Every enquiry answered in minutes, by the right person
An enquiry left in a shared inbox goes cold by the hour. This workflow sends each one straight to the CRM, fills in who it's from, decides who should own it, alerts them where they work and drafts the first reply.
- Kind
- Workflow
- Service
- Conversion
- Tools
- 4 connected
- Lands in
- The right person
Enquiries wait in an inbox while the buyer talks to someone else.
The problem. The contact form emails a shared inbox. Someone forwards it when they get a moment, it goes to whoever is free rather than whoever knows the subject, and the reply goes out the next day. By then the buyer has spoken to two other firms.
The solution. We send every enquiry straight into the CRM, fill in the company, route it by rules you agree, and alert the owner where they already work. AI drafts a first reply from what was asked, the owner checks and sends it, and the CRM watches the clock.
What we used
From form to first reply, nothing waits in an inbox.
- CRMReceives the enquiry, applies the routing rules and times the response.
- ClayFills in the company and the person, so the owner knows who they're replying to.
- Microsoft TeamsAlerts the owner where they already work, with a button that opens the record.
- ClaudeDrafts a first reply from the question asked. The owner edits and sends it.
How an enquiry gets its first reply
Follow one enquiry from the form to the reply.
- 01CRM
Capture it properly
The form writes straight to the CRM, not to an inbox, with the source and the pages read before it.
SourcePages before - 02Clay
Fill in who it's from
The company and the person are filled in within seconds.
CompanySize - 03CRM
Route it to the right person
Rules you agree send it by service, region and size. A three-site quote in the Midlands goes to the person who looks after the Midlands.
OwnerNot a fitA polite reply with a useful link. No sales time spent - 04Microsoft Teams
Alert them where they work
Chris gets a Teams message with a summary of the enquiry and a button that opens the record.
Alert - 05Claude
Draft the first reply
Claude drafts a reply to the question asked and suggests two call times. Chris changes a line and sends it.
First reply - 06CRM
Make sure nothing slips
If an enquiry has no reply within the time you set, a manager is told. Every enquiry carries its response time.
Response time
Laura Bennett
Contact form at 14:07
- Asked for
- A quote, planned maintenance, 3 sites
- Source
- Google Ads
- Pages before
- 4
- Company
- Ashgrove Housing
- Size
- 240 staff
- Owner
- Chris, Midlands
- Alert
- Sent at 14:08
- First reply
- Sent at 14:19
- Response time
- 12 minutes
An owner, a first reply and a response time on every enquiry.
Why it matters
Published research behind the workflow, not results from one project. Each figure is numbered to its source below.
100×
lower odds of reaching a lead called after 30 minutes rather than within 5 ¹
21×
lower odds of qualifying that lead ¹
Nearly 7×
as likely to qualify a lead contacted within an hour as one contacted later ²