Setting up auto-replies for website leads

In this article, you'll learn how to set up the Lead Responder, which answers someone the moment they send a quote request, fill in your contact form or text you through your website's chat widget. A quick reply tells them you got their message and, if you want, asks for the details you'd ask for anyway.

The Lead Responder is a page in your dashboard on the web. On the phone app, the Templates screen has a Website leads section where you can edit the wording of the fixed text and the email, but turning the replies on or off and choosing the assistant is done here.

To open the Lead Responder:

  1. In your dashboard menu, click Website.
  2. Under it, click Lead Responder.
Note: If your website isn't live yet, the page says so and there's nothing to set up until it is.

What the Lead Responder answers

The page sets what goes back to a visitor who:

  • sends a quote request from your site
  • fills in your contact form
  • messages you through the chat widget when it's in Text messages mode

The widget's AI chat mode is a separate assistant and doesn't get these replies. Who at your company hears about a new lead isn't set here either. That's under Notifications.

Setting up the text reply

  1. On the Auto-reply by text card, click the switch on the right to turn it on.
  2. Choose what the text does: Send a fixed text or Have an assistant text back.

Send a fixed text

The same message goes out every time, from your business number.

  1. Type your message in the box. It's capped at 320 characters, and the counter under the box shows how much room you have left.
  2. Keep it short. It goes out as a text.

Have an assistant text back

The assistant thanks the person by first name and asks, in one friendly text, for the things you list.

  1. Under Things to ask for, fill in up to three short lines, such as the address, a few pictures texted to the number, or a bit more detail about the project.
  2. Leave any line blank to skip it. If all three are blank, a plain thank-you text goes out instead.

The assistant asks once. If the reply covers only part of what you asked, it thanks them and asks one more time for what's missing, and then it's done. It never texts first and never talks about price, availability or timing. The whole exchange shows up in Conversations, and as soon as someone at your office texts the lead, the assistant steps aside.

Setting up the email reply

  1. On the Auto-reply by email card, click the switch to turn it on.
  2. Fill in the Subject.
  3. Fill in the Message.

The email is sent under your business name, and both fields are required when the switch is on.

Checking the previews

The What they get back column on the right updates as you type. The phone shows your fixed text, or a sample exchange when the assistant is on, and the email preview appears under it once the email reply is switched on. With the text reply off, the phone says no text goes out.

Saving your changes

  1. Click Save changes. The button only appears once you've changed something.
  2. Wait for Saved to show next to it.
Warning: If a switch is on but its box is empty, the save is refused and the page tells you what's missing. Either fill in the message or turn that switch off.

When a reply doesn't go out

  • The text only goes to someone who left a phone number that can receive texts. If they didn't tick the consent box on your form, no text is sent.
  • The email only goes to someone who left a working email address.
  • A contact your company has marked Do Not Disturb gets neither.

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