If you run sales, you know the drill: leads slip through the cracks, you lose track of who needs a follow-up, and your “I’ll email them tomorrow” turns into “Who is this again?” This is for anyone who’s tired of chasing sticky notes and digging through inboxes. We’re going to break down how to use Folk to automate lead follow-up tasks—the stuff that actually moves deals forward—without drowning in busywork.
No fluff, no “end-to-end solutions.” Just clear steps you can use right now, what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid shooting yourself in the foot with automation.
Why Automate Lead Follow-ups in Folk?
Before we get into the how, let’s get real about why. Following up is the backbone of sales, but it’s also the easiest thing to drop when things get busy. Automation:
- Stops you from forgetting leads (or letting things go cold)
- Cuts down on manual work (no more copy-paste follow-ups)
- Lets you focus on the conversations that matter, not admin
But don’t expect magic. Automation won’t fix a bad sales process or write perfect emails for you. It just keeps you organized and consistent. That’s what actually wins deals.
Step 1: Get Your Leads Into Folk (Don’t Overcomplicate This)
Folk is built to wrangle all your contacts and conversations into one place. But if your leads are scattered across Gmail, spreadsheets, and LinkedIn, you’ll need to get them into Folk before you can automate anything.
Here’s what works:
- Import from CSV: Folk has a straightforward import tool. Download your leads as CSV from wherever you keep them, and upload.
- Gmail/Google Contacts Sync: If your leads are in your Google account, connect it—Folk will pull them in.
- Chrome Extension: For scraping leads from LinkedIn or websites, Folk’s extension is actually handy. It’s not magic, but it beats copy-paste.
What to skip: Don’t waste hours “cleaning” your data before importing. Get it in, then tidy up only what matters. You’re not building a museum exhibit, just a workable list.
Step 2: Organize Leads with Groups and Tags
You can’t automate follow-up if you can’t filter your leads. Folk lets you set up Groups (think “Qualified Leads,” “In Negotiation,” etc.) and Tags (“Hot,” “Needs Nurture,” “Demo Scheduled”).
Set it up:
- Create Groups for each stage of your sales process.
- Tag leads with info that matters: source, priority, product interest, etc.
- Use filters to find the exact set of leads you want to target for follow-up.
Pro tip: Don’t go wild with tags—three to five useful ones beat 20 you’ll never use.
Step 3: Build Simple Follow-up Pipelines
Now the fun part. Folk isn’t Salesforce, and that’s a good thing. Its Pipeline view is Kanban-style—you drag and drop leads through stages.
How to make it actually useful:
- Define your pipeline stages (e.g., New Lead → Contacted → Follow-up Needed → Demo Scheduled → Won/Lost).
- Set up automated reminders in each stage (e.g., “If a lead sits in ‘Contacted’ for 3 days, nudge me”).
- Use custom fields for stuff like “Last Contacted Date” or “Next Follow-up.”
What doesn’t work: Overcomplicating your pipeline with 10+ micro-stages. Unless you’re running enterprise sales with a team of 20, keep it simple. The more steps you add, the more you’ll ignore them.
Step 4: Automate Follow-up Tasks and Reminders
Here’s where you actually save time: setting up Folk to remind you (or your team) when it’s time to follow up—so you don’t have to remember.
Folk’s Built-In Automation Tools
- Automated Reminders: Folk lets you set reminders on contacts or pipeline stages. Example: “Remind me in 2 days if no reply.”
- Task Assignments: Assign follow-up tasks to yourself or teammates. Folk will notify you when they’re due.
- Bulk Emails: Use templates for common follow-ups. You can personalize at scale, but don’t let it get robotic—add a quick custom line.
Integrating with Other Tools (If You Need To)
- Zapier: Folk integrates with Zapier, so you can trigger actions in Folk when something happens elsewhere (e.g., new lead in Typeform → auto-added to Folk, with tag).
- Google Calendar Reminders: Create calendar events for critical follow-ups. Folk doesn’t do everything—sometimes a calendar ping is more effective.
What’s not worth it: Don’t connect every app under the sun. Start simple—only automate what you do more than a few times a week. If you’re constantly fiddling with integrations, they’re not saving you time.
Step 5: Set Up (and Actually Use) Email Templates
Chasing leads is bad enough—rewriting the same follow-up email 30 times a week is worse. Folk’s email templates are straightforward, but only help if you use them right.
How to use templates without sounding like a robot:
- Write templates for your common scenarios: first follow-up, reminder, post-demo, “checking in,” etc.
- Leave space for a quick personal note (“Saw your post on LinkedIn about X—congrats!”). Folk lets you personalize each send.
- Don’t overdo it with merge fields unless you really trust your data. “Hi {FirstName}” is fine; “I loved our chat about {ObscureProductFeature}” gets risky.
Pro tip: Review your templates every couple months. If people aren’t replying, tweak them. Automation should make you faster, not lazier.
Step 6: Track Outcomes (and Drop What’s Not Working)
Automating follow-up is only worth it if it helps you close more deals—or at least move leads forward. Folk makes it easy to track what happens after the follow-up.
- Mark leads as Won/Lost so you can see what your actual conversion rate is.
- Use filters and reports to spot patterns (e.g., “Leads from LinkedIn close 2x faster than from cold emails”).
- If a template or automation isn’t getting results, swap it out. Don’t wait months to make changes.
What to avoid: Obsessing over every metric. Focus on the basics: Are you following up on time? Are leads moving through the pipeline? Are you closing more deals?
A Few Things Folk Won’t Do (Don’t Fall for the Hype)
- It won’t write perfect emails for you. Templates help, but you still need to personalize.
- It won’t “automate relationships.” You still have to build trust and rapport.
- It’s not a full-blown marketing automation suite. Folk is about contact management and personal outreach, not blasting newsletters or building complex nurture flows.
If you want to send 10,000 cold emails a day, look elsewhere. If you want to actually remember to follow up and keep your pipeline moving, Folk does the job.
The Bottom Line: Start Small, Iterate Fast
Don’t get bogged down trying to automate every corner of your sales process. Start by importing your leads, setting up a simple pipeline, and automating the follow-ups that matter most. Tweak as you go. Skip the fancy integrations until you actually need them.
Most sales automation fails because people overthink it or set up stuff they’ll never use. Set reminders, use templates, and keep your lists clean. That’s it. The rest is just talking to people and closing deals—no software’s going to do that for you.
Get started, see what works for you, and don’t be afraid to keep it simple. That’s how you actually get more done.