The 10 Best Lead Distribution Software for 2022

Lead distribution software automates the process of distributing and assigning leads.

Think of it as a screening tool in your marketing funnel, categorizing hot leads and connecting them with the right reps. 

The result is a massive decrease in response time — aka how long it takes to follow up with a lead that has contacted you. 

Why does response time matter?

Contact and qualification rates drop dramatically in just a matter of minutes and continue to decrease in the next few hours according to the Harvard Business Review. 

A lead is 400% more likely to respond if you call them back within five minutes as opposed to 10!

That’s as good a reason as any to look into getting yourself some lead distribution software. But which one is right for your business?

What is lead distribution software?

Lead distribution software is software that routes, assigns, and distributes leads to the right reps in real-time. With its integrations, the software pairs with your CRM and all the forms you use in your ad and marketing funnel.

Lead distribution software is built on the following principles:

• Capture: Once you’re set up to capture inbound leads, the software will integrate its features into the sales funnel and route leads once they are captured. 
• Routing: Prospects enter the funnel (through a form, list, event registration, trial, etc.), and based on the information in your CRM, leads are forwarded to a sales rep based on your criteria.
• Distribution: Predetermined or custom criteria route the leads to the appropriate sales reps. Criteria often include factors like the sales rep’s expertise, location, availability, and more. The software distributes using advanced rules like round-robin, assignments, and ownership.
• Ownership: Reminders, follow-ups, and reporting. These are features baked into the lead distribution software that empowers your sales team. Tracking leads helps optimize the entire distribution process.
• Reporting: Sales reps and managers can access analytics and create detailed reports to understand every touchpoint and evaluate the entire process. 

For example, Distro allows real-time lead routing without a complicated setup. Leads are instantly routed to the right rep based on criteria you set so they can quickly engage and turn more inbound leads into actual revenue. 

Benefits of using lead distribution software

Sure, lead distribution software automates the process of routing leads but it also saves time and increases your conversion rates.

Let’s see.

Save time

The traditional, manual process of distributing leads is painstakingly time-consuming, as it involves:

• Conducting initial inquiries to determine if a lead is worth routing
• Manually classifying and distributing leads to sales reps
• Interacting with prospects, keeping notes, and following up

Those are lots of steps where prospects can lose interest.

Or worse, they may go through the whole process only to be connected with the wrong sales rep. A waste of everyone’s time and effort. 

Lead distribution software, on the other hand, routes leads in real-time. It automatically reads the data, routes it into your CRM, and pairs the lead with the right sales rep.

The best software does this almost instantly, removing tons of steps where a prospect could back out.

Increase conversions

Inbound and CRO marketing reign supreme in the sales world. 

This departure from traditional strategies creates a friendly experience between leads and reps. It helps streamline the funnel and the boost in engagement makes prospects feel more inclined to explore what your business has to offer. 

For example, our very own Distro product has shown a 75% increase in conversion rates!

Such a massive increase in conversion rates can only be possible with lead distribution software. 

Combined with other software and CRO strategies, you’ll likely see a steady stream of leads and sales opportunities.

How to select the best lead distribution software

Consider the following features when choosing the best lead distribution software for you.

Rules-based lead routing

Rules-based lead routing enables you to assign leads to the appropriate sales reps according to your criteria. 

These criteria can include the sales rep’s expertise, the lead’s business function, geographic location, business size, and other factors that create the best match.

This helps reduce lead leakage and matches the right lead to the right rep. 

Availability-based lead routing

Availability is a lead-routing classic. 

It’s unbelievable, but leads are (too) often lost to the simple fact that they’re routed to a rep who wasn’t available. 

Availability-based lead routing ensures leads are distributed to reps who are free and able to engage with them.

A great lead distribution software will integrate with all your apps and route leads based on your team’s availability and working hours. 

CRM integration

While lead distribution software can stand on its own, it should integrate with your other software and tools. It’ll make the process much more efficient and reduce friction for your sales reps.

For example, integrating with your CRM (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce) frees you from the burden of having to manually enter data, speeds up the process, and eliminates human error altogether. 

Reporting and analytics

The best lead distribution software should allow you to create detailed reports that’ll help you uncover lead insights and measure your team’s performance. 

Reports often include the number of leads, average response times, meetings held, conversion rate, revenue, and more.

