Lead routing is an automated function of Aimbase. When leads enter the platform either from the API or through the file import process, Aimbase references the country codes and zip/postal codes on the leads and uses them to match the lead to the most appropriate dealer based on the brand assignments as well as other factors. Lead routing logic can be determined by several different methods or a combination of those methods.
Lead Routing Logic Methods
Radius: The most basic form of lead routing within Aimbase. Regardless of all other forms of lead routing, radius is always used unless specifically disabled for an instance of Aimbase. When radius is disabled, any leads that fall outside of other lead routing logic methods are assigned to the default dealer.
For U.S.,Canada, and international and leads, the most basic method of routing leads to dealers within Aimbase is radius routing. This method involves finding the center point of the zip/postal code provided on the lead and calculating its distance from the precise latitude-longitude of the closest dealer.
By default, radius is available for US and Canada only. The radius routing for international countries must be enabled. For international radius, a dealer must be located within the same country as the lead for the dealer to be assigned the lead. If there isn't a dealer located in the same country as a lead, the lead will be routed to a default dealer.
Territory assignments: Territory assignments are most commonly layered on top of radius lead routing. The ability to assign territories to dealers is available as a core function of Aimbase and can be used with additional lead routing methods.
Aimbase has two methods of routing leads to dealers based upon territory assignments. These assignments allow you to dictate a dealer’s “area of responsibility”. Areas of responsibility can be created by assigning territories to a dealer based upon zip/postal code, county, state/province, or country.
Within Aimbase the assignments are stored on either the ‘Territories’ page or the ‘Brand Territories’ page. The difference between Territories and Brand Territories is how Aimbase treats the assigned area of responsibility if there is more than one brand involved.
Example:
If the dealer John’s Recreation sells the brands Swiftsteer and Offroader and you use the Territories page to assign the state of Missouri to the dealer, then the dealer will receive leads from prospects for both brands within the state if Missouri.
If you utilize the Brand Territories function, then each brand has the opportunity to have an area of responsibility independent of the other brand within the same dealership.
Product assignments: Less frequently utilized, Aimbase allows users to assign specific products to dealers, thus limiting the leads assigned to a dealer based upon the prospect’s product of interest. The product assignment function requires customization to the dealer locator being used on a brand website if/when data is pulled from Aimbase and requires maintenance each time a model year changes over. When using product lead routing, it becomes even more necessary that all leads are sent to Aimbase with a product of interest included with the detail. For these reasons, this feature must be specifically requested to be enabled.
Lead Re-routing: Aimbase has the ability for leads to be re-routed to the next dealer in line if/when the first dealer assigned to the lead does not view the lead. All other lead routing rules that have been established apply when using this feature. When enabled, Aimbase also looks for whichever dealer would be the next best match to the lead based off the lead routing rules. When using this feature, after the lead has been assigned to as many dealers as the OEM has specified, then the lead is assigned to the default dealer.
In order to stop a lead from re-routing to the next dealer, one of two things must happen:
The link in the Lead Emails To lead notification email is clicked, thus rendering the lead as “Viewed”.
The lead details page is accessed from within Aimbase by the user who is assigned to the lead. NOTE: The email address on the user account must match the email address that the Lead Emails To contact type is assigned to for this method to work.
Below are different factors that can be dictated by the OEM when utilizing the Lead Re-routing functionality.
Number of dealers each lead is allowed to be re-routed to before being assigned to the default dealer.
Number of minutes the dealer is allowed to be assigned to the lead without viewing before the lead is reassigned to the next best dealer. This value is calculated in minutes, but this can also be setup to hours, days, weeks, etc. based on criteria set by the OEM.
On which days (if any) leads should not re-route to a different dealer.
When utilizing this configuration, any days being skipped still count toward the maximum number of minutes a dealer is allowed to be assigned to the lead without viewing. This configuration only ensures that, if a lead reaches the maximum number of minutes on a day being skipped, then the reassignment will be delayed until the same time on the next day eligible for lead re-routing.
The lead re-routing function has implications for the standard set of reports in Aimbase, any dealers using CRMs to view their leads, dynamic content in autoresponders and nurture emails, and other optional functions of Aimbase. For these reasons, this feature must be specifically requested to be enabled.
General Rules Related to Lead Routing
1. Lead routing doesn’t cross country lines. Example: There are dealer locations Mackinac Island, Michigan and Killarney, Ontario. A lead from a customer in Batchawana Bay, Ontario goes through the lead routing process and gets assigned to the dealer in Killarney, Ontario. This happens because even though the dealer in Mackinac Island is closer, it is in a different country.
2. In the U.S., leads routed with the ‘closest dealer’ logic are calculated “as the crow flies”. Example: Dealer A is 15 miles point-to-point from the lead and 25 miles driving distance. Dealer B is 18 miles point-to-point from the lead and 20 miles driving distance. The lead will be assigned to Dealer A even though the driving distance is further, because “as the crow flies” it is the closer dealer to the lead.
3. A prospect’s distance from a dealer is calculated based upon the center point of the zip code associated to the lead. When a lead is created within Aimbase, the system calculates the latitude-longitude of the center point of the postal/zip code provided by the prospect. Once this is determined, Aimbase uses the latitude-longitude from the calculation to determine which dealer is closest based on the latitude-longitude on each ‘Active for Sales’ dealer.
4. When territories are assigned to more than one dealer, the dealer with the assignment who is geographically closest to the zip/postal code on the lead will be assigned to the lead. Zip/postal codes cannot be shared by two dealerships. Most countries outside of the U.S. and Canada cannot be shared by more than one dealer.
Relationship to Dealer Locators
If you’re using the Aimbase dealer locate API to feed the Find a Dealer feature on your website, the results on this locator will mimic how the lead would be assigned to a dealer in Aimbase. The logic for both is the same and cannot be configured to operate on different sets of rules.
Exceptions to Lead Routing Rules
When leads are sent to Aimbase with the dealer pre-assigned to them, all steps (listed above) normally taken to determine the best dealer for the lead are skipped. Leads enter Aimbase either by file import or API. On these files is a field that allows a lead to be manually assigned to a dealer. This is done simply by passing a dealer number into Aimbase with the rest of the lead information. When this happens, Aimbase skips all other steps related to routing the lead to a dealer and assigns the lead to the dealer included in its details.
Example Scenarios:
Lead is entered by a user from the dealer locator - In some instances, a manufacturer might choose for a consumer to see a “Contact This Dealer” call to action on the results of a dealer search. Often when this feature is available, the website will record the dealer number of the dealer clicked and pass it with the lead information into Aimbase. This ensures that if the consumer provided an address more relevant to the location they need the dealer to be near and then enter a permanent/home address on the form, that the lead will still go to the dealer nearest to where its services are needed.
Historical data or third-party sources - When importing historical data or data that may have been assigned to a dealer in another system or during another process, it is common to insert the data into Aimbase with the pre-existing dealer assignment in-tact.