Routing on Intent Signals: Do's and Don'ts

Intent signals are critical for optimizing revenue operations, but how do you ensure they’re routed effectively? In this session, we sat down with Stan Rymkiewicz and Caitlyn Vaughn from Default’s growth team to break down the best practices - and common pitfalls - of routing on intent signals.

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Default has seen thousands of intent workflows across their customers and within their own sales process. Their insights provide a roadmap for how to categorize, capture, and act on intent data efficiently.

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The Three Categories of Intent Signals

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Before diving into routing, it’s essential to categorize intent signals:

• Explicit Signals: These are the high-intent actions every sales team dreams of - demo requests, “buy now” clicks or direct outreach from a prospect.
• Implicit Signals: These actions indicate interest but require further qualification, like visiting pricing pages, engaging with product reviews, or consuming multiple pieces of content.
• Inferred Signals: These are indirect indicators, such as a company raising funding, hiring new AEs, or switching tech stacks - suggesting they might be in the market for your solution.

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"The real question isn’t just about who to reach out to - it’s about knowing when to reach out and why," - Caitlyn Vaughn

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Most growth teams spend a significant amount of time analyzing inferred intent, as these signals help identify the right time to engage potential buyers.

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To explore more on lead qualification, read Default's post on Inbound Lead Qualification: Building a Qualified Lead Flow.

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First-Party vs. Third-Party Intent Signals

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Intent signals come from two primary sources:

1. First-Party Data – This includes website visits, ad interactions, and CRM engagement data that only your company owns.
2. Third-Party Data – This is sourced from external platforms like review sites (G2, TrustRadius), data aggregators (Bombora, 6sense), and LinkedIn engagement.

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"Your first-party data is gold - if you don’t act on it quickly, someone else will," - Stan Rymkiewicz

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Since third-party data is widely available for purchase, being first to act on first-party signals gives your team a competitive advantage.

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For insights on lead enrichment tools that can enhance your data strategy, consider Default's article on 7 Lead Enrichment Tools For the Best Insights in 2024.

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Common Routing Pitfalls to Avoid

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Even with high-quality intent data, routing mistakes can derail your sales motion. Here are the most common don’ts:

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❌ Over-Automation

‍It may seem efficient to auto-enroll leads into sequences, but this removes ownership and accountability from sales teams. If a rep doesn’t manually review an account, they may not personalize their outreach effectively.

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❌ Ignoring Data Hygiene

‍Poor CRM hygiene can lead to inaccurate routing, duplicated efforts, and a frustrating buyer experience.

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"If your CRM isn’t clean, it doesn’t matter how good your routing logic is - you’re just automating chaos," - Stan Rymkiewicz

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❌ Assuming All Intent Signals Are Equal

‍A new hire at a target account doesn’t carry the same weight as a demo request. Make sure your routing logic accounts for the varying levels of intent.

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To learn more about effective lead routing strategies, refer to Default's guide on Lead Routing: Best Practices, Strategy & Automation Guide.

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Routing Best Practices: What to Automate vs. What to Leave to Humans

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When setting up routing workflows, automate where it makes sense, but leave room for human decision-making.

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✅ Automate:

• Routing and Assignments – Ensure leads are automatically assigned to the right reps based on territory, industry or existing relationships.
• Real-Time Notifications – Let reps know immediately when a key account is showing high-intent activity.
• Lead Scoring and Enrichment – Use automated scoring models to prioritize outreach.

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❌ Don’t Automate:

• The Outreach Itself – Sales should still personalize messaging and adapt their approach based on the context of the signal.
• Account Research – While enrichment tools can help, reps should take the time to understand the account’s context before reaching out.

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"Automation should be used to remove friction, not replace human judgment," - Caitlyn Vaughn

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For a practical example of automating lead routing, see Default's Intermediate Inbound Lead Routing for Salesforce Users.

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How to Act on Intent Signals Without Sounding Creepy

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One of the biggest mistakes in leveraging intent data is making outreach feel invasive.

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❌ Bad Example: “Hey, I saw you visited our pricing page three times. Are you ready to buy?”

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✅ Better Approach: “Many companies like yours evaluate pricing when they’re looking for scalability. I’d love to share some insights on how others in your industry approach this decision.”

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"Your messaging should feel helpful, not like you’re watching their every move," - Stan Rymkiewicz

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By using intent signals as a guide rather than calling them out directly, sales teams can create value-driven conversations rather than appearing intrusive.

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For strategies on effective lead response management, consider Default's article on Lead Response Management: What it is, Importance, Best Practices.

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Choosing a Routing Strategy: Account Ownership vs. Intent-Based Distribution

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There are two main approaches to routing on intent:

1. Account Ownership Model – Reps are assigned a book of business, and all intent signals from their accounts are routed to them. This ensures consistency and relationship-building.
2. Intent-Based Routing – Accounts are dynamically assigned based on real-time intent signals, optimizing for speed and responsiveness.

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"Account ownership gives reps full control, but intent-based routing ensures speed - choosing between the two depends on your GTM motion," - Stan Rymkiewicz

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📌 Best Practice: If your team has the resources to manage a strong CRM with clear account ownership, this model prevents routing conflicts. However, if your pipeline depends on inbound signals, dynamic routing can maximize responsiveness.

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To explore more on lead distribution strategies, read Default's post on How to Handle Lead Distribution in Complex B2B Sales Environment.

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Final Takeaways

• Not all intent signals are equal—prioritize based on conversion likelihood.
• Automate assignments and notifications, but keep outreach human-driven.
• Use intent data as a conversation starter, not as a surveillance tool.
• Choose a routing strategy that aligns with your sales process and CRM hygiene.

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"At the end of the day, the best routing strategy is the one that actually gets acted on," - Stan Rymkiewicz

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Looking for more insights? Join the RevOps Co-op community, check out our blog and take a look at all the routing and intent signal resources from Default to stay ahead of the latest trends in revenue operations.

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