LeadStream Priorization Explained

📋 Summary:

This training video focuses on how lead prioritization works specifically within blind pull LeadStreams in PhoneBurner. Blind pull LeadStreams allow team members to simply click “Begin Dial Session” and be served leads, ensuring no contact is dialed by multiple users at once. The system prioritizes leads in the following order:

1. Uncalled leads – New leads that have never been called are always served first.
2. Leads not yet called in this specific LeadStream – Even if called elsewhere, if not yet called in this stream, they rise in priority.
3. Leads based on last call date – Once all leads have been called at least once, the system prioritizes the ones called longest ago.
4. Newest by import date/time – If tied, the newest imported leads are prioritized.

The video also walks through Advanced Sorting Options available in the LeadStream settings:

• Custom field sorting – You can prioritize leads by numeric or date-based custom fields.
• Sort by number of calls – Enables newer leads with fewer calls to take priority over older, heavily-called contacts, optimizing for speed-to-lead.
• Sort oldest leads first – Useful for surfacing older contacts, though less commonly used compared to other options.

Overall, the video emphasizes how these settings help organizations work their leads efficiently and systematically, especially when working with real-time or high-volume data.

🏷️ Tags:

lead prioritization, LeadStream settings, blind pull, advanced sorting, custom field sorting, number of calls, lead recycling, speed to lead, dialing system, sales automation, contact management

📝 Cleaned-Up Transcript:

Are you taking advantage of the LeadStream feature in PhoneBurner so that you and your organization can systematically work through your data, ensuring each lead is handled consistently and as quickly as possible? If so, you probably have some questions about prioritization, and that’s what I want to talk about on this specific training call.

We’re going to discuss how leads are prioritized in a blind pull LeadStream. When it comes to a round-robin LeadStream, yes, there are some prioritization rules, but for the most part, those leads are distributed to your team, and then your team decides when they’re going to call them. Or, for example, in a preview pull or a Lead Blitz, your team is choosing to call those leads and typically works them later via their Contact Manager or saved searches.

So, this training is specifically focused on blind pull LeadStreams and their prioritization. A blind pull LeadStream allows your team to see that leads are available, click “Begin Dial Session,” and the system feeds leads throughout the session. You can have one person or a thousand people calling in the same LeadStream, and the system ensures no contact is called by more than one person at a time.

But how does the system decide which lead is called first? That’s what I want to help you understand.

Let’s jump over to the LeadStream settings. There are a few ways to get there, but we’re going to click on our image or initials in the upper right-hand corner of the page, then go to Contact Settings. In the Contact Settings, click on LeadStream. From here, you’ll see a list of your LeadStreams. I’ll go ahead and edit the Hot Fresh Leads LeadStream.

Scroll down to the Advanced Sorting Options section. This is where prioritization settings live. Before we expand the section, note the small information bubble—you can click this to see the default and optional prioritization options. We’ll walk through each one.

By default, LeadStream always prioritizes uncalled leads first. So, any time a new lead is added to your blind pull stream, it’s the next to be called. Blind pull LeadStreams are perfect when speed-to-lead is a priority.

After the never-called leads are handled, the system looks for leads that haven’t been called in this specific LeadStream. Maybe they’ve been called before elsewhere, but not here—those get prioritized next.

Then, if everything has been called at least once, the system looks at the last call date and prioritizes based on the longest time since last call, effectively creating a loop of contacts.

Next, it considers the import date/time, prioritizing newer imported leads when all other criteria are equal.

Now that we’ve covered the out-of-the-box logic, let’s explore Advanced Sorting Options by clicking Show Sorting Options.

First up: Sort by Custom Field. Many people find this useful. If you have a custom field for lead prioritization—maybe a numeric field—you can choose to sort highest to lowest or lowest to highest. Some organizations treat “1” as a higher priority than “9,” for example. You can also sort by a date field, choosing either earlier or later dates based on your needs.

Clicking the info bubble again reminds us: Newest uncalled leads are always called first. If you have a batch of uncalled leads, you can sort that batch using a custom field before they’re called the first time. But ideally, if your team is actively working the LeadStream, there shouldn’t be too many uncalled leads sitting around.

Next option: Sort by Number of Calls. This simple checkbox is incredibly powerful. Normally, once all leads are called once, the system starts with the one that hasn’t been called in the longest time. But if you have large amounts of data—or real-time leads flowing in—that logic could delay second calls to newer leads.

With this box checked, leads that have fewer calls will jump ahead in line. For example, if a fresh lead is called and recycled today, it can be re-dialed ahead of leads that have already been called 2–3 times. This creates automatic deprioritization of older, heavily called leads—perfect for real-time, speed-to-lead workflows.

Lastly, there’s the option to Sort Oldest Leads First. This prioritizes leads based on the date they were imported—focusing on older data. In practice, this is rarely used, since custom field sorting and number-of-calls sorting offer more control. Plus, it’s the last criteria the system considers.

That’s an overview of LeadStream prioritization and the advanced sorting options available to you. I hope this helps your organization better understand how PhoneBurner prioritizes leads so you can get the most out of your data.

Thanks for watching, and happy dialing!