If you spend time chasing leads and losing track of who needs a follow-up, you’re not alone. Most salespeople burn hours on repetitive follow-up tasks, and a lot of CRMs make it harder than it should be. This guide walks you through setting up automated lead follow-ups in Keycontacts, with no-nonsense advice on what features actually help (and which ones get in your way). If you want more replies, fewer headaches, and some time back in your day, this is for you.
Why Automate Lead Follow-Up in the First Place?
Let’s be honest: manually following up is boring, error-prone, and easy to put off. If you’re still copying email templates and setting reminders in your calendar, you’re probably dropping leads you shouldn’t.
Here’s what automation can actually get you: - Consistency: No more forgetting to nudge that prospect from last week. - Speed: Respond faster, and you’ll close more deals. It’s that simple. - Less busywork: Focus on real conversations, not admin.
What automation won’t do: turn cold leads into warm ones just by sending more emails. Good follow-up helps, but don’t expect miracles—your message and timing still matter.
Step 1: Set Up Your Lead Sources
Automation only works if you start with clean, reliable data. Garbage in, garbage out.
Connect your lead sources: - Import a CSV of leads, or connect directly to your web forms, chatbots, or wherever your leads come from. Keycontacts supports most standard sources—if you’re using something weird, check their docs first. - Map fields like name, email, company, and any custom stuff you care about (e.g. industry, lead source).
Pro Tip: Don’t overcomplicate your fields. You can always add more data later, but cleaning up a mess later is a pain.
Step 2: Define Your Workflow Goals
Before you start dragging and dropping automations, get clear on what you want to happen. Here’s what most people actually need: - New lead comes in: Send a personal-looking email within a few minutes. - If no reply: Nudge them two days later. - If still nothing: Maybe send a final reminder or move them to a “cold” list.
You do not need to build a 10-step sequence unless you know your leads want that much attention. Start simple.
Write it out on paper first. Seriously. If you can’t sketch your workflow in 30 seconds, it’s probably too complicated.
Step 3: Build Your First Automated Sequence
Now for the nuts and bolts. In Keycontacts, “Workflows” are where you set this up.
A. Create a New Workflow
- Go to the Workflows section.
- Click “New Workflow.”
- Name it something obvious, like “Inbound Lead Follow-Up.”
B. Add a Trigger
- Choose your trigger: usually “New lead added” or “Lead fills out form.”
- Select which leads or segments this workflow applies to (e.g. only leads from the website, not imported lists).
C. Add Actions
Keycontacts lets you string together actions like sending emails, setting tasks, or waiting a set amount of time.
Example basic sequence:
1. Send an intro email
- Use a template, but personalize with merge fields (name, company, etc.).
- Make your email sound human. If it reads like a bot wrote it, you’re sunk.
2. Wait 2 days
3. Check if they replied
- If yes, stop the workflow. You don’t want to annoy people.
- If no, send a follow-up (“Just checking in…”).
4. Wait 3 more days
5. Optional: One final nudge
- Keep it brief, maybe offer to close the loop if they’re not interested.
What works:
- Short sequences (2-3 emails max).
- Clear, friendly language.
- Stopping follow-ups if someone replies.
What to ignore:
- Overcomplicated branching (e.g. 10 possible paths based on “lead score”).
- Gimmicks like “adding to a nurture campaign” if you just want a reply.
Step 4: Personalize (But Don’t Overdo It)
Automation is only good if it feels personal. A few basics: - Use the person’s name. - Reference something specific if you can (company, recent download, etc.). - Don’t overuse merge fields—one or two is plenty. Too many and it screams “template.”
Templates:
Keycontacts has a template editor. Write a few plain-English templates, save them, and reuse. Avoid the default corporate-speak ones—they’re generic and get ignored.
Pro Tip: Test your templates by sending them to yourself. If you’d delete it, so will your leads.
Step 5: Set Smart Rules for Stopping Automation
Nothing kills goodwill like getting a “just checking in” message after someone already replied. Keycontacts can auto-stop workflows based on replies or certain actions.
- Stop on reply: Always turn this on.
- Manual stop: Let your team stop automations with one click if they get a phone call or LinkedIn reply.
Don’t trust automation blindly. Check your settings and do a test run with a few fake leads. Make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
Step 6: Test Your Workflow (and Break It)
Before you roll this out to real leads, run through it yourself: - Add a test lead with your own email. - Watch what happens: do emails send? Do waits work? Does it stop when you reply? - Break things on purpose—reply late, mark as bounced, etc. See how the workflow handles it.
What to watch for: - Typos in templates. - Merge fields not working (e.g. “Hi {FirstName},” showing up as “Hi ,”). - Emails going to spam.
Don’t skip this step. Fixing mistakes later is way harder and can damage your reputation.
Step 7: Go Live (But Watch Closely)
Once you’re confident, turn the workflow on for real leads. For the first week, check daily: - Are leads getting the right emails? - Is anyone getting too many or too few? - Are replies being tracked properly?
Be ready to tweak things. Most automations need a little tuning once you see real-world results.
Step 8: Measure and Tweak
Automation isn’t “set it and forget it.” Most sales teams get better results by tweaking subject lines, timing, and message content over time.
- Check open rates and reply rates in Keycontacts’ reports.
- If people aren’t replying, try shorter emails or different timing.
- If everyone opens but nobody replies, your message probably needs work.
Ignore “vanity metrics” like how many emails were sent. Focus on replies and real conversations.
Pro Tips and Honest Warnings
- Keep it simple. Overengineering wastes time and creates headaches.
- Don’t automate for automation’s sake. If you only get a handful of leads, you might be fine with manual follow-up.
- Watch the tone. Automated emails that sound robotic or pushy get ignored (or worse, marked as spam).
- Don’t trust “AI personalization” features unless you’ve seen them work. Most are buzzword-heavy and not very smart.
- Document your workflow. If you leave or go on vacation, someone else should be able to pick it up.
Wrapping Up: Don’t Overthink It
Automating lead follow-up in Keycontacts doesn’t have to be complicated. Start with a simple workflow, send a few personal emails, and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. Watch how it works, fix what doesn’t, and only add steps if you really need them. The goal here isn’t to look fancy—it’s to get more replies with less hassle. Keep it simple, iterate often, and you’ll get the results you want.