In This Video
Why Were Leads Getting Lost In The Inbox?
Because every lead, whatever the channel, ended up as an email in one busy inbox. Buried among spam and everything else, leads were forgotten, deleted or answered late, so a lot of value sat somewhere easy to lose.
This client's leads arrived in four ways. Website forms came through as emails because the form tool had no integration (we suggested switching to one that does, which they've since done), and people emailed the address on the website directly, with no structure at all.
The other two came from the phones. Whoever answered was meant to log the enquiry on a form we had set up, but some forgot, so those enquiries arrived as call transcripts emailed by the VoIP system. Missed calls went to voicemail, which the VoIP system transcribed and emailed too.
How Do You Turn Lead Emails Into CRM Records Automatically?
With an AI step that reads every new email. Each email arriving in the inbox triggers the workflow, and a prompt tells the AI to look for each of the four lead formats. We could show it examples of each one, so it learned what to look for.
When it spots one, the workflow creates a lead record in the CRM, which for this client runs on monday.com. Emails that don't match any format don't create anything.
They already had a CRM but weren't using it well, because the leads lived in the inbox and that's where the team naturally went. With every lead in one place, we could also assign them automatically, based on what the enquiry was about, the location and a few other details.
What Results Did The Business Get?
A substantial rise in their lead conversion rate. We don't remember the exact figure, so we won't put a number on it, but it was the biggest change, and more leads making it through the funnel meant revenue growth.
With every lead in the CRM and assigned to someone, they're also far better able to track and report on lead performance, such as the percentage of leads that become opportunities.
What Tools Do You Need To Build It?
An email inbox, an automation platform, an AI model to read the emails and a CRM. This client ran everything on Gmail, though Outlook or another provider would work, and the CRM was monday.com.
In the video we build it in n8n, which works much like Zapier and is easier to set up with AI. Several AI models on the market can handle the email reading.
How Does The n8n Workflow Work?
A new email triggers n8n, the AI checks it against the lead formats, and any email that matches is added to monday.com as a lead. The rest of the video builds exactly that, so you can set it up for your own inbox.