If your sales team spends more time sorting leads than actually selling, you’re not alone. Manual lead routing is tedious, error-prone, and—let’s be honest—no one wants to do it. Good news: with Tray, you can build automated lead routing workflows that actually work, without having to beg engineering for help every time you want to tweak the process.
This guide is for sales ops, revenue ops, or anyone who needs to get leads to the right people, fast—without drowning in complexity or vendor hype. Let’s get practical.
Why bother automating lead routing?
Before you dive in, ask yourself: do you really need automation? Here’s when it makes sense:
- You get more leads than a human can triage daily.
- Speed-to-lead actually matters in your sales process.
- Your reps complain about "bad" or "stale" leads (or you notice cherry-picking).
- You change lead assignment rules more than once a quarter.
If you’re just routing a handful of leads a week, or your team is tiny, you might not get much value from automating this. Don’t automate just because you can—do it because it’ll actually save time or reduce mistakes.
Step 1: Map out your process before touching Tray
Don’t start in Tray yet. First, get clear on your routing logic. Resist the urge to automate chaos.
Questions to ask: - What triggers the routing? (e.g., new lead in CRM, new form fill, inbound email) - What data do you need? (Territory, company size, product interest, etc.) - Who should get which leads—and why? - Are there exceptions? (VIP accounts, round robin, language, etc.) - What happens if no one fits the rules? (Fallbacks save headaches)
Pro tip: Draw it on a whiteboard or use sticky notes. If your logic looks like a plate of spaghetti, simplify it before building anything.
Step 2: Set up your connectors in Tray
Now you’re ready to get hands-on. Tray’s not magic, but it is flexible. It connects to most CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.), marketing automation tools, and email platforms.
Do this: - Log into Tray and create a new workflow. - Add connectors for your lead source (usually your CRM or web form) and destination (where you want to assign or notify). - Authenticate each connector. This is usually the part that trips people up—make sure you have the right permissions, or you’ll bang your head against the wall later.
Common connectors: - Salesforce/HubSpot (for reading/writing leads) - Slack/Email (for notifications) - Google Sheets (for quick logging/debugging) - Enrichment tools (Clearbit, ZoomInfo—if you want to get fancy)
Heads up: Don’t go wild adding every integration you can. Start simple, then layer in more as you figure out what’s actually useful.
Step 3: Build your trigger
Your workflow needs a starting point. In Tray, this is the “trigger” step.
Most common triggers: - New record in CRM (e.g., new Lead in Salesforce) - New form submission (from tools like Marketo, Typeform) - New email (if you’re routing based on inbound messages)
Select the trigger that matches your process. Configure it with filters (so you don’t accidentally reroute old or test leads).
Pro tip: Test your trigger with a sample lead before moving on. Debugging broken triggers later is a pain.
Step 4: Add data enrichment (optional, but worth considering)
If you want smarter routing—like sending big companies to senior reps—you’ll need more data than what’s on the form. This is where enrichment tools come in.
You can: - Add a connector to Clearbit, ZoomInfo, or similar to look up company size, industry, location, etc. - Write logic to only enrich leads missing key fields (so you don’t burn through API credits).
Caveats: - These tools cost money, and enrichment isn’t always accurate. Don’t blindly trust them. - If your routing rules don’t need more data, skip this step.
Step 5: Set up your routing logic
This is the meat of your workflow. Most people overcomplicate this part. Start with the basics:
- Add conditional logic: Tray uses “Boolean Condition” or “Branch” steps.
- Define your rules: For example:
- If country is US and company size > 500, assign to Enterprise Team.
- If product interest = “Widget A”, assign to Widget A specialists.
- Otherwise, assign round robin to generalists.
- Assign owners: Use “Find Record” or “Update Record” steps to look up and assign the right owner in your CRM.
Tips: - Build for today’s rules, not every hypothetical future case. You’ll just confuse yourself. - Add a final “catch-all” branch for leads that slip through the cracks. Route these to a backup owner or sales ops.
Step 6: Send notifications
Don’t just assign leads—let your reps know. Otherwise, leads will collect dust.
Popular options: - Send a Slack message to the assigned rep (easy to set up in Tray). - Send an email with lead details. - Trigger a task in your CRM.
What works: - Short, actionable notifications (just the basics—no novels). - Include a direct link to the lead in your CRM.
What to skip: - Don’t spam everyone with every new lead. Only notify the person responsible.
Step 7: Test, test, test
Once your workflow looks good, don’t go live yet. Test every branch and exception:
- Use sample leads to check that routing works as expected.
- Test enrichment (if used) with missing and complete data.
- Confirm notifications actually reach the right people.
Debugging tips: - Use Tray’s built-in logs and step-by-step “run” feature. - Add temporary steps to log outputs to Google Sheets or Slack for easier troubleshooting. - Don’t assume “it just works”—something always breaks the first time.
Step 8: Turn it on (but monitor closely)
Flip the switch and let it run for a day or two. But don’t walk away—watch for:
- Leads stuck in limbo (not assigned or notified)
- Complaints from reps (“Where’s my lead?” or “Why did I get this?”)
- Errors or failed steps in Tray’s logs
How to fix: - Make small tweaks, not big rewrites. Change one thing at a time. - If something totally breaks, you can always turn off the workflow and route things manually while you fix it.
Step 9: Iterate and improve
No workflow is perfect from day one. Expect to adjust rules, add exceptions, or plug in new tools as your process evolves.
What to watch for: - Are leads getting to the right people, fast? - Are reps actually following up, or just getting notified? - Are there new data sources or logic you need as your team grows?
Avoid: - Overengineering. Don’t turn your workflow into a Rube Goldberg machine. You’ll regret it. - Automating edge cases you see once a year. Handle those manually.
What works (and what doesn’t)
Works: - Simple, transparent rules everyone understands. - Routing logic you can explain on a napkin. - Regular reviews with sales to tweak rules as things change.
Doesn’t work: - Trying to automate every possible scenario on day one. - Relying on perfect data (there’s no such thing). - Letting your workflow run on autopilot without checks.
Ignore: - Fancy scoring models if you don’t have reliable data. - Vendor promises that “AI will just know who to assign leads to.” Maybe in five years, but not today.
Keep it simple and keep iterating
Automated lead routing in Tray can save your team hours and make sure every lead gets a fair shot. But don’t fall for complexity. Start with the basics, get it running, and add sophistication only when you actually need it.
If something feels too complicated to explain, it probably is. Build for today, keep your rules clear, and tweak as you learn. You’ll spend less time fixing broken processes—and more time actually selling.