New idea: Routing leads to agents when they’re ‘emotionally ready’ – crazy or genius?

Hey u/CommercialRealEstate! I’m a former team lead turned startup founder, and I’d love your honest take on an idea that’s been buzzing in my head. It’s a platform to help brokerages and teams improve sales performance by distributing leads based on an agent’s emotional readiness. 🤔*

Here’s the gist: Our system would calculate an “Emotional Readiness Score” for each agent, in real time. That score comes from things like the agent’s engagement in the CRM (e.g. response times, follow-up activity, tasks completed) combined with brief self-reported check-ins (think 1-2 question pulse surveys about their mindset or energy). The idea is to send leads to an agent only when they are most “in the zone” – emotionally primed and focused to work the lead effectively.

  • For example, if Agent Alice is having a motivated, high-energy day (active in the CRM, positive check-in, recently closed a deal), she’d have a high score – the system would route more new leads to her at that time.
  • If Agent Bob is burned out or distracted (low CRM updates, maybe indicated he’s overwhelmed), the system would hold off or send fewer leads his way until his score improves.

The goal is to match the right lead to the right agent at the right time, so leads aren’t wasted on someone who isn’t in the headspace to follow up promptly. Ultimately, this could increase conversion rates because each lead gets an agent who is ready to give full attention and enthusiasm at that moment.

Why I think this could matter: In my experience managing a team, I noticed we had “good days” and “off days.” Sometimes an agent who usually rocks it would let a hot lead fall through the cracks because they were having a rough week or were spread thin. Meanwhile, another agent might be on a roll and craving more leads. We tried informally to redistribute leads on the fly, but it was hard to do fairly and effectively. I’m curious if technology could do this at scale – hence this idea of quantifying an agent’s readiness and automating the matching of leads accordingly. It’s a bit like lead scoring, but instead of scoring the leads, we’re scoring the agent’s readiness and using that to allocate opportunities.

What I’d love feedback on: Is this something that would actually be useful in the real world of your brokerage or team?

  • Viability: Does the concept of an “Emotional Readiness Score” based on CRM activity and quick surveys sound plausible to you? Or is it too gimmicky/Big Brother?
  • Friction: Can you see agents on your team actually engaging with this (e.g. doing a 10-second mood check-in each day)? Or would that be a hard sell? I’m wary of making it too complicated or intrusive. What potential pushback might agents have?
  • Real-world application: If you’re a broker or team leader, would you use a system like this to distribute leads? How do you handle lead distribution now – and do you feel like some leads get “wasted” because of timing or an agent not being in the right mindset?
  • Impact on agents: For the agents out there – would receiving leads only when you’re ready for them improve your performance and your well-being? Or would it feel frustrating to have leads held back until you “prove” you’re ready? (I’ve heard someone joke it’s like a mood ring for lead routing – not sure if that’s cool or not 😅.)
  • Any similar experiences: Have you seen anything like this done before, or maybe hacked together your own version (like a broker who intuitively divvies leads based on who’s “hot”)? How did that go?

I appreciate any and all insight – even if it’s “I’d never use that because XYZ.” Brutal honesty will help me either refine this idea or realize it’s not worth pursuing. If it sounds totally off-base to you, I especially want to know. 🙏

Lastly, if some of you actually find this intriguing and would be open to chatting one-on-one or even trying a beta in the future, let me know. (Feel free to DM me if you prefer.) I’m not here to sell anything right now – just to validate if this concept solves a real problem for agents/teams like you.

Thanks in advance for your feedback! Your collective wisdom is gold to me as I figure out if I’m onto something or if I need to head back to the drawing board. Happy selling, and have an awesome day!

(P.S. Mods, I hope this kind of post is okay – I genuinely am looking for feedback and not promotion. I’ll be active in the comments and would love to hear what you all think.)