Activate your first three automations
Your subscription includes 3 automation buildouts as part of onboarding. These are the workflows that will work for you 24/7 — sending messages, assigning leads, scheduling reminders — even when you're closed. Picking the right 3 to start with is one of the highest-leverage decisions you'll make in the entire setup.
We don't recommend trying to automate everything on Day 5. Pick 3 that matter most, get them stable, then add more once you have real data showing what's missing.
The recommended starter trio
After deploying Intellivizz CRM for hundreds of small businesses, three automations have proven highest-value across nearly every industry. We recommend starting with these unless you have a strong specific reason otherwise.
1. New Lead → Instant Response
When any new contact is created — from a form, a chat, a phone call, or an inbound SMS — send them an immediate acknowledgment within 2 minutes. Studies consistently show that responding to a new lead within 5 minutes is 9x more likely to convert than responding within 30 minutes.
Trigger: Contact Created
Action 1: Send SMS — "Hi , this is at . We received your inquiry and will follow up within . Reply STOP to opt out."
Action 2: Send email confirmation with more detail
Action 3: Create internal Task assigned to the lead owner with subject "Follow up: ()"
2. Appointment Confirmation Workflow
Cuts no-show rates by 30–50%. The pattern: confirmation immediately, reminder at 48h, Y/N confirm prompt at 24h, reminder at 1h.
Trigger: Appointment Booked
Action 1: Email confirmation immediately (with calendar invite)
Action 2: Wait 48h before appointment
Action 3: Send email reminder
Action 4: Wait 24h before appointment
Action 5: Send SMS: "Hi , reminder of your appointment tomorrow at 3:30 PM. Reply C to confirm, R to reschedule, or X to cancel."
Action 6: If no reply within 4h, tag as "no-show-risk"
Action 7: Wait until 1h before
Action 8: Send final SMS: "See you in 1 hour! — "
3. Review Request
After a successful service interaction, ask for a review while the experience is fresh. This is the workflow that grows your Google review velocity and your reputation.
Trigger: Appointment marked Complete (or Invoice marked Paid)
Action 1: Wait 1–2 hours
Action 2: Send SMS: "Hi , thanks for choosing ! How was your visit? Tap here to share: "
Action 3: Wait 24h
Action 4: Condition: if no review submitted — send email follow-up with review link
Action 5: Wait 48h
Action 6: Condition: if still no review — stop (don't pester)
Step-by-step — build your first workflow
Let's walk through building the New Lead Instant Response workflow as a template you can apply to all three.
Go to Automation → Workflows → "+ New Workflow"
Choose template "Lead Welcome" or start blank
Name it descriptively: "New Lead — Instant Response"
Set Trigger: Contact Created (with optional filter: Source = "Form" or "All sources")
Add Action: Send SMS — enable the consent check (only sends if Phone DND = false)
Compose the SMS text using merge fields: , , etc.
Add Action: Send Email — use a template or write fresh
Add Action: Create Task — assigned to lead owner, due tomorrow
Click Save and toggle Activated
Test by creating a fake contact — confirm SMS, email, and task arrive correctly
Once confirmed working, leave it on — every new lead is handled
TIP — Premium workflow actions cost $0.02 per run
Standard actions (send SMS, send email, add tag, wait, branch) are not premium and not metered separately — you only pay carrier costs for SMS/email. Premium actions — AI-generated content, advanced webhooks, dynamic field lookups — bill at $0.02 per execution. Build with standard actions first; only escalate to premium when you genuinely need them. Many workflows can run thousands of times per month at near-zero cost using only standard
Worked examples
Worked example: Dental practice — the appointment confirmation workflow saved hours
Before: receptionist Tom called every patient the day before to confirm appointments. 30+ calls a day, ~3 hours of his time. No-show rate ~22% even with calls.
After: the appointment confirmation workflow runs automatically. Tom only handles the rare reply-X cancellations and the no-show-risk follow-ups (about 4–6 a day instead of 30+).
Tom's freed-up time goes to following up with new leads and scheduling treatment plans. No-show rate drops to 9% in the first month.
Worked example: Real estate brokerage — the review request workflow 5x'd their Google reviews
Before: agents asked for reviews verbally at closing. Maybe 1 in 5 customers actually followed through. They averaged 2–3 new Google reviews/month.
After: the review request workflow fires when an opportunity moves to "Closed-Won" stage. SMS goes out the next morning. Follow-up email after 24h.
Result: 12–18 new Google reviews per month. Their Google Business listing now shows "150+ reviews" with a 4.9 average. New-lead inquiries from Google search 2x'd.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Workflow created but never fires | Workflow is saved but not Activated | Open workflow → toggle "Activated" in top-right |
| Workflow fires but SMS step fails | No A2P-approved campaign assigned to phone number | See OB-006 — complete A2P assignment |
| SMS goes to wrong contacts | Trigger filter too broad (e.g., "all contacts") | Add filter: Source = specific source, OR Trigger Date is After [today] |
| Workflow loops infinitely | Action creates condition that re-triggers | Add a "stop" condition or use idempotent tag (e.g., add tag "welcomed" then check NOT-tag at trigger) |
| Merge fields show as {{contact.first_name}} literally | Field name is wrong, or contact missing the value | Use the merge-field picker (don't type manually); add fallback: {{first_name|default:"there"}} |
| Wait step doesn't respect business hours | Workflow set to fire 24/7 | Workflow settings → "Allow only between" → set business hours window |
| Workflow fires the right step but on wrong delay (way too soon/late) | Time zone mismatch between contact and workflow | Verify contact time zone is set; or use absolute time (not relative) |
| Hundreds of customers got the same SMS at the same time | Workflow fired on a bulk import | Add filter: trigger date is after today; OR exclude tag "imported" |
Success criteria
New Lead Instant Response workflow is built, tested, and Activated
Appointment Confirmation workflow is built, tested, and Activated
Review Request workflow is built, tested, and Activated
Each workflow has been tested with a fake contact and verified to fire all expected actions
I understand which actions are Premium ($0.02/run) and have not used them unnecessarily
I've added a "do not loop" tag check on any workflow that could potentially re-trigger itself
