The Customer
Sandler Training is a global leader in corporate sales training, empowering over 50,000 sales professionals annually to perfect their craft. With operations spanning hundreds of territories worldwide and 165+ franchises connected to its central operations, Sandler's commitment to developing exceptional sales talent requires equally exceptional systems to manage its vast network. Its drive for operational excellence led it to seek a better way to handle its complex lead distribution needs.
The Challenge
Sometimes, the most pressing business challenges stem from solutions that worked well in the past but haven't kept pace with growth. Fortunately, when Sandler faced this situation with its lead distribution system, the company already had a long-lasting partnership with the Lynton and SyncSmart teams. Our relationship had been established years earlier when SyncSmart built a multi-sync integration product called Portals to help connect all their data, and Lynton helped support it.
This existing relationship proved valuable as Sandler grappled with its third-party lead rotator application (not built by the Lynton team), which had become a bottleneck in expanding operations. The system presented several critical challenges:
- Every update, no matter how small, could potentially require developer intervention. Even minor territory adjustments could take weeks to implement, creating backlogs and bottlenecks.
- Geographic lead routing lacked precision. In one notable example, leads from Buffalo were incorrectly routed to Canadian franchises simply because of their proximity to the border.
- Territory management needed to handle primary "business focus areas" and secondary coverage zones, but the system couldn't effectively differentiate between them.
- Franchise onboarding was a complex process often requiring developer involvement and code updates, slowing expansion efforts.
- Error tracking and reporting capabilities were limited, leaving the operations team without visibility into potential issues.
- The system's nature and the fact that it did not live in HubSpot, where they performed their other operations, made it difficult for Sandler's team to manage and troubleshoot problems independently.
- The amount of time-consuming manual processes resulted in inefficiencies and missed lead opportunities.
The Solutions We Provided
We approached this challenge by recognizing that Sandler needed more than just a new lead distribution tool — they needed a comprehensive system that could grow with their business and be easily managed and maintained.
The solution began by connecting Sandler's mothership portal to their 165+ franchise (or child) portals through the SyncSmart Portals product, creating the foundation for a sophisticated lead distribution system built entirely within HubSpot.
Then, we went to work on their customer Lead Router application, which lives entirely in HubSpot, and included the following approaches.
Intelligent Lead Distribution Engine
At the heart of our solution is a sophisticated lead distribution engine that operates through a series of interconnected workflows and custom objects. We:
- Created a custom Territory object to precisely map and manage franchise coverage areas (USA and internationally)
- Developed an intelligent routing system that evaluates multiple qualification criteria before distribution
- Built automated workflows that handle the entire journey from lead qualification to franchise assignment
- Implemented a fair distribution model that considers factors like last-lead-received date and territory priority
- Established clear error handling and notification systems to ensure no lead falls through the cracks
Comprehensive Territory Management
We developed a flexible territory management system that accounts for the complex nature of Sandler's franchise operations by accomplishing the following:
- Built a hierarchical system supporting both primary "business focus areas" and secondary coverage zones
- Created precise geographic assignment using postal codes, down to specific zip code exclusions, utilizing Google Maps AI
- Implemented automated territory association management that updates as franchises grow or change
- Developed intelligent fallback logic to find the next best franchise when primary territories aren't available
- Added specialized handling for international territories, with custom notification flows for global operations
Automated Franchise Management
The system transforms how Sandler manages their franchise network through the following items we completed:
- Streamlined current and future franchise onboarding through simple HubSpot company record updates
- Created automated lead follow-up tracking with reminder notifications (i.e. If a franchise does not work the lead within 24 hours, they received a notification to take action)
- Implemented a lead recall system that redistributes leads after a certain number of days of inactivity (i.e. If a franchise does not work the lead or it is simply not a good fit, the lead will be brought back to mothership and redistributed to another franchise company)
- Built-in franchise status controls that can instantly activate or pause lead distribution for a single franchise
- Developed specialized handling for both domestic and international franchise operations
Transparent Reporting and Error Management
To ensure smooth operations, we implemented comprehensive monitoring and error handling, such as:
- Created Hubspot custom objects to track all lead assignments and distribution history
- Built dashboards showing key metrics like distribution frequency and franchisee engagement
- Implemented detailed error tracking with specific failure reasons and resolution paths
- Added automated notifications for both franchise partners and internal administrators
- Developed clear audit trails for lead journey tracking and troubleshooting
Ultimately, the system operates through integrated workflows that handle everything from initial lead qualification to final assignment confirmation. This creates a seamless process that's both sophisticated in its capabilities and simple in its day-to-day management.
The Results and What’s Next
The new lead rotator application has transformed how Sandler manages their franchise operations. The early results show significant improvements across their business, including the following:
- Declining error rates in lead assignments, with clear visibility into any issues that do arise
- Dramatically improved control over territory management, with updates now possible in minutes rather than weeks
- A streamlined franchise onboarding process for adding new franchises to the distribution and expanding to new international markets
- Enhanced ability to track and resolve lead assignment issues through detailed reporting
- Improved lead management through automated follow-up and redistribution systems
Perhaps most importantly, the solution has given Sandler's operations team an easy-to-use lead routing system, the ability to manage their extensive network independently, and the flexibility to scale as they expand globally. By bringing lead rotation into HubSpot and eliminating external systems, we've created a more efficient, transparent, and manageable process that positions Sandler for continued growth. We've also helped Sandler's HubSpot administrators save significant time and headaches.
The project exemplifies how complex operational challenges can be solved through thoughtful system design and the right technology stack. While the technical implementation is sophisticated — involving multiple workflows, custom objects, and intricate business logic — we ensured Sandler's success through comprehensive support, including delivering a detailed 30+ page administrative documentation, step-by-step debugging guidance, and maintaining ongoing technical support for their team (should they need it). The end result is a user-friendly system that Sandler's team can confidently manage and scale with our team as an available resource for any future endeavors.
Schedule a meeting with our team if you’re interested in building custom functionality for your company.
