Over the past five years, I’ve delved deeply into Zapier, initially starting with simple social media connections and gradually advancing to more complex workflows. My journey with Zapier has been closely tied to CRM systems like Pipedrive, where I’ve worked extensively with sales teams. As a consultant through Greywood Digital, I’ve helped businesses streamline their processes, and one of the most effective tools I’ve developed for sales teams is a simple yet powerful round-robin lead distribution system.
Why a Round Robin?
A round-robin system is essential for evenly distributing leads among sales agents, ensuring that each agent gets a fair share of opportunities. This is particularly useful for sales teams that need to balance workload or for businesses that want to avoid lead overload on any single agent. While there are some round-robin tools available, I’ve often found the need to create custom versions to meet specific business needs.
The Building Blocks: Zapier, Storage, and Sub-Zaps
To give you a clear picture, here’s a brief overview of how the round-robin system works using Zapier:
- Zapier Canvas Flow: I’ve created a Zapier Canvas that visually maps out the entire round-robin process. This includes how leads are captured, distributed, and tracked within the system.
- Storage Setup: The round-robin system relies on storing key information, such as the list of active sales agents and their availability. Initially, I used Zapier’s built-in storage to manage this data. However, this approach required manual updates to the Zap whenever team changes occurred, which is manageable for smaller teams but becomes cumbersome as the team grows.
- Sub-Zaps: The real power of Zapier comes from its ability to modularize tasks. By using Sub-Zaps, you can call the round-robin logic at the end of any lead-related Zap, making it highly adaptable and easy to integrate into existing workflows.
Enhancing the System with Zapier Tables
As my experience with Zapier grew, I found a more efficient way to manage the round-robin process: Zapier Tables. With Zapier Tables, you can store detailed sales agent information, such as their availability status, in a structured format. This not only simplifies the round-robin logic but also allows for more dynamic updates.
For example, you can integrate other systems to automatically update an agent’s status based on their current workload or preferences. This means the round-robin system can adjust in real-time, ensuring leads are always distributed to available agents.
To ensure the correct number of active agents is used in the round robin, the Zap can find records from this table who can receive leads. The amount of agents can then be counted with some simple Javascript.
Implementing the Round Robin with Zapier Interfaces
Zapier Interfaces provide a user-friendly way to interact with the underlying data. For instance, agents can use buttons to toggle their availability for receiving leads. Although the interface requires a page refresh to update the on/off display, it’s possible to automate this with a meta-refresh or a button-triggered delay.
This keeps the interface current without requiring manual intervention.
You can view the interface I’ve created here. The corresponding Zap that handles button clicks and updates the underlying table is also available online.
Additional Considerations
- Subdomains: For those looking to scale their operations, upgrading to a higher-level Zapier account (around £80 a month) allows you to use subdomains, providing more customization options.
- Pipedrive Integration: Pipedrive already offers automatic lead assignment based on various criteria like region or interest. This is particularly useful for B2B teams, where account managers may handle specific regions. However, in a B2C context, where agents work remotely across the country, the round-robin system can distribute leads based on each agent’s capacity.
- Tracking Lead Distribution: To maintain fairness and efficiency, it’s important to track the number of leads each agent receives. This can be done weekly, monthly, or at any interval that suits your business needs. Integrating HR systems with Zapier can also help manage this data more effectively.
- Other Applications: While sales and lead generation are the most common use cases, a round-robin system can also be beneficial in tech support or customer service settings. The key is to optimize the number of Zaps used to keep costs down, especially as your business scales. Custom code can help streamline processes and reduce the number of Zaps needed.
Conclusion
Zapier is a versatile tool that, when used creatively, can significantly improve your business processes. Whether you’re distributing leads, managing customer support, or coordinating tasks among a team, a well-designed round-robin system can ensure fairness and efficiency.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this system or discuss any challenges you’re facing with Zapier. Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or leave a comment below.
