Automate your first follow-up

An automation is a rule that runs on its own: when something happens to a lead, it does the steps you set, in order. The fastest reply often wins the lead, and an automation replies in seconds, day or night.

Start from a recipe

Automations offers ready-made recipes under Start from a recipe:

• Reply to new leads in seconds: texts every new lead, then puts a call on the owner's list.
• Share new leads fairly: assigns each new unassigned lead to the next person in turn.
• Follow up on form responses and Prepare for booked appointments.
• Never miss a reply: when a lead texts or emails back, the owner gets a task to reply today.
• Re-engage quiet leads: a check-in after a week of silence, then a call task.
• Welcome email, then a text, and Confirm appointments when your pipeline has an appointment stage.

Press Use this recipe. It opens switched off, so you can read every step first. When it looks right, flip the switch next to Off.

Describe it (Pro and up)

At the top of Automations, Describe an automation builds one from plain words:

1. 11. Write what should happen, the way you'd tell a teammate. For example: "When a new Zillow lead comes in, text them right away and give their agent a call task. If they haven't replied in 2 days, send an email." Or tap one of the examples.
2. 22. Press Draft it (or Ctrl Enter). AI builds it from your own stages, lead sources, forms, people and message templates. It takes up to half a minute.
3. 33. The draft opens switched off, marked AI draft. What AI understood at the top shows what you wrote, what AI took from it, what it assumed and anything it left out (like a stage you don't have, or something automations can't do yet).
4. 44. Read every step and each message, change anything you like, then turn it on. Nothing runs until you do.

A draft uses 3 AI credits, only when a draft is made. When AI can't draft (AI is off, it isn't connected, or this month's credits are used up), the box shows the closest ready-made automations instead, at no cost. On Starter, the Pro badge says what it does.

Build your own

1. 11. Press New automation.
2. 22. Click the name at the top to rename it.
3. 33. Under When, pick what starts it: A new lead comes in (from any source, or one), A form is submitted, A lead moves to a stage, A lead texts or emails back, A lead goes quiet (after the number of days you set), An appointment is booked, A lead's call is missed, A call is logged (optionally only one outcome) or A client request is opened.
4. 44. Press Add a step and pick one: Send a text, Send an email, Wait, Create a task, Assign an owner, Add a tag, Move to a stage or Add to a campaign. The + between steps adds one in the middle; the arrows on a step move it.
5. 55. Decide on Stop when they reply: if the lead texts or emails back while the automation is waiting, the rest of the steps are skipped.
6. 66. Press Save changes, then turn it on.

Watch it work

The Runs panel lists every lead that went through, with Running, Waiting, Done, Failed or Stopped. Click a run to see each step and what happened, and Open lead to jump to them. The list on the Automations page shows how many runs each has had and how many are in progress.

Good to know

• Messages skip leads who opted out, and leads missing a fill-in you used. Fill-ins like {my_first_name} use the lead's owner.
• A lead goes quiet only counts leads that go quiet after you turn it on, so switching it on never messages your whole backlog.
• Turning an automation off stops leads already in it at their next step.
• Imported leads don't start automations.
• Emails go out from the mailbox of the lead's owner. If they haven't connected email, the step waits for them, for up to 7 days. See Connect your email.
• In practice mode, texts are saved in the app but not sent. See Link your phone account and workspace email.
• Owners, admins and managers can build and change automations.
• How many automations you can have depends on your plan: Billing shows your plan's limit and how many you use on the Usage card.