How to follow up on a lead Updated 2026-10-24
Follow-up is a status that matches the conversation, a note that another person can read, and a task with a date. A lead without a next step is a lead the team will meet again only by accident.
The sequence on the record Start from New. After a real contact, move to Contacted. Interested means the person asked for a next step. Converted, Lost and Old lead are endings, not places to hide a lead you still mean to call.
The note says what was said. The task says who does the next thing and when. Overdue tasks appear in the notification center. A new lead also enters alerts, so the first response does not depend on someone refreshing a spreadsheet.
Open the lead that just arrived. Set Contacted only after someone actually reached the person. Write the note in the timeline. Create a task with a date before closing the record. On the lead, set the status, write the task, and give it a date before you close the file. When the same step should become an automation If every lead that becomes Contacted needs a task, that is a candidate for the business-plan automation. The manual sequence above still has to be true, because the automation copies a step the team already understands. The agents page is for people on the team, not for an AI chatbot.
Contacted is set before anyone called. Leave it New until the contact happened. The status is a record, not a wish.
The note lives in a private phone. Put it on the lead timeline the same day.
Write a note the next person can use The note says what happened. “Called, no answer” is complete when that is what happened. “Asked for the morning package, call Thursday” is complete when that is what was promised. The task then carries the date and the owner. Overdue tasks appear in notifications, and a new lead does too, so the first response does not depend on refreshing a spreadsheet.
A clinic desk at 09:10 Two leads arrived overnight, one from the website and one from Meta. Both are New. The person on the desk calls the website lead first because that person asked for a time, writes “no answer, try 16:00”, and saves a task for 16:00. The Meta lead gets the same treatment a minute later. Nothing about either call lives only in a private chat.
The status moves to Contacted before anyone reached the person. Contacted means a real contact. Until then the status stays New and the task is the call.
FAQ Which statuses exist? New, Contacted, Interested, Converted, Lost and Old lead.
Does follow-up require the business plan? No. Status, notes and tasks are part of the $49 CRM. An automation that creates the task for you is on the $99 plan.
Where do overdue tasks appear? In the notification center, together with new leads.
Can an agent be an AI bot? The agents page is for people. It is not an AI chatbot product.