With proper reporting and analytics, you’ll be able to track your progress, evaluate the quality and quantity of deals coming in, and also take measure on team members that may need additional training. 

Any information that can help you close more leads is information you want to have.

Feedback intake

Feedback helps you keep track of what happens after a sales rep accepts a lead. 

Lead distribution software should allow your reps to provide updates through a survey, comments, or notes. 

This feature enables you to keep track of the progress and quality of leads, allowing you to make any necessary tweaks to your strategy to optimize the sale process.

The 10 Best Lead Distribution Software

1. Chili Piper Distro

Throw away your lead routing spreadsheet. 

Chili Piper’s Distro is an intuitive lead routing software without a complicated setup. Use it to automate your process and never miss another sales opportunity. 

Pros: 

• Instantly route any Salesforce object (e.g., leads, contacts, accounts, cases, opportunities) to the right sales rep
• Slack or email notifications for follow-up
• Leads are assigned fairly and accurately through weighted round-robin, ownership, or any other type of routing rule you assign
• Easy to set up and intuitive to use
• Outstanding customer support

Cons:

• Still in its early versions
• Need to have Salesforce as your CRM

Price:

• Licensing costs $20 per user per month

In a nutshell, using Chili Piper means never losing a lead ever again. If you’re ready to take the stress out of lead routing, go ahead and get a demo!

What people are saying in the wild:

2. Distribution Engine

Distribution Engine is a native Salesforce application that allows you to distribute leads to sales reps using a round-robin algorithm, skills-based, or lead source filters. 

Pros: 

• Easy-to-use UI
• Handy alerts and auto-reassign features
• Reporting feature to determine the average hourly distribution volumes and predict the workload for sales reps

Cons:

• No audit logs to understand why a lead was routed to a certain rep
• Falls short on tech stack integrations
• No distribution by type of lead

Pricing: 

• $25 per user per month. Standard support is free, but you do need a quote for premier support.

Distribution Engine’s alerts, along with its auto-reassign feature, make it a suitable and easily configurable rules-based tool to make sure your leads are distributed to the right team members in a timely manner. 

What people are saying in the wild:

3. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 is a convenient CRM with lead distribution features, enabling you to manage, capture, and store lead data on one platform.

Pros: 

• Includes email marketing and social media management tools to automate other processes
• Evenly distribute leads from inbound calls, chats, emails, and other external sources
• Detailed analytics and reporting
• No limit on the number of users per account

Cons:

• Doesn’t offer availability-based lead distribution
• No integration with other CRMs
• No feedback capture
• Not intuitive and complex to scale

Pricing:

• Bitrix24 offers a free plan, as well as special plans from $15.36 per month and business plans from $63.36 per month.

The beauty of Bitrix24 is that tons of individual tools are conveniently packaged in a single online service, but that can also be a major obstacle if you already have a tech stack that you love. 

All in all, one of the best free CRM tools out there. 

What people are saying in the wild:

4. Boberdoo

Boberdoo is an all-in-one lead management software that automates lead distribution, billing, accounting, and reporting. 

Pros: 

• Create custom filters set for each buyer to define what they can buy and at what price
• Supports tracking line by line transactions with invoicing and automated re-billing options
• Detailed reporting and analytics
• CRM integration
• Also known for smart call routing

Cons:

• No availability-based lead distribution
• No feedback capture
• Customization is tricky and costly to build out
• Many users complain the software is clunky and not intuitive

Pricing:

• Inconveniently available only with a quote request

Whether you sell internet leads, inbound calls, or both, Boberdoo’s lead distribution software is a great solution for any company looking to take its lead business to the next level.

What people are saying in the wild:

5. LeanData

LeanData is a great tool to route and assign inbound leads to the appropriate rep and match leads to accounts. 

Pros:

• Dedupe merging and advanced triggers
• Easy setup for simple routes
• Detailed analytics
• Lead to account matching to act on fuzzy matching enrichment

Cons:

• Logic map setup can get messy and it becomes hard to know where each decision lives in order to make updates
• Limited features
• High learning curve
• Steep price

Pricing:

• LeanData doesn’t list pricing on their site, but according to their listing in Salesforce, costs start at $65 per user per month.

LeanData’s drag-and-drop lead routing flow builder (logic map) is certainly helpful but can quickly get complicated and confusing. 

