How We Automated Close.com CRM, Allowing Our Client’s Sales Team to Engage With Five Times More Leads

Let me walk you through the automation we’ve set up. Think of this as a behind-the-scenes look at how we handle new leads and what happens when their status changes.

Step 1: BDR submits a lead form Whenever the BDR adds a new lead (including details like name, email, etc.), system will instantly sends a Slack message to the team. This keeps everyone in the loop right away—no more waiting around.

Step 2: Lead Status Every lead comes in with one of two main statuses:

1. Positive Reply – The lead is interested but not yet booked for a call.
2. Call Booked – The lead has scheduled a call or demo with us.

What Happens with a Positive Reply Lead?

• We’ll try to find this lead in our CRM (Close).
• If the lead isn’t found in the CRM, we create a new one with all the info we got from the BDR’s form.
• Once we confirm the lead in the CRM, we add it to the "Lead Gen" pipeline and put it under the "Positive Reply" stage.
• Then we automatically create a set of follow-up tasks. These tasks are based on a Google Sheet we have.
• If the lead doesn’t have a phone number, we send their info to Clay.com to try and find one. If Clay comes back with a number, we update their contact record.

What Happens with a Call Booked Lead?

• We do the same CRM check. If they’re not in there, we create them; if they are, we just move on.
• For a call booked lead, we put them into the "Sales" pipeline under the "Booked Demo" stage.
• We add a bunch of tasks from another sheet, all designed to help move them through the sales process.
• And again, if there’s no phone number, we try Clay.com for mobile enrichment and update the contact if a number is found.

Changing Status or Pipeline? Tasks Adjust Automatically One of the coolest parts is that when a lead’s status or pipeline changes, we automatically remove their old tasks and create new ones that fit their new stage. So if they move from "Positive Reply" to another status, we clear out all the old "Positive Reply" tasks and load the correct set of tasks for the new stage. This ensures our follow-ups are always relevant and up-to-date.

Different Task Templates for Different Stages

• If a lead is in the "Lead Gen" pipeline with a status of "Positive Reply," we add all tasks from the "leadgen-task" sheet. If they move out of "Positive Reply," we remove all those tasks.
• If they’re in "Sales" pipeline with "Booked Demo," we add tasks from the "presales-task" sheet. If they leave that status, we remove those tasks.
• If they move into "No Show" or "Proposal Chase" in the Sales pipeline, we add tasks from the "proposalchase-task" sheet. If they move out of those statuses, we remove the tasks again.

How the Task Dates Work

Our task scheduling is powered by a simple Google Sheet setup. Here’s how it works:

1. Three Separate Sheets for Different Stages:

We have one sheet for each stage of the sales process—like "leadgen-task" for initial follow-ups, "presales-task" for when a demo is booked, and "proposalchase-task" for proposal follow-ups.

2. Clear Columns:

Each sheet has three columns:

- Task Name: What you need to do (e.g., "Call the lead").

- Number of Days: How many days after the previous task you want this one to happen (e.g., 3 days after the last call).

- Date: The sheet automatically calculates the exact date for that task based on the previous task’s date and the number of days you’ve entered.

3. Automatic Date Calculation:

If Task 1 is today, and Task 2 is set for 3 days later, the sheet adds 3 days to today’s date and shows the new date. For weekends, if a calculated date lands on Saturday or Sunday, it automatically shifts the task to Monday. This ensures we only reach out on weekdays.

4. Easy to Update:

Anyone can change the tasks without calling an expert. Want to add a new follow-up step? Just add a row. Need to give more time between tasks? Increase the “Number of Days” column. Want a different task name? Change it right in the sheet.

In short: The Google Sheet sets the schedule for each lead automatically. Change the tasks or timing right in the sheet, and the automation instantly updates for all future leads—no complicated coding required.

Special Case: Removing Leads from the Chase List If one of our team members creates a note on a lead and that note includes the phrase "remove it from chase list," we do an extra step. We look up that lead’s email in our internal Google Sheet and highlight the corresponding row in red. This signals to everyone else that this lead should not be pursued any further—maybe they said "not interested," and we don’t want other team members accidentally following up again.

In a nutshell, this entire automation ensures that leads are always followed up with at the right time, that their outreach schedule updates whenever their status changes, and that our sales team has full control over the follow-up sequence through a simple Google Sheet. No weekends, no wasted outreach, and a perfectly flexible system that’s easy to maintain.

Service we provide: We will automate and systemize your business operations, enabling your existing team to handle 20 times more work without hiring additional staff - If you're interested, email me at [email protected]