There’s a well-known statistic in sales: contacting a new lead within the first five minutes makes them dramatically more likely to convert than waiting even 30 minutes. Yet most small businesses take hours, or days, to respond, usually because they’re busy doing the actual work. Automation solves this. A good follow-up sequence responds instantly, then keeps politely following up until the lead replies or books.
Why this matters
- The first responder usually wins. Speed beats polish.
- Persistence pays. Most sales happen after several touches, but most businesses give up after one.
- Multi-channel works. A text plus an email plus a call attempt reaches people the way they prefer to be reached.
How to build the sequence in Funl
- Go to Automation → Workflows and create a workflow triggered by Form Submitted (or Facebook/Instagram Lead Form if you run ads).
- Step 1: Instant SMS: “Hi {{contact.first_name}}, thanks for reaching out to {{business.name}}! What’s the best time to chat?” Send it with zero delay.
- Step 2: Instant Email: a slightly longer version with your offer and a booking link.
- Step 3: Create a call task for you or your team so a human follows up while the lead is hot.
- Step 4: Wait 1 hour, then a voicemail drop if they haven’t replied, your voice, no ringing their phone.
- Step 5: Multi-day nurture: space out 3 to 4 more friendly touches over the next week (day 1, 3, 5, 7), then stop.
- Add exit conditions so anyone who replies or books is removed from the sequence automatically.
Take it further
Layer in your calendar link so leads can self-book, and connect AI booking (next article) so the conversation can close itself even when you’re unavailable.