That being said, if you're considering LeanData, here are 3 alternatives to consider based on what you're trying to do. 

What people are saying in the wild:

6. LeadAssign

LeadAssign enables you to capture and route leads to the best-matched sales reps using multiple predefined custom rules.

Pros:

• Automated follow-up feature sends prompts to sales reps to gather feedback
• Clearbit technology to add profile data to contact details
• Supports API integrations with Zapier or Pipedrive
• Detailed reporting and analytics
• Parse leads and routes based on content, skillset match, location, and the historical performance of people within your sales team

Cons:

• Very steep price
• No native CRM integrations

Pricing:

• Costs start at $90 per month per user.

To sum up, LeadAssign has a patented, easily customizable, and fully-automated software that provides effective lead distribution. 

Most users are very happy with the tool but agree the price is just too steep.

What people are saying in the wild:

7. RingLead

RingLead is a cloud-based data organization platform that takes data from multiple sources and then enriches, dedupes, segments, scores, and routes it to inform trigger automated workflows.

Pros:

• Cleans large records to solve data challenges
• Automates lead segmentation, routing, and scoring
• Detailed reporting and analytics
• Feedback capture
• CRM integration

Cons:

• Very expensive
• Steep learning curve and not intuitive
• No notifications to a second person
• Automatic de-duping is not always accurate

Pricing:

• Starts at $12,000 per user, per year

RingLead is a strong contender but they are best if you’re looking for data management along with lead distribution. We should highlight that they’re also one of the most expensive lead distribution tools out there. 

What people are saying in the wild:

8. Freshsales

Freshsales is a Freshworks full-fledged automation solution for sales teams, providing everything a sales rep needs to attract leads, engage in conversations, drive deals, and nurture relationships. 

Pros:

• Easy to use software
• Define territory rule and automate lead assignment
• Built-in phone
• Plenty of native tech stack integrations
• Free version includes plenty of functions

Cons:

• Slow and clunky mobile app
• Entering contacts in sales sequences is difficult
• Many users complain of inefficient customer support
• Confusing pricing and limited contacts

Pricing:

• Starts at $15 per user per month billed annually 

Freshsales is one of the most popular CRMs out there and for a reason. 

The Freshsales Suite is an all-in-one solution to empower sales teams and automate processes with built-in email, phone, chat, and telephony.

What people are saying in the wild:

9. LeadByte

LeadByte is a cloud-based lead distribution software that allows businesses to collect, nurture, and distribute leads in real-time. 

Pros:

• CRM integrations via API, Zapier, or Pipedrive
• Detailed reporting and analytics
• Highly customizable rules and third-party validation services to distribute leads 
• Activity tracking, campaign management, and source tracking
• Capture leads through web forms, quizzes, Facebook ads, and imported files

Cons:

• No activity-based lead distribution
• No availability-based lead distribution
• No feedback capture
• Incredibly steep pricing
• Not the easiest to use

Pricing: 

• Starts at $299 per month

LeadByte is a great tool, but may not be for everyone. 

They are, deep down, a lead trading and autoresponder platform that empowers advertisers, media buyers, and data owners to capture, validate, distribute, and nurture leads, in real-time. 

What people are saying in the wild:

10. LeadsPedia

LeadsPedia is a performance marketing platform that includes lead distribution for capturing, validating, and distributing leads. 

Pros:

• Validate leads by examining phone numbers, IP addresses, physical addresses, emails, and more
• Advanced reporting capabilities and call-tracking features
• Round-robin, weighted, availability-based, and rules-based distribution algorithms
• Analyze digital marketing ROI

Cons:

• No CRM integration
• No feedback capture
• Steep pricing

Pricing:

• Ranges from $1000 to $2500 per month, while custom packages are available.

LeadsPedia is a platform capable of bringing your business, and all the data it relies on, together in one place — but at a very high price. 

What people are saying in the wild:

The bottom line

There are hundreds, even thousands, of options when it comes to lead distribution software. 

So, which one is right for you?

Well, it depends. Every business is unique and has different needs. 

We suggest taking the time to consider the features that each provides, the costs involved, and what your specific needs are. 

That being said, the best way to make the most informed decision is to schedule a demo. If we’ve raised any detailed questions, our team is equipped and eager to answer any questions you may have!