If you’re tired of chasing leads and letting follow-ups slip through the cracks, you’re not alone. Automating your follow-up tasks isn’t about showing off your tech chops—it’s about making sure you don’t miss real sales because you’re buried in manual reminders. This guide is for sales teams and solo operators who use SecondBody and want to get a reliable, simple system running. No fluff, no over-engineering—just the steps you need to set it up and keep it working.
Why Automate Follow-Ups? (And What to Avoid)
Let’s get this out of the way: automation won’t magically make leads love you or close deals. What it does do is make sure every new lead gets a consistent touch, and you don’t have to remember every little thing.
But don’t go nuts. Some folks build Rube Goldberg machines that try to do everything—personalized emails, task creation, Slack alerts, smoke signals. You don’t need all of that. The best systems are simple, visible, and easy to tweak.
Here’s what actually matters: - Every new lead triggers a follow-up (task, reminder, or email) - You get notified in a way you’ll actually see - You can adjust the system when your process changes
If the automation feels like more work than just writing a sticky note, you’re doing it wrong.
Step 1: Map Out Your Follow-Up Flow
Before you click a single setting in SecondBody, get clear on your process. This is the step most people skip—and then regret later.
Ask yourself: - What exactly should happen when a new lead comes in? (Task, email, call, all of the above?) - How soon after the lead appears do you want to follow up? - Do you want to assign the task to a specific person or leave it unassigned? - Will there be different actions for different lead sources or types?
Pro Tip:
Keep it lean. Start with one follow-up task per new lead. Add complexity only if you hit a real bottleneck.
Step 2: Set Up New Lead Triggers in SecondBody
SecondBody gives you a few options for catching new leads. Here’s how to make sure your automation fires exactly when you want.
Option A: Use Built-in Lead Capture
If you’re using SecondBody’s own lead forms or API, you’re in luck—these usually have a clear “New Lead” event.
- Go to your SecondBody dashboard.
- Head to the “Automations” or “Workflows” section (names may vary).
- Choose “New Lead” as your trigger event.
Option B: Integrate with Other Tools
If your leads come from elsewhere (like a web form, Zapier, or a spreadsheet), you’ll need to connect that to SecondBody.
- Look for integrations with Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), or native connectors.
- Set up your trigger as “New Row” (spreadsheet), “Form Submission,” or whatever matches your lead source.
- Map the fields so SecondBody knows what counts as a lead.
What to watch out for:
- Some integrations only sync every 15 minutes or longer. If you need instant follow-up, double-check the timing.
- Make sure duplicate leads don’t trigger duplicate tasks. This is a common headache.
Step 3: Build the Follow-Up Task Automation
Now for the meat of it: actually creating the follow-up task.
- Choose “Create Task” as your action.
- In SecondBody’s automation builder, select the action to create a new task.
- Customize the task details.
- Title: Use something clear, like “Follow up with [Lead Name]”
- Description: Add any context you want to see when you get the task.
- Due date: Most people set this to 1–2 business days after the lead appears.
- Assignee: Pick yourself or a team member. (If you leave it unassigned, it’s easy for tasks to get lost.)
- Add conditions if you want.
- If you want different follow-ups for different lead types (say, “VIP” vs. “Standard”), set up filters or branches here.
- If not, skip it—no need to overcomplicate.
Keep it visible:
Set the task to show up in your main dashboard or to send a notification. If you have to go digging to find the tasks, you’ll ignore them.
Step 4: Test Your Automation (Don’t Skip This)
I know, I know—testing is boring. But it saves you from a week of missed leads because you had one typo.
- Add a test lead manually or with your lead source.
- Wait for the automation to fire.
- Check: Did the task appear? Does it have the right info? Is it assigned to the right person?
- If you’re using notifications, did you get one?
If something’s off: - Double-check your trigger and action mappings. - Make sure your integration didn’t fumble the lead data. - Sometimes, you need to refresh or wait a few minutes for automations to run.
Pro Tip:
Test both a “normal” lead and a weird edge case (e.g., missing email, special characters) to catch formatting hiccups.
Step 5: Make Sure You’ll Actually See the Tasks
Automation is pointless if nobody notices the task. Here’s how to bulletproof visibility:
- Set up email or mobile push notifications for new tasks, at least at first.
- Use dashboards or widgets that highlight uncompleted follow-ups.
- If you’re working in a team, make sure unassigned tasks are visible (and someone’s responsible for assigning them).
What doesn’t work:
- Relying on a “Tasks” list buried three clicks deep.
- Piling all tasks into one giant bucket with no due dates.
- Assuming your team will remember to check for new tasks without prompts.
Step 6: Review and Tweak Regularly
Once it’s running, automation is not “set it and forget it.” Every few weeks, check:
- Are tasks piling up or getting ignored?
- Are any tasks getting created that shouldn’t be?
- Are you missing leads because the trigger isn’t firing?
If you see a pattern—like lots of overdue tasks, or leads from one source not getting picked up—go back and adjust. The goal is a system you trust, not a system you ignore.
What to Ignore (for Now)
- Auto-personalized email follow-ups: Sure, you can set these up, but canned emails rarely move the needle. Focus on making sure you actually follow up, then personalize as you go.
- Overly-complex branching: Unless you have thousands of leads a week, don’t build a decision tree for every possible lead type. Start simple.
- Third-party integrations unless you need them: Each integration is another failure point. Use them only if your leads don’t already land in SecondBody.
Quick Troubleshooting
- Tasks not showing up?
Double-check your trigger. Is the “New Lead” event firing? Did the integration break? - Too many duplicate tasks?
Add a filter to only create a task if one doesn’t already exist for that lead. - Tasks assigned to the wrong person?
Check your automation’s “Assignee” field. Make sure it’s dynamic if you want to round-robin or assign based on rules.
If you get stuck, ask yourself: “What’s the absolute minimum I need here to not drop leads?” Build that first, and add bells and whistles later.
Summary: Keep It Simple, Keep It Moving
Automating follow-up tasks in SecondBody isn’t about proving you’re a workflow wizard—it’s about not missing the basics. Start with a single, visible task for each new lead. Test it. Make sure you see it. Only add complexity if you’re hitting real problems. The best automation is the kind you barely notice—because it just works.
If you start simple, review often, and tweak as you go, you’ll spend less time messing with tools and more time closing deals. That’s the only metric that matters.