Lead Settings: claiming rules and response times
Go to Settings > Lead Settings to control two things: whether leads must be claimed before their details are visible, and the hour thresholds (low, medium, high, critical) at which an unclaimed lead's alert escalates.
Lead Settings is where you tune the two levers of lead accountability: who gets to see a lead before committing to it, and how loudly WorkZen complains when nobody commits. Both live under Settings > Lead Settings.
Changing anything here requires the Manage Company Settings permission; company admins have it by default. Edits apply company-wide as soon as you save.
Lead Claiming
The Lead Claiming card holds one switch: Require claiming to view details.
When enabled, new leads must be claimed before team members can see contact details, messages, and other sensitive information. Anyone opening an unclaimed lead sees a locked Unclaimed Lead view with a single way forward: the Claim Lead button.
Why use it? Requiring a claim before viewing turns lead handling from "someone will probably call" into a measurable commitment. You can see exactly how long it takes your team to respond to new leads, and no one can quietly cherry-pick contact info without taking ownership.
The switch changes visibility, not permissions. Users still need Manage Leads to claim, and View Leads to see the list. With the switch off, anyone with View Leads sees full lead details immediately.
Response Time Thresholds
The Response Time Thresholds card controls when an unclaimed lead escalates. Alerts appear based on time before claiming, and each threshold marks the moment a lead moves up a severity level:
| Setting | Default | What happens at this point |
|---|---|---|
| Low priority threshold | 3 hours | An alert shows that the lead hasn't been contacted |
| Medium priority threshold | 12 hours | The lead escalates to medium priority |
| High priority threshold | 24 hours | The lead escalates to high priority |
| Critical priority threshold | 48 hours | The lead escalates to critical priority |
Two validation rules: every value must be at least 1 hour, and the four values must be in ascending order. Break the order and the save fails with "Thresholds must be in ascending order".
Where you see the result: the lead list shows a clock indicator colored by severity next to waiting leads, and an unclaimed lead's detail page shows a waiting time bar with a LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH, or CRITICAL badge and a Claim Lead shortcut. The clock stops the moment someone claims the lead.
The waiting time display with severity indicators requires the ZenGrow plan or higher. See pricing.
Tuning the thresholds
Match the numbers to your actual business rhythm, not to wishful thinking:
- An emergency-services company might set 1 / 2 / 4 / 8: an hour-old plumbing lead is already shopping your competitor.
- A renovation contractor booking months out might live comfortably with the 3 / 12 / 24 / 48 defaults.
Set them tight enough that critical means "we probably lost this one", and the colors become a self-enforcing standard: nobody wants to be the reason the dashboard turns red.
Frequently Asked Questions
This article answers:
- Where are the lead settings in WorkZen?
- How do I require claiming before viewing a lead?
- How do I change lead response time thresholds?
- Why is a lead marked critical?
- How do I hide lead details until someone claims the lead?
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