If you’re still assigning leads by hand or relying on a tangle of old Salesforce rules, you’re not alone—but you’re probably wasting time and losing leads. This guide is for sales ops folks, admins, or anyone who’s been told “just fix lead routing” and needs to make it work, fast. We’ll walk through exactly how to set up automated lead routing in Tractioncomplete, what to watch out for, and why you should skip the fancy features (at least to start).
Why bother automating lead routing?
Let’s be honest: manual lead assignment is slow, error-prone, and kind of a nightmare when reps go on vacation, territories shift, or your SDR team triples overnight. Automating this process means:
- Leads get to the right person, fast. No more “lost” leads or angry reps fighting over hot accounts.
- You can actually trust your data and dashboards.
- It scales—whether you have 5 reps or 500.
But, automation is only as good as the logic and data behind it. Garbage in, garbage out.
What you need before you start
Don’t skip this part—bad prep is the #1 reason routing projects go sideways.
1. Clean(ish) CRM data
If your Salesforce is full of duplicate accounts and half-complete leads, routing rules won’t save you. Tractioncomplete is good at matching, but it’s not a miracle worker. Do a quick cleanup:
- Merge obvious duplicates.
- Make sure your account and lead fields (like domain, region, owner) are up to date.
- If possible, standardize picklists (states, countries, etc.).
2. Defined lead ownership rules
Don’t make up routing rules as you go. Get agreement on:
- Who owns which territories? (By geography, industry, company size, etc.)
- What happens with existing customers vs. new logos?
- How to handle round robin assignments or special cases (VIP accounts, partners, etc.)
3. Access to Tractioncomplete and Salesforce
You’ll need admin or integration-level access to both. If you’re missing permissions, sort that out now.
Step 1: Connect Tractioncomplete to Salesforce
Tractioncomplete is a Salesforce-native app, but you still need to install and configure it.
How to do it:
- Install Tractioncomplete from the AppExchange (usually your Salesforce admin will need to do this).
- Once installed, log in as an admin and follow the setup wizard.
- Authorize the connection so Tractioncomplete can see your Leads, Accounts, and Users.
Pro tip:
Some orgs block API access or have strict permission sets. Double-check that Tractioncomplete has access to all the objects you’ll need—Leads, Accounts, Users, and any custom fields you plan to use for routing.
Step 2: Map your lead routing logic
Here’s where most projects get stuck: trying to automate a process no one understands. Before you touch Tractioncomplete, sketch your routing logic on paper (or a whiteboard, or Figma, whatever).
Questions to answer:
- What fields decide where a lead goes? (Region, product interest, company size, etc.)
- Do you assign by specific rep, by team, or round robin?
- Are there exceptions? (e.g., “All Fortune 500 accounts go to John, no matter what.”)
- What happens with duplicates or existing customers?
Keep it simple:
Start with your main path (e.g., inbound website leads) and the most common cases. You can always add edge cases later. Overcomplicating the logic is a great way to make your automation brittle and frustrating.
Step 3: Set up Account Matching
One thing Tractioncomplete does well: matching incoming leads to existing accounts, so you don’t create duplicates or route a hot lead to the wrong owner.
How to set it up:
- In Tractioncomplete, open the Account Matching module.
- Define your matching rules. Most teams start with domain (email/company website), but you can layer in company name, phone, or other fields.
- Set the “confidence threshold”—how close a match needs to be before it links the lead to an account automatically.
- Test with real leads. Look for false positives and false negatives.
- Decide what to do when there’s no match: create a new account, assign to a general queue, or flag for manual review.
Watch out for:
- Overly strict matching rules—these can miss legit matches because of typos or abbreviations.
- Overly loose rules—these can merge unrelated companies or assign leads incorrectly.
Don’t overthink it:
You’ll never get matching perfect, but you can tweak as you go. The biggest risk is doing nothing and letting duplicates pile up.
Step 4: Build Your Routing Flows
Now the fun (or pain) part: setting up routing logic in Tractioncomplete.
How to do it:
- Go to the Routing Flows section in Tractioncomplete.
- Create a new flow for your main lead source (e.g., Web Leads).
- Add steps for each decision point, using your mapped logic:
- If region = “West”, assign to West SDR pool.
- If company size > 1,000, assign to Enterprise team.
- If existing account owner = Jane, assign to Jane.
- Use the visual builder—drag, drop, and connect your steps. Don’t try to code it all.
- Set fallback rules (what happens if no criteria are met).
Pro tips:
- Test with real data. Run historical leads through your flow to spot where things break.
- Start small. Build one flow for your main use case. Don’t try to automate every scenario from day one.
- Document everything. Salespeople will ask, “Why did this lead go to Bob?”—you’ll want to have the answer handy.
Step 5: Set Up Round Robin (If You Need It)
Most teams want some flavor of round robin for fairness or speed. Tractioncomplete has built-in options.
How to set it up:
- In your routing flow, add a round robin assignment step.
- Define the pool (e.g., all SDRs in the East region).
- Choose how to handle vacations or absences—Tractioncomplete can skip inactive users if you keep their Salesforce status updated.
- Decide if you want “sticky assignment” (same lead always goes to the same rep) or pure round robin.
What not to stress about:
- Perfect fairness. Someone will always think the other guy gets better leads.
- Do what’s fair most of the time, and revisit if you get lots of complaints.
Step 6: Handle Exceptions and Edge Cases
No matter how good your routing, weird stuff will happen.
- VIPs, partners, or key accounts may need to bypass standard routing. Create a specific rule or manual queue for these.
- If a lead doesn’t match any criteria, assign it to a holding queue and review regularly.
- Periodically audit your routing rules. Sales teams and territories change—don’t set and forget.
Step 7: Test, Monitor, and Fix
Don’t launch and walk away. Even the best setups need tweaking.
What to do:
- Test with a small batch of real leads. Check where they landed, and ask the reps.
- Monitor error logs and assignment reports in Tractioncomplete.
- Fix mismatches or routing gaps quickly. The longer bad assignments sit, the harder they are to unwind.
- Schedule a monthly review, at least for the first quarter.
Common issues:
- Leads assigned to inactive users (because Salesforce user lists weren’t up to date).
- New reps or teams not included in routing pools.
- Account matching rules missing edge cases (e.g., “IBM” vs. “International Business Machines”).
Honest pros, cons, and what to ignore
What works:
- Tractioncomplete’s account matching is solid, especially if your data isn’t perfect.
- Visual routing flows are easier than building Salesforce Process Builder rules or flows from scratch.
- Round robin and owner-based assignments work as advertised.
What doesn’t:
- If your CRM is a mess, Tractioncomplete won’t magically fix it.
- Overcomplicated flows get confusing fast. Stick to “simple but correct” over “fancy but fragile.”
- Don’t expect perfect matching—human review is still needed for edge cases.
What to ignore (at first):
- Fancy lead scoring or AI-based routing. Get the basics working first.
- Hyper-specific edge cases. Automate the 80%, handle the weird stuff by hand until you see a pattern.
Keep it simple and iterate
Automating lead routing in Tractioncomplete can save you hours and a lot of headaches—but only if you keep things simple and review your setup regularly. Start with the core flows, get feedback from your sales team, and don’t be afraid to adjust as your business changes. It’s not about perfection; it’s about making things better, one step at a time.