Lead Follow-Up Automation: Chirply Setup Checklist

How do you automate lead follow-up in a CRM?

Connect one inquiry source to a contact record, choose the event that starts follow-up, and give each step an owner or action. In Chirply, a workflow can create a task, send an email or SMS, and wait between steps. Test with a contact you control, inspect the run, and verify the response handoff before activating enrollment for customers.

Define one complete inquiry-to-owner path

Choose a single source, such as a native inquiry form. Write down what the person asked for, which team owns the response, the permitted contact channel and the result that counts as a successful handoff. A booking request and a downloadable-guide request can deserve different follow-up.

For an illustrative agency pilot, a service inquiry creates an internal task for a coordinator. The coordinator checks the request and replies through the agreed channel. After a suitable wait, the team checks the conversation and records the next action. This example describes an operating process; choose timing that fits your own business hours and staffing.

Keep the first version small enough to inspect in full. Record the trigger, message, wait, owner and completion condition on a single checklist. When adding automatic messages, confirm the sending provider, sender identity and audience before enrolling a real contact. Provider usage is billed by the connected service.

Build the workflow in Chirply

Start in the account that owns the leads. The trigger describes why a contact enters; the actions describe what happens after entry.

1. Open Automations → Workflows and create or open the workflow you intend to configure. Give it a name describing the source and outcome, such as Service inquiry → coordinator follow-up.
2. Choose Manual for a deliberate pilot, or Form submitted for a native Chirply form. For Form submitted, select the specific form, funnel or funnel page you intend to use. Blank form filters match all supported forms, so check the selection before activation.
3. Add Create task for the human follow-up. Set the responsible person and the task details offered by the action. Include the requested service and the next decision the owner should make.
4. Add Send email or Send SMS only where the audience, channel and sending connection are ready. Fill the message and its merge fields. Add Wait when a later step needs a delay; set the unit and duration deliberately.
5. Save your edits and check the workflow's enrollment state. Pausing prevents automatic new enrollment; manual enrollment remains available and can execute the configured actions. Treat Add contacts as a real run.
6. Open Run & webhook, select only your controlled test contact and choose Add contacts. Then open Automations → Runs to inspect the enrollment and each action.

Make replies and repeat inquiries part of the test

A successful send is one part of a follow-up process. Reply from the controlled recipient and confirm the team can find the conversation. Give someone responsibility for checking replies, bookings, opt-outs and completion before another reminder is sent. Implement and test any automatic cancellation conditions explicitly in the workflow you use.

Submit the same inquiry twice in the pilot. Record whether the chosen trigger creates another run and whether your team wants that behavior. A Contact created trigger covers creation; Form submitted expresses a submission event. Choose the event that matches how your business treats repeat requests.

Review task status separately from message delivery. A delivered message says the provider completed a delivery step; a completed task says a person marked work done. Your useful business outcome may be a qualified conversation or an agreed appointment.

Use run history to locate the next fix

If there is no run, check enrollment state, the trigger and its filters. Tag added responds to a new tag event; existing tagged contacts need deliberate enrollment or another matching event. Verify that a form actually submitted to the native form or integration you configured.

If a run failed, open it and read the failing step. Check the contact's email or phone, the connected provider and any returned error. If the run is waiting, compare its next resume time with the configured Wait. Correct the specific cause and use a controlled contact to verify the result.

After the pilot, record the workflow name, test contact, run outcome and person handling exceptions. Review the first real enrollments against that checklist. Expand the sequence when each added step has a clear purpose and an observable result.

Common questions