How to Build a Follow up Process in LeadLocate

Turn the whiteboard cadence into a timeline the CRM runs for every lead of that type, from the Billing and Admin menu.

1. Open Follow Up Processes

   In LeadLocate CRM on the desktop, open the Billing & Admin menu and click Follow Up Processes. The page lists the default processes the account came with, such as New Lead 14 Day Follow Up, each with an Enabled switch.

2. Start a new process

   Click + New Process and choose Create a brand new follow up process from scratch. The Process Builder opens. Type a Process Name that says what lead type it is for, such as Missed Appointment Reschedule.

3. Pick the trigger

   Under Starts When choose one of the two triggers. Lead status changes to starts the process when a lead moves to the status you pick from your own status list. Appointment event happens starts it on Appointment completed, Missed appointment or a number of hours before the visit.

4. Add the timeline steps

   Click Add Step for each touch. Set the offset and its unit from the trigger, the channels the step uses, a task title and the salesperson instructions that appear on the task. Attach an optional text or email template with the merge fields for the customer name, the vehicle and the store, and decide whether the message auto sends or waits in the task.

5. Decide how the process ends

   Under After Last Step choose Change to status with a Final Status, Move to Lost with reason with a Lost Reason, or No status change. Every process should end somewhere so a customer who never answers stops being messaged.

6. Write the notes and save

   Put the why in Manager Notes for whoever runs the desk after you, then click Save Follow Up Process. Make sure the Enabled switch on the list is on.

You need a Manager or Master Administrator role in LeadLocate CRM. Before you open the builder, decide which lead type the process is for and which trigger fits it. A status trigger needs the status to exist first; if your store uses custom statuses such as Visited No Purchase, add them under the lead status settings before you build the process that starts on them. An appointment trigger needs nothing extra.

Write the cadence on paper: how many touches, how far apart, which ones are a text the system sends on its own and which ones are a call a person should make. Your best salesperson already does this by hand; ask them. If the first touch is what you are after, that belongs in Automated Templates, which fire on lead receipt. A process picks up after that.

After saving, the Follow Up Processes list shows your new process by name with Enabled on. Open it again and the Process Builder shows the trigger, the steps in order with their offsets, and the ending you chose.

Test it on a real lead. Change a test lead to the trigger status, or mark a test appointment missed, and the first task appears on the assigned salesperson's Workspace at the offset you set, with the title, the instructions and the lead attached. A step set to auto send has already sent its text or email by the time the rep sees the task; a step not set to auto send waits in the task for the rep to read, edit and send. Open the lead and the communications log shows each message the process sent with its delivery status. When the last step passes, the lead moves to the final status you chose or to lost with the reason you set.

Leave your number and a lead specialist calls you back to answer your questions about pricing, coverage, and setup. Mon - Sat, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM Pacific.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.

The process never started. The trigger did not fire. For a status trigger, confirm the lead moved to exactly the status you picked; a similar sounding status is a different status. For an appointment trigger, confirm the appointment was marked completed or missed rather than deleted. Check that Enabled is on for the process.

The task appeared but no message went out. The step is not set to auto send, which is by design for steps a person should read first. Open the step and switch auto send on if you want the message to go on its own. A number on the DNC blacklist or a customer who replied STOP is never messaged by a step, and that is correct behavior.

You edited a default process into a corner. Click Restore Defaults on the page. Your own processes are separate and stay as you built them. If a process should be removed, open it and click Delete Process.

Set the first touch on the Automated Templates page so the process has something to follow. Give the reschedule step a link the customer can act on with an appointment booking link, and if a step should carry the unit with photos and price, attach the vehicle from inventory in the template. A rep can also put a specific process on a single appointment from the appointment itself, without waiting for a status change.

The Follow Up Processes feature page covers the builder in full. Every other walkthrough is in the help center, and the contact page reaches a person who will build your first process with you.

One process per lead type, not one process for everyone. A missed appointment and a lost deal deserve a different pace and a different tone. Make the first step a text the system sends and the second step a call a person makes; the text warms the call. Keep the whole timeline finite and end it with a status, because a lead that sits in the pipeline forever is worse than a lead marked lost with a real reason. And use the notes field: the manager who inherits your processes in a year will thank you.

What can start a follow up process?

One of two triggers: a lead status changing to a status you choose, or an appointment event, which is appointment completed, missed appointment, or a set number of hours before the appointment.

Does the salesperson have to do anything?

Only what the step asks. The task appears on their Workspace with the instructions and the lead attached. Messages set to auto send have already gone; messages not set to auto send wait in the task for the rep to send.

How do I stop messaging a customer who never answers?

Set After Last Step to change to a final status or move the lead to lost with a reason. The process ends there and no further step runs.

Can I get the default processes back after editing them?

Yes. Restore Defaults on the Follow Up Processes page puts the default set back. Processes you built yourself are separate and are not touched.

Every LeadLocate CRM account starts with default processes already built. Plans are month to month; we will walk the builder with you on a call.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.