If you’re tired of leads getting stuck in limbo or sent to the wrong person, this guide’s for you. Maybe your team’s drowning in follow-ups, or maybe you’re just tired of manually forwarding every new inquiry. Whatever the case, you want leads to hit the right inbox—fast, and without babysitting the process. This walkthrough will show you exactly how to set up automated lead routing in Appoint, minus the fluff.
Let’s get you out of spreadsheet hell and back to actually closing deals.
Why Automated Lead Routing Matters (and What to Ignore)
Before diving in, let’s be clear: not every team needs a fancy lead routing setup. If you get five leads a month, automation probably isn’t your bottleneck. But if your sales or customer success teams are getting swamped—or you’re seeing too many leads slip through the cracks—it’s time to automate.
What you want: - Leads sent to the right person, every time. - No more “Who’s following up with this one?” confusion. - Speed. The faster you respond, the better your odds.
What to ignore: - Overly complex flows that nobody understands (or uses). - Routing based on vanity criteria (job title, favorite color, etc.) - Anything you won’t maintain in three months.
Step 1: Map Out Your Lead Routing Rules
Don’t touch the software yet. First, grab a notepad or Google Doc and answer these:
- Who actually needs to see new leads? Is it individual reps, whole teams, or both?
- How do you want to divvy up leads? By territory, product line, company size, round-robin, or something else?
- Are there exceptions? VIPs, existing customers, or high-value industries you want handled differently?
- What info do you have about each lead? You can only route on what you capture (e.g., location, company, industry).
Pro tip: Keep your first version simple. Routing logic gets messy fast. You can always tweak it later.
Step 2: Prep Your Appoint Account
Before setting up routing, make sure your Appoint account is ready:
- Users: Everyone who might get a lead needs their own user account.
- Teams: If you route leads to groups (like “West Coast Sales”), set up teams now.
- Fields: Make sure your lead capture forms collect the info you’ll use for routing (like region or company size).
Check your user permissions—if you can’t see the “Automation” or “Lead Routing” settings, you probably need admin access.
Step 3: Find the Lead Routing/Automation Settings
This trips people up more than it should. In Appoint, go to:
- Settings → Automations (sometimes called “Workflows” in older versions)
- Look for a section called Lead Routing or Assignment Rules
If you don’t see these, double-check your plan. Some features hide behind paywalls. Don’t waste time hunting for buttons that aren’t there.
Step 4: Create Your First Routing Rule
Now, onto the fun part. Start with your most common scenario—don’t try to automate everything at once.
- Click “Add Routing Rule” (wording may vary).
- Name your rule clearly. Example: “Inbound Leads – West Coast”.
- Set your criteria: Define what triggers this rule. For instance:
- If “Region” is “West”
- If “Company Size” is greater than 100
- If “Lead Source” is “Contact Form”
- Choose who gets the lead: Assign to a user or team. You’ll usually pick from a dropdown.
- Choose assignment logic: Round-robin (cycle through reps), weighted (some get more), or direct assignment.
- Set notifications: Decide if the assignee gets an email, Slack ping, or in-app alert.
Don’t overthink the criteria. Start broad, see how it works, then tighten up as you go.
Step 5: Test Your Routing (Don’t Skip This)
This is where most setups break down. Test with real (or realistic) data:
- Submit test leads that match each routing rule.
- Make sure the right person/team gets notified.
- Check what happens with leads that don’t fit any rule—where do they go?
Pro tip: Have each assignee confirm they received the test lead. Don’t just trust the system’s “sent” notification.
If things don’t work as expected, troubleshoot: - Double-check your criteria—typos or missing fields are common culprits. - Make sure users/teams are active (not deactivated or removed). - Look for conflicting rules (sometimes the order matters).
Step 6: Set Up Exception Rules (If You Really Need Them)
Most teams need only a few basic rules, but if you have exceptions (say, VIP accounts always go to your top closer), set up those rules now.
- Place exception rules above more general ones if your system uses “top-down” processing.
- Keep exception rules simple and specific—otherwise, you’ll spend too much time debugging.
Reality check: The more exceptions, the more brittle your setup. Don’t build a Rube Goldberg machine unless you absolutely have to.
Step 7: Monitor and Adjust
No routing system is “set and forget.” For the first couple of weeks:
- Watch for leads that go unassigned or get bounced between reps.
- Ask your team for feedback—are they getting too many leads? Not enough? The wrong ones?
- Adjust rules, add fields, or tweak notifications as needed.
Pro tip: Schedule a quick review (once a month, tops). Most problems crop up when things change—like new reps joining, or marketing tweaking lead forms.
Step 8: Connect Lead Routing to Your Other Tools (Optional)
If you use Slack, email, or another CRM, Appoint can often push notifications or even create records automatically. Here’s what’s actually worth doing:
- Slack notifications: Only if your team actually reads them. Otherwise, it’s just more noise.
- CRM integration: Double-check that your lead assignment in Appoint syncs correctly with your CRM. Data mismatches cause more pain than manual assignment ever did.
- Custom webhooks: Only bother if you have a real use case, like triggering a custom workflow or analytics.
Skip: Fancy dashboards or AI routing unless you have a clear, practical reason. They usually sound better in sales demos than in real life.
Step 9: Document What You Built
Not sexy, but future-you (or your replacement) will thank you. Jot down:
- What each rule does, in plain English.
- Who to contact if something breaks.
- Where to find/edit the routing logic.
Stick this doc somewhere your team can actually find it.
Keep It Simple, Iterate As You Go
Automated lead routing in Appoint isn’t magic, but it can save a ton of headaches if you keep it straightforward. Start with the basics, make sure everything actually works, and don’t get sucked into building a system nobody understands. Your goal is to get leads to the right person, fast—everything else is window dressing.
If something’s not working, don’t be afraid to strip it back and rebuild. The best systems are the ones people actually use. Good luck!