internet Sales Manager's who work cradle to grave (soon to be 6 to lower the total leads per person) and 4 BDC Girls to help catch what they miss for follow-up.

I use ELead CRM and have it setup for a Round-Robin. If the ISM is off that day, so are their leads even if they come in. If the ISM is not available, the BDC will jump on it to follow-up right off the bat until the ISM becomes available to jump back into the follow-up procedure.

Not any 1 system / process is perfect as they all have pros and cons. Just have to figure out what works for your store with your setup.

I personally work to have my ISM's do the majority of the follow-up if not all of the follow-up for the first 2 weeks and then have the BDC jump on it to help with Long-Term Follow-up and Nurture Marketing.

Good luck and hope this helps!
 
I'm a huge fan of the "first come, first served" system. All people who can receive the lead are notified there is a new lead at the same time, but the first person to grab it gets it. Been watching this system work extremely well in a number of stores where round robin or direct assignments were creating lazy response times.
 
I'm a huge fan of the "first come, first served" system. All people who can receive the lead are notified there is a new lead at the same time, but the first person to grab it gets it. Been watching this system work extremely well in a number of stores where round robin or direct assignments were creating lazy response times.

On the other side, "first come, first served" can suck too. I come from the ultimate whores market where reps had a shopper sitting at their desk, interrupted them, took phone ups, grabbed leads, and would meet & card people and ask them to wait. All the managers would ever look at were the numbers at the end of the month.

The problem isn't the system, it's the managers.


Ol' Uncle Joe observation: "If we're spending all this time and money on training sales reps, who's training the managers?"
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
On the other side, "first come, first served" can suck too. I come from the ultimate whores market where reps had a shopper sitting at their desk, interrupted them, took phone ups, grabbed leads, and would meet & card people and ask them to wait. All the managers would ever look at were the numbers at the end of the month.

I still have yet to meet or hear of a dealership like the Used Car King, Joe. And I'm still shocked by the ferocity of that Chittenango store :crazy:
 
I recommend testing it both ways to see which way works best with your people.

I'm personally a fan of "lead bucket". Round robin gets tricky when you have people off (unless in Jared's case where you can schedule the RR to correspond to the individuals schedule). If speed of response is important to you (as it should be), the RR method can work against you when the rep is busy with a customer / delivery and a lead goes hours without being responded to.

With either way, be sure to track the performance of each rep. Some like to blow through leads. Nothing like pulling an individual report only to find 80% of their leads for that month have been marked "inactive" or "lost".
 
I like the bucket. I have all of our lead notifications sent to one IMAP email address that multiple people have access to. When someone answers a lead, they move the lead to the "Move Leads Here" folder and it keeps the inbox clear for everyone, so you don't come in from a day off and have a full inbox of notifications. Plus you can flip the email account to inactive when you aren't working and wont' be bothered with new lead alerts. I do the same thing with customer responses. They all funnel to the same inbox as the leads, and whoever is available answers the question or sets the appointment. Since the emailed response is sent through the CRM, in the name of the original rep, the customer doesn't realize they are talking to multiple people. Plus the customer gets a near-instant response to their email even if their rep is not working. To make this work, all commission is split equally between the reps (we are not cradle-grave), so it doesn't matter who has a shown appointment or sale, everyone in the BDC is paid on it. This creates self-managing teams. The reps constantly watch each other and tell others when they are being lazy or could do things better since it has an effect on all of their pay.
 
You can still manage a "lead bucket". What of you're busy during your turn?

Managed floor meaning the person next in rotation is waiting for their opportunity to arrive. If busy, they come out of the rotation.

1st person is waiting for a walk-in customer
2nd person is the spotter for the 1st person
3rd person is taking any new phone shoppes or internet leads
The rest of the sales team is following up with past customers.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person