Leads leak when ownership is unclear and the handoff is informal. The symptoms are predictable: slow follow-up, duplicate outreach, and reporting that no one trusts.

A reliable handoff defines what a complete lead is, where it lives, who owns it next, and how fast action must happen.

Define the moment a lead becomes sales-ready

Pick one point where the lead is considered ready for sales. That point should be triggered by rules, not by someone remembering to copy a row to another sheet.

Then define the next owner. A lead without an owner is not a lead. It is untracked work.

Enforce minimum lead quality

If the lead arrives missing key context, sales either ignores it or wastes time chasing basics. Decide what is mandatory for your business and enforce it at the handoff.

• Usable contact method (valid email or phone)
• Clear interest category (what they want)
• Location or service area (if eligibility depends on it)
• Consent status (if you are subject to contact rules)
• Source and campaign (so you can measure what works)

Speed is a system property

Set a response-time target and make it measurable. An SLA (service level agreement) is simply a time promise, such as “first contact within 15 minutes”. If you cannot measure it, you do not have it.

Route leads using rules sales trusts: territory, capacity, deal size, or customer type. Avoid manual assignment as the default.

Make failures visible and recoverable

Handoffs fail in the messy middle: API errors, permission problems, duplicates, missing fields, or staff using an outdated view. Build alerting that tells you which lead failed and why, plus a simple re-try path.

Owner checklist

• One source of truth for lead status and ownership.
• Mandatory fields enforced before the lead is handed to sales.
• Response-time targets tracked and reviewed weekly.
• Alerts for failed handoffs, plus a documented recovery process.