Lead Routing

Not every lead should go to the same place. A lead from someone in Manchester should go to a Manchester dealer. A lead for an electric vehicle should trigger a different follow-up than one for a diesel. A lead missing a postcode probably should not reach your CRM at all. Lead Routing lets you apply conditional logic to each Capture in Driftrock so every lead is sent to exactly the right destination based on its content.

What is Lead Routing?

Lead Routing is a conditional filtering system built into the Automate step of every Capture in Driftrock. It lets you define rules based on any field in the lead record, then use those rules to control which destination (CRM, auto-responder, notification, Conversions API) receives each lead, and under what conditions.

Rules can be based on standard fields (location, vehicle of interest, purchase timeline) or custom fields specific to your forms. Multiple destinations can be set up under a single Capture, each with different routing criteria.

Why use Lead Routing?

Without routing, every lead from a Capture follows the same path to the same destination. Routing unlocks the ability to treat different leads differently, which is essential for any programme with more than one dealer, product line, or sales team:

Route by geography. Send each lead to the dealer matched to the customer's postcode, rather than forwarding everything to a central inbox.

Route by intent. Only forward leads to your main CRM if the customer has indicated they want to purchase within three months. Route lower-intent leads to a nurture flow instead.

Use routing as a data quality gate. Block leads from reaching the CRM if a critical field (such as a vehicle ID or dealer ID) is missing. This keeps your CRM clean and prevents downstream errors.

Send different follow-ups by lead type. Trigger a different auto-responder email for an EV enquiry than for a finance enquiry, from the same Capture.

How it works

Lead Routing is configured within the Automate step of any Capture. For each destination (a CRM connection, an auto-responder, a notification email), you can toggle on "Route by custom rules" and define the conditions that must be met for a lead to be sent to that destination.

Conditions are built using any field available on the lead record: for example, location_id is not empty, vehicle_type contains Electric, or purchase_timeline contains Within 3 months. If a lead meets all conditions, it is sent to that destination. If it does not, it is blocked at that destination but continues through the rest of the Capture's automation.

If a lead is blocked by a routing rule, this is visible in the Capture overview in Driftrock, where a greyed-out icon indicates the lead was held back at that destination.

Getting started

Open a Capture in Your Captures and navigate to the Automate step.

Select the destination you want to add routing to (your CRM, an auto-responder, etc.) and open its settings.

Scroll to "Route by custom rules" and toggle it on.

Add your rules using the available fields and conditions. For example: location_id is not empty.

Save and test with a lead to confirm the routing behaves as expected.

For more complex programmes, you can set up multiple destinations under the same Capture, each with its own routing rules, to cover every required scenario.

Tips for getting the most out of Lead Routing

If leads are not appearing at an expected destination, check whether a greyed-out icon is showing on the Capture overview. This indicates the lead was blocked by a routing rule. Review which field condition is failing and trace it back to whether the field is being populated correctly earlier in the Capture setup.

Routing rules are most powerful when used alongside Automatic Dealer Assignment. Run dealer assignment first so that location_id is populated, then use a routing rule to only forward leads where location_id is not empty to your main CRM