# Lead owners and assignment

URL: https://useembers.com/help/leads/lead-owners-and-assignment/
Category: Leads and scoring
Plan: Growth or above
Updated: 2026-09-12
Last verified: 2026-09-12

> On Growth and above, each lead can have an owner so two people do not message the same person. Claim, release, force-reassign, and filter the Owner column.

On Growth and above, the workspace keeps one relationship with each person. The **owner** is who is allowed to move that relationship forward, so two sellers do not send the same message.

> **Warning: Growth and above**
>
> Lead ownership needs Growth, Enterprise, or Agency. Solo has one member, so every lead is already yours.

## Owner, suggested owner, and first touch

- **Owner** is assigned on the lead. The leads list has an **Owner** column. CSV export includes it.
- **Suggested owner** is the member whose Own watched profile has the warmest path to that person. Until someone owns the lead, the Priority Queue and hot-lead alerts go only to that suggested member.
- The workspace setting **lead owner rule** is **first touch** by default: the first contacting action (contacted, replied, call booked) assigns the acting member. **Manual** requires an explicit claim.

Admins set the rule under [Workspace settings](/help/account-and-billing/workspace-settings/).

## Claim and release

### Open the lead

From the [leads list](/help/leads/leads-list/) or the [Priority Queue](/help/leads/priority-queue/), open the person.

### Claim

If the lead is unowned, **Claim** assigns it to you. Members can claim. Admins can also reassign to someone else.

### Release

**Release** clears the owner. The suggested owner starts receiving the Priority Queue alerts again.

Filter the list with `owner=me`, `unassigned`, `others`, or `any`. A **contacted by other** badge appears when another member already recorded a contacting action.

## When someone else already owns it

Owning actions on a lead owned by another member are refused with a conflict dialog. That includes contacted, replied, call booked, dismiss, not interested, snooze, and follow-up.

The dialog names the current owner, the status, and when they last contacted. **Force** reassigns the owner to you and is audited. Notes never need force.

> **Note: Why this exists**
>
> The whole point of one workspace is one book of business. The 409 is how Embers stops two people messaging the same person without deleting anyone's notes.

## Related

- [The leads list](/help/leads/leads-list/): Owner column, filters, and workspace-shared lists.

- [Team and roles](/help/reports-and-workspaces/team-and-roles/): Who can reassign an owner.

- [Workspace settings](/help/account-and-billing/workspace-settings/): First touch versus manual claim.

## Frequently asked questions

**Who becomes the owner when nobody has claimed the lead?**

A suggested owner is the member whose Own watched profile that person engaged with most. Priority Queue alerts for an unowned lead go only to that suggested member.

**Can I still leave a note on someone else's lead?**

Yes. Notes are always allowed. Contacting, dismissing, snoozing, or setting a follow-up on a lead owned by someone else needs force, and is audited.