If everything is “hot,” nothing is. That’s the problem inside most SMB sales teams: reps chase noise, managers triage by gut feel, and the forecast bloats with activity that will never convert. Lead triage fixes that. Try this ER playbook, fast intake, clear severity, hard response times and you’ll protect your attention for the leads that actually close.
What Lead Triage Means in Practice
Lead triage is a standardized intake you can execute in 60–120 seconds to decide three things: is this opportunity a fit, how severe is the need, and who owns the next step by when. Think of it as a high-signal filter at the very front of your process. The goal is not to over-analyze; the goal is to make a correct first decision quickly, route the lead to the right person, and enforce a response-time standard (your SLA) so nothing urgent idles in a queue.
The Three-Color Model That Everyone Can Follow
The framework works because it’s simple.
Red means critical: high fit, clear timing, real power in the room. A Red record goes straight to an AE, the first touch happens within minutes for inbound or within a couple of hours for an outbound reply, and a meeting gets booked inside forty-eight hours or a manager intervenes.
Yellow means observation: likely fit but missing timing or power, so an SDR or associate validates quickly and either upgrades to Red or moves the record to structured nurture within a week.
Green means routine: not a fit today or purely educational interest, so it enters a nurture track the same day with occasional re-qualification when a trigger event appears. The colors are unambiguous on purpose; they remove debate and force action.
The Six-Question Lead Triage Card
A lead triage card gives you the “vitals.”
- Ask whether the company matches your ICP on industry, size, and geography.
- Confirm that the prospect can state a business problem you actually solve in plain language.
- Establish whether the impact is material enough to justify change this quarter or next.
- Identify timing triggers such as contract renewals, regulatory deadlines, budget cycles, or downtime windows.
- Verify decision power by involving a mobilizer or naming an executive sponsor.
- Close by defining the next step you can schedule right now.
If you consistently answer five or six of these with a “yes,” including Fit and either Timing or Power, you are looking at a Red. Three or four “yes” answers with Fit present signal a Yellow. Two or fewer “yes” answers or no Fit at all it belongs in Green.
SLAs That Keep the Line Moving
Speed-to-lead matters, but consistency wins. Publish response-time standards for each color and channel and wire them into your CRM. Inbound Reds warrant a response in five minutes or less and a scheduled next step within two hours. Outbound Reds—replies to your outreach—deserve a first touch within two hours and a scheduled next step within one business day. Yellows should receive same-day responses, a short validation call, and a decision to upgrade or nurture inside seven days. Greens enter nurture the day they arrive. Every record must carry a “Next Touch Due” date-time; if it’s blank, the record is out of compliance. If the acronym “SLA” feels too IT-ish, call it your Response-Time Standard and hold it just as tightly.
Routing Rules That Prevent Bottlenecks
Routing is where most teams leak revenue. Assign Red leads directly to the correct AE by territory or segment, and fire a real-time alert so nothing sits unattended. Send Yellow leads to an SDR queue with a short review window so validation calls happen while intent is fresh, then promote to Red or move to nurture without lingering in limbo. Keep Green leads inside marketing automation and allow BDRs to cherry-pick only when Red queues are healthy. Managers should watch queue length and age-in-stage every day and fix capacity or qualification when those numbers climb; “work harder” is not a strategy.
Failure Modes to Eliminate Early
This system collapses when language gets soft. Adjectives like “hot,” “strong,” and “great” creep in when teams ignore the card. Yellow leads die when reps over-diagnose, turning a two-minute decision into a forty-five-minute debate. Global, one-size-fits-all response times bury urgent opportunities under routine traffic. Nurture becomes a graveyard when content is irrelevant and re-qualification never happens. And leadership whiplash with daily overrides of color rules will kill trust in the model. Fix the card and the standards instead of making exceptions.
The Few Metrics That Prove It’s Working
You don’t need a dashboard forest; you need signal. Track speed-to-lead by color and channel so you can see whether Reds truly move first. Monitor triage accuracy by checking how many Reds progress beyond initial stages within seven days. Watch admit-to-close rate on Reds to confirm you are prioritizing real deals. Enforce time-to-next-touch compliance so records never go “dark” inside your system. Keep an eye on queue length by owner so you can adjust capacity before backlogs burn a week. When those numbers trend the right way, your lead triage is doing its job.
A 48-Hour Rollout That Won’t Wreck Your Week
You can stand this up without drama. On day one, draft the six questions, define the Red-Yellow-Green rules, and create the CRM fields for Color, Owner, First Touch, and Next Touch Due along with the timers that power your response-time standard. Configure auto-assignment and alerts so Reds hit the right calendar fast. On day two, train the team for thirty minutes, practice five sample records out loud, go live at midday, and monitor the queues every couple of hours. End the day with a short huddle, review a handful of records, tighten wording on the card, and tune routing where it misfired. After one week, run a brief retrospective; if Red accuracy sits under seventy percent, refine the questions, and if age-in-stage is creeping, adjust capacity or timing, not hope.
Where a Fractional Sales Manager Fits
If you want the shortest path to results, a fractional sales manager acts like your charge nurse and plant manager in one. We install the lead triage framework, wire the routing, enforce the response-time standard, coach the team through the first retro, and hand the system back once the habits stick. You get the behavior change without pausing the business.
FAQs
What is lead triage and why does it matter?
Lead triage is a fast intake that classifies and routes leads by severity using a standard card and SLAs. It matters because speed and focus drive revenue more than raw activity.
How is lead triage different from a lead qualification framework?
Qualification is a deeper evaluation. Lead triage happens first and fast, then hands off to the right person for full qualification.
What SLAs should I use for lead triage?
Use color-coded SLAs: Red ≤ 5 minutes inbound, Yellow ≤ 4 hours, Green same-day nurture. Enforce time-to-next-touch.
Who should own lead triage?
SDRs can handle Yellow and Green. AEs should get Red immediately. A manager owns the queue health and breach reviews.
Can I do lead triage without an SDR team?
Yes. Assign an “intake hour” to AEs and automate routing. The key is the card and the SLA, not the title.
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