> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.revenuehero.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # What are Matching Rules? A matching rule takes the information from a form submission, finds the matching record in your CRM, and routes the meeting to whoever owns that record. It is an optional step on an Inbound Router. If a router has no matching rule, submissions skip this lookup and go straight to distribution. ## How a matching rule works When a submission reaches a router that has a matching rule, RevenueHero: 1. Takes an identifier from the submission: the prospect's **email**, their **email domain**, or a **form field you've mapped**. 2. Searches the CRM object you chose (a Contact, Lead, Account, Deal / Opportunity, or custom object) for a record that matches that identifier. 3. If it finds a record, reads that record's **owner** field and assigns the meeting to that owner, or to the owner plus a group you define. 4. If it finds nothing, passes the submission to your [distribution rules](/rules/distribution/create-distribution-rule). ## Who matching rules are for Matching rules only pay off when you have ownership in your CRM to match against. They are most useful when: * **You sell to existing accounts and customers.** Renewals, expansion, and repeat buyers reach the rep who already owns them instead of a stranger. * **You run account-based sales.** Match the email domain to the account owner so every stakeholder from a target account books with the same AE, whoever fills out the form. * **Reps own named accounts or territories.** The rule enforces that ownership at booking time, so a new inbound never pulls an account away from the rep who owns it. * **You work multi-threaded deals.** When several people from one company book meetings, account matching keeps them all with a single AE. * **You route by the open deal, not the account.** When an AE is actively working an opportunity, match on the associated deal so new inbound from that company reaches the deal owner instead of whoever owns the account record. * **You run an SDR-to-AE motion.** Matched accounts route to the AE who owns them rather than round-robining to whoever is next in line. ## Where matching fits in routing A router evaluates submissions in a set order. Matching rules are the optional middle step: when you add them to a router, they run **before** distribution. Leave them off, and the router moves straight from disqualification to distribution. Image When a router has matching rules, they are checked in order, top to bottom, and the first rule that finds a match wins\*\*.\*\* If no rule matches, or the router has none, the lead falls through to your [distribution rules](/rules/distribution/create-distribution-rule), where round robin assigns new business. In short: matching is for existing relationships, distribution is for net-new leads. ## What you can match on Each rule matches an incoming submission against one kind of CRM record and assigns the meeting to that record's owner. RevenueHero gives you two ready-made rules you can add to a router, **assign to the existing contact owner** and **assign to the existing company owner**, or you can build your own. Adding at least one is what turns on the CRM ownership check. * **Contact** - match the prospect's email to an existing contact and book with the contact owner. * **Lead** - match the prospect's email to an existing lead and book with the lead owner. * **Account** - match the prospect's email *domain* to an existing account and book with the account owner. Anyone from `@acme.co` reaches the same rep. This is the one to use for account-based selling. * **Associated account** - find the account through its related contacts, then book with the account owner. * **Deals or opportunities** - match the prospect's company to its associated deals and book with the **deal owner**, the rep actively working the opportunity, rather than the static account owner. If the company has more than one open deal, RevenueHero uses the most recently created one. * **Custom object** - match a custom CRM object and book with its owner. By default RevenueHero matches on the prospect's email (for contacts and leads) or their email domain (for accounts). You can also match a specific form field against a specific CRM field, and add **conditions** to narrow which records count as a match. ## Who gets the meeting Image * **The existing owner** — the meeting goes to the single owner on the matched record. This is the default, and it keeps one point of contact. * **The owner plus a group** — the existing owner is the primary host and teammates join as participants, for a collective meeting. * **A specific person** — override matching to always send matched records to a chosen user or team. You can also let the rule **write the owner back to your CRM** so ownership stays in sync, and add default booking guests. ## Best practices Decide deliberately whether a rule checks the **company/account owner**, the **contact owner**, or both. If your SDRs own contacts and your AEs own accounts, a rule that checks contact owner will hand the meeting to the SDR, not the AE. If you want AEs to keep their accounts, match on company/account ownership. The first rule that matches wins, so put the ownership you most want honored at the top and drag to reorder. A common setup is account owner first, then contact owner as a backstop. Anything your matching rules don't catch flows into distribution. Make sure your router has at least one [distribution rule](/rules/distribution/create-distribution-rule) so a new prospect is never left without a rep. Routing to a single existing owner protects the relationship, but it limits booking to that one person's calendar. If speed to book matters more than continuity for a segment, lean on distribution so prospects see a wider set of open slots. Match the email domain to the account owner so every stakeholder from a target account books with the same AE, no matter who fills out the form. A match only books cleanly when the matched record has a valid, active owner. Add conditions so the rule fires only when the owner is a present RevenueHero user, and, if meetings should always reach a seller, when the owner belongs to a specific team such as Sales. This keeps a blank owner or an admin from becoming a dead end.
Step-by-step setup for a new rule Round robin for new businesses when there are no matches. Where matching and distribution rules come together to create your routing engine. Audit trail for each router's outcome.