How to Automate Lead Follow-Up From Your Website Enquiry Form

Most enquiry forms are black holes. Someone fills in the form, hits submit, and then waits. Maybe they get a generic “we’ll be in touch” message. Maybe they get nothing. Meanwhile you’re flat out on a job, and by the time you get back to them that afternoon or the next morning, they’ve already called someone else.

Speed matters more than most business owners realise. Studies from Harvard Business Review found that responding to a lead within five minutes makes you 100 times more likely to reach them than if you wait an hour. For small businesses competing on service, that gap is often the difference between winning the job and losing it.

The fix isn’t hiring someone to sit at a computer all day. It’s setting up an automated follow-up sequence that fires the moment a form is submitted, regardless of what you’re doing.

What the workflow does

Here’s what happens automatically when someone submits your enquiry form:

1. They get an immediate confirmation email with your response time and next steps
2. You (or your team) get a notification with their details so you can follow up personally
3. If you don’t respond within 24 hours, a second automated email goes out to keep the lead warm
4. Their details are added to a Google Sheet or your CRM so nothing falls through the cracks

You still do the actual sales conversation. The automation handles the gap between “form submitted” and “human responds.”

What you need

• Typeform or Gravity Forms, for the enquiry form. Typeform is easier to set up if you don’t have an existing WordPress site; Gravity Forms ($59/year) is better if you do
• Zapier, to connect your form to Gmail and everything else. Free plan handles up to 100 tasks/month; Starter is US$20/month if you need more
• Gmail, to send the automated emails. Outlook works too
• Google Sheets (optional), to keep a running list of every lead

Step 1, Set up your enquiry form properly

Before you touch Zapier, make sure your form collects what you actually need. At minimum:

• Full name
• Email address
• Phone number
• What they need help with (a dropdown works better than a text field here)
• When they want to get started

Keep it short. Every extra field costs you completion rates. If you need more detail, get it during your first call, not on the form.

Once your form is live, submit a test entry with your own details. You’ll need this in Zapier to map the fields.

Step 2, Connect your form to Zapier

In Zapier, create a new Zap. Set the trigger to your form tool, either Typeform or Gravity Forms, and choose the “New Entry” event.

Connect your account, select your form, and test the trigger. Zapier will pull in the fields from your test submission. You’ll use these to build the rest of the workflow.

Step 3, Send an instant confirmation to the lead

Add your first action: Gmail, Send Email.

Map the fields:

• To: the email field from the form
• Subject: “Thanks for getting in touch, [First Name]”
• Body: A short, direct message that confirms you got their enquiry, tells them when to expect a reply, and gives them your phone number if it’s urgent

Write this email once, then leave it alone. Every lead gets the same message. The goal isn’t to sell them anything here, it’s to stop them from calling your competitor while they wait for you to reply.

A sample that works:

Hi [First Name],

Thanks for reaching out. We’ve received your enquiry and will get back to you within [X hours / by end of business today].

If it’s urgent, call us on [phone number] and we’ll sort it out straight away.

Talk soon,
[Your name]

No fluff. No promises you can’t keep. Just a clear message that says a real person will be in touch.

Step 4, Notify yourself (or your team)

Add a second action to the same Zap: Gmail, Send Email, this time to yourself or your sales inbox.

The subject should include the lead’s name and what they’re after, so you can triage from your inbox without opening each email. Something like: “New enquiry: [First Name] [Last Name] — [Service Type]”

Include all the form details in the body so you have everything in one place when you call back.

If your team uses Slack, you can add a Slack notification here instead of, or alongside, the email.

Step 5, Log the lead in Google Sheets

Add a third action: Google Sheets, Append Row. Create a sheet with columns for name, email, phone, service, date submitted, and status.

Map the form fields to the matching columns. Every new submission adds a row automatically. This gives you a running list of every lead that’s come in, which is useful for following up, spotting trends, and keeping your sales pipeline visible.

If you’re already using a CRM like HubSpot or Pipedrive, add that as an action instead of (or alongside) Sheets. Zapier has native integrations for both.

Step 6, Add a follow-up email for leads you haven’t responded to

This step is optional but worth doing. If a lead doesn’t hear back from you within 24 hours (because you’re busy, the enquiry came in on a Friday, whatever), Zapier can send a second email to keep them warm.

You need Zapier’s “Delay” action for this. Set it to pause for 24 hours after the form is submitted, then send a second Gmail action to the lead’s email address.

Keep this email short:

Hi [First Name],

Just following up on your enquiry from yesterday. We’ll be in touch today to talk through what you need.

If you’d prefer to book a time directly, here’s a link: [Calendly or booking link]

[Your name]

This one email catches a lot of leads that would otherwise go cold. Most people submit a form, don’t hear back same day, and assume you’re not interested. A short follow-up is often all it takes to keep them in play.

What to do after you publish the Zap

Turn the Zap on, then submit a real test enquiry from your website. Check that:

• The confirmation email arrives quickly (within a minute or two)
• Your notification email arrives with the correct details
• The Google Sheet row appears with all fields mapped correctly

If something is off, check the Zapier task history. It shows you exactly which step failed and why.

After that, update the confirmation email every few months. Response times change. Staff change. Keep it accurate.

How much does this cost?

If you’re starting from scratch:

• Typeform free plan: $0 (limited to 10 responses/month; Typeform Basic is US$25/month for more)
• Gravity Forms: $59/year if you’re on WordPress
• Zapier free plan: $0 for up to 100 tasks/month
• Gmail: $0 if you’re using a personal account; Google Workspace is $10/month per user if you want a branded email address

For a small business getting a handful of enquiries a week, the free tiers cover it. If you’re getting 30 or more enquiries per month, you’re looking at around $20–$35/month to run the whole thing, which pays for itself with one job.

Related guides

• How to automate new client onboarding from inquiry to first invoice
• How to automate job quote follow-ups without sounding desperate

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This guide is part of the SmallBizAI.au Automation Hub — practical automation guides for Australian small business.

More step-by-step guides: How-To Guides for Australian Small Business — practical guides organised by the problem you’re trying to solve.