How to set up a speed-to-lead workflow in GoHighLevel

What the workflow does

• Starts the moment a lead comes in, from any form or lead ad you connect
• Texts and emails the lead within a minute, with a way to book
• Assigns the lead and tells the person on duty
• Follows up a few times if there's no reply, then stops
• Stops right away when the lead replies or books

Before you start

1. Register your number for texting. Texts from a US local number need an approved A2P 10DLC campaign. Start under Settings > Phone System > Trust Center > Brand & Campaigns: the brand first, then the campaign with its use case, sample messages and how people opt in. Twilio blocks texts to US numbers from a local number that isn't on an approved campaign (error 30034). Toll-free numbers need toll-free verification instead.
2. Turn on the opt-out and sender lines. Settings > Phone System > Messaging. HighLevel can add opt-out wording such as Reply STOP to unsubscribe, and your business name, when a text doesn't already have them, and can add them again on a schedule in long conversations. A contact who replies STOP gets SMS DND turned on, and workflow texts skip them.
3. Ask for consent on every form. CTIA expects texts to go only to people who opted in, and consent covers only the business and campaign it was given for. Put a clear text-consent line on your forms, and describe it in your A2P campaign's opt-in section.
4. Connect your lead sources. Forms built in HighLevel work with the Form Submitted trigger. Facebook lead ads need Facebook connected under Settings > Integrations, with the lead form fields mapped. Forms on other tools need an integration or a webhook.

Build it step by step

1. Create the workflow. Automation > Workflows > Create Workflow, start from scratch, and name it for what it does, like New lead: instant reply.
2. Add a trigger for each source. Click Add New Trigger. Add Form Submitted with the Form Is filter set to your form, and Facebook Lead Form Submitted with Page Is and Form Is set. Each trigger fires on its own, and without filters the Facebook trigger fires for every lead form on every connected page.
3. Set the workflow settings. In the Settings tab: turn on Stop on Response so the workflow ends when the lead replies to one of its messages. Decide on Allow Re-entry: on, a lead who submits again starts over; off, they go through once. Set the From number and From email under Sender Details.
4. Assign the lead. Add Assign to User. With several users it rotates between them, evenly or unevenly. Turn on Only Apply To Unassigned Contacts if you don't want to reassign leads who already have an owner.
5. Add it to your pipeline. Add Create Opportunity with your pipeline and first stage, so every lead shows up where your team works.
6. Send the first text and email. Add Send SMS and Send Email right after. Keep the text short, name your business and include your booking link.
7. Alert your team. Add Internal Notification after the assign step, to the Assigned User, by SMS, email or in-app. If the contact has no assigned user, that notification doesn't send.
8. Wait for a reply. Add a Wait set to The contact to reply, on SMS, with a timeout such as one hour. If they reply, Stop on Response ends the workflow. If the timeout passes, the next step runs.
9. Follow up, then stop. Send a second text, then a Wait of a set period of time such as one day, then a final text and email. Three or four touches over a few days is plenty; then let your team take over.
10. End it when they book. Add a Goal Event with the goal type Appointment Status (New or Confirmed). Set If Contact Reaches This Goal Without Meeting Conditions to End this workflow, so a lead who books stops getting nudges.
11. Set a time window. In Settings, a Time Window holds texts and emails outside the days and hours you choose, and sends them at the next allowed time. Twilio's summary of US quiet hours puts the federal window at 9 p.m. to 8 a.m. in the recipient's time zone, and some states are stricter.
12. Publish. Switch from Draft to Publish and save. Saving alone doesn't publish.

Message drafts

The first text does the work. Answer the question they asked, give one next step and include the opt-out line.

• First follow-up, about an hour later: "Just checking you saw this. Happy to answer anything first. Reply STOP to opt out."
• Next day: "Still looking for a time? Here's the link: [booking link]. Reply STOP to opt out."
• Last one: "We'll leave it here for now. Reply any time and we'll pick it back up."

1. Hi, it's Northside Dental. Thanks for your request. You can pick a time here: [booking link], or reply with a good time and we'll set it up. Reply STOP to opt out.
2. Do you take new patients on Saturdays?
3. We do, 8 to 1. Want me to hold this Saturday at 9?

How to test it

1. Use a fresh test contact. HighLevel says testing with a contact isn't fully reliable, especially when you reuse the same one. Submit your live form with a new name, email and phone each time.
2. Check every source. Submit each form. For Facebook, use Meta's lead ads testing tool on a published form and check the lead arrives in HighLevel.
3. Time the first reply. The text should arrive within a minute of submitting. If it doesn't, check the Time Window and the contact's DND.
4. Reply and book. Reply to the text on one test and book on another. Both should end the workflow. Confirm in Enrollment History and Execution Logs.
5. Check the alert. Make sure the assigned user got the notification and the opportunity landed in the right stage.

What can go wrong

• Leads don't enter the workflow: it's in Draft, or the trigger filters don't match. See Workflow not triggering.
• Facebook leads never arrive: the page, form or mapping isn't connected. See Facebook lead forms not syncing.
• A form on your website doesn't create a contact: Form Submitted only covers forms built in HighLevel. See Form not creating a contact.
• Nobody gets told about the lead: the notification ran before the assign step. See Leads not assigned to users.
• Leads get the same text twice: two triggers or two workflows fire on one lead. See Duplicate text messages.

Our Speed to lead package builds this across all your lead sources, tests each one and watches the first week of leads, if you'd rather hand it off.