Salesforce routes a lead at 2am exactly as it does at 2pm. The owner is chosen. Nobody is there to see it.
What to decide
- Who owns a lead that arrives outside working hours. A named team, a queue or the next person in line when they start.
- Which time zone counts. The lead's, the rep's or the company's.
- How long the lead may wait, and what happens then. See a lead response SLA.
Where it goes wrong
- The lead goes to a rep on leave or off shift. See reps on leave.
- The lead goes to a queue that nobody opens until Monday. See leads stuck in a queue.
- Weekend leads are all given to the same person.
Count it yourself
Times may come back in UTC. Check how your org shows them before you read the result.
SELECT DAY_ONLY(convertTimezone(CreatedDate)), COUNT(Id) FROM Lead WHERE CreatedDate = LAST_N_DAYS:30 AND Status = 'New' GROUP BY DAY_ONLY(convertTimezone(CreatedDate))Use your own default status. Days with a high count of leads still new, often after weekends, show leads that waited. See measuring lead response time.
The free scan cannot count how long a lead waited. It checks the setup behind it.
See when leads arrive
Group last month's leads by day of the week.
SELECT DAY_IN_WEEK(convertTimezone(CreatedDate)) d, COUNT(Id) n FROM Lead WHERE CreatedDate = LAST_N_DAYS:30 GROUP BY DAY_IN_WEEK(convertTimezone(CreatedDate))convertTimezone turns the UTC time into the running user's time zone first. Day 1 is usually Sunday and day 7 Saturday. Test it on a lead whose day you know. Days 1 and 7 then hold the weekend leads.
A worked example
A made-up lead arrives on Saturday evening. The rule gives it to a rep who is off until Monday. Nobody opens it until then.
Fix it by deciding three things. Send out-of-hours leads to a named queue. Name who looks at it first. Say how long a lead may wait.
Write it down
Put the answers on one page. Name the out-of-hours owner, the time zone that counts and the wait that escalates. The rules of engagement template has a section for it.
A made-up out-of-hours table
Fill this in once and keep it with the routing notes. See reps on leave for the cover side.
| Arrives | Owner | First look | Escalates after |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekday evening | Next-day queue | 08:30 local | Two working hours |
| Saturday | Weekend queue | Monday 08:30 | One working hour |
| Public holiday | Weekend queue | Next working day | One working hour |
Every value here is made up. Your table needs your own hours and your own wait.
How to check the table is followed
Take the Monday count from the day-of-week query. Open five of those leads. Compare the owner and the first activity with the table. Two or more mismatched rows mean the rule does not follow the table. Start by reading how to measure response time.
Have it checked every night instead.
Routing Forensics connects as a read-only user and checks this, and the rest of your routing, against your real leads. Three design partners get a free health report on their own CRM, free for 90 days: what is leaking, where, and what it is worth. Apply for a place.
The free scan cannot count how long a lead waited. It reads your routing setup in your browser. Scan your Salesforce or HubSpot routing. The nightly check, open to design partners, counts it.