Lead Assignment Rules in Salesforce

One of the significant aspects of the Salesforce solution is its ability to have automated workflows or process flows for most of the day-to-day business use cases. In a sales process, leads can be generated in volumes daily, and assigning those leads to the right agent or team is a cumbersome task. Leads can be created via different channels. For example, people can enquire about the service through the company website (Web to lead) or leads can be uploaded using import data wizard (Bulk upload), or leads can be created manually in the CRM application. 

The leads generated through different channels have to be assigned properly, considering the priority of the leads based on certain factors. Thus lead assignment rule is paramount because it automates the process of assigning the lead to the proper team or agent.

So, what is Assignment Rules in Salesforce?

Salesforce Assignment Rules automate lead and case distribution by routing them to specific users or queues based on criteria like geography or record type. Rules can be customized to meet your organization’s unique needs.

How to Set Up Lead Assignment Rules in Salesforce?

1. From Setup, “Quick Find” search box, type “Lead assignment.” You will be able to see “Lead Assignment Rules.”

2. Select the “New” button to create a new lead assignment rule.

3. Enter the rule name and activate the “Active” checkbox. 

4. To specify your rule criteria, open your newly created rule and select New in the Rule Entries section.

5. On this page, you have 3 tasks.

a. Step 1: Determine the order in which the rule entry will be processed – you only need to specify the sort order here. Let’s give 1 now.

b. Step 2 – Select the criteria for the rule entry – In our example, let’s take an assignment based on geography. Leads originating from the USA have to be assigned to the ‘USA Lead Management team.’ Leads generated outside the USA need to be handled by the ‘Other Countries’ team. In sort order 1, we will manage USA-based leads. So select the conditions as in the below image.

c. Step 3 – Select the user or queue to assign the lead to – here, we can assign the lead to either a user or a queue. In our example, we will assign USA-based leads to the ‘USA Lead Management queue. When you select the email template, all the members in the queue will get notified if a new lead is assigned to them.

6. Repeat processes in (5) to assign leads generated in countries other than the USA. Here, the sort order should be 2. Country NOT EQUAL to the USA.

Lead Assignment Rule: Did You Know?

1. Only one active assignment rule is possible at a time. You can create multiple assignment rules, but only one can be active at a time.
2. The Group, Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer Editions all include lead assignment rules.
3. Typically an admin user with a System administrator profile will be able to set up lead assignment and routing. However, a user with a less privileged profile will need to check if they have “View Setup and Configuration” permission enabled to view the assignment rules. To create or change assignment rules, one must have “Customize Application” permission in their profile or permission set.
4. In the lead page layout, if you select ‘Layout Properties,’ you can see an option for the ‘Lead Assignment Checkbox.’ You can show this option on the lead edit page.

Summing Up

So, basically, lead assignment rules can help ensure that your leads are handled efficiently and effectively, and they can help distribute leads evenly among your sales team.

Now, that’s all about the Lead Assignment Rules in Salesforce. If you wish to learn more about Lead assignments or anything about Salesforce, join our saasguru Slack community and talk with seasoned Salesforce professionals. 

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