Ten Minute Agents

How to reply to new leads automatically in GoHighLevel

By The Ten Minute Agents Team · 18 October 2026

Short answer: when a form is submitted, or a Facebook lead form comes in, create an opportunity and send a short personal reply straight away. A bot then asks what they need, when they want it, and a rough budget. You get a text only when they look like a good fit.

People call a fast first reply speed to lead: they hear from you while they are still thinking about the enquiry, not the next morning.

Why the first reply should be personal

"Thanks, we will be in touch" does not tell you if they are ready, and it does not show them you saw what they typed. A short reply that names their enquiry, then three questions, sorts the keen ones from the rest.

Before you start

  1. A GoHighLevel account. Try GoHighLevel (affiliate link)
  2. The form you already use. Add Facebook only if you run lead ads and the page is connected.
  3. Two custom values under Settings → Custom Values: your booking link, and the budget that counts as a good fit.
  4. Three contact custom fields under Settings → Custom Fields (choose Contact, then Create field): need, timing and budget.
  5. A pipeline with stages such as New, Hot, Nurture and Cold.
  6. A phone number on the account if the first reply is a text. UK numbers may need a registration step first. Follow the prompts in your phone settings.

Step 1: catch the lead and reply

  1. Go to Automation → Workflows → Create Workflow → Start from Scratch. Name it Lead Replies.

  2. Add New Trigger → Form Submitted. Filter Form Is your enquiry form.

  3. For Facebook lead ads, connect the page and map fields under Settings → Integrations (Facebook, then Facebook Form Fields Mapping). Add a Facebook Lead Form Submitted trigger with Page Is and Form Is.

  4. Optional: a Contact Tag trigger, tag triage:lead, set to Added, if inbox sorting uses that tag.

  5. In Settings, switch on Allow Re-entry so a later enquiry is not ignored.

  6. Add Create Opportunity. Pick the pipeline and the New stage. Leave duplicates off if one open opportunity per person is enough.

  7. Do not wait before the first message. Add GPT powered by OpenAI and pick a model for short replies:

    Write a friendly first reply in UK English, two sentences at most, to {{contact.first_name}}. Thank them, mention what they asked about, and ask one easy question about what they need. No hard sell. Message: {{contact.message}}

  8. Add If/Else. If they have a phone number, Send SMS. If not, Send Email. Insert the GPT reply. Help shows the first step's reply as {{chatgpt.1.response}}, or use the value picker.

Step 2: three questions

  1. Go to AI Agents → Conversation AI and create a bot. Guided Form Setup, then General Q&A, is a good fit. Add the questions under the bot's objectives.
  2. It should ask one thing at a time: what they need, when they want it, and a rough budget. Save each answer to the matching custom field where the bot lets you.
  3. Put services and prices in a knowledge base (AI Agents → Knowledge Base) and select it on Bot Training. It must not quote a price that is not written there.
  4. When it has all three, it thanks them and says you will be in touch. If they want to talk sooner, it shares the booking link.
  5. Set the bot to Auto-Pilot and switch on the channels you use. Keep Wait Time Before Responding to a few seconds if you see it.
  6. On the lead workflow, after the first reply, add Update Conversation AI Bot and Status. Choose this bot and set it to Active.

Auto-Pilot keeps going after you type, unless you pause it. Set that contact to Inactive in Conversations, and switch on the manual-message sleep control if you see it.

Step 3: hot, warm and cold

You do not need a separate score. Use the answers.

Hot. They want to start soon, and the budget fits your good-fit value. In the bot goals, add Trigger Workflow and describe that in one sentence. Point it at a published workflow that does three things: Update Opportunity to Hot, Send Internal Notification by SMS to you, and Send SMS to them with the booking link.

Warm. A real need, but later timing or a soft budget. Trigger a workflow that moves them to Nurture, then Send Email, Wait a few days, and repeat, five times over a fortnight. Do not text yourself.

Cold, or no reply. Wait until they reply, with a timeout of 3 days. Leave the replied branch empty. If it times out, Update Opportunity to Cold, Wait 4 more days, and send one "still interested?" email.

Publish every workflow. A trigger cannot start a draft.

Test it

Submit your own form once as a keen lead (this month, within budget), once as a later enquiry, and once as a vague note you ignore. The first reply should arrive quickly, the opportunity should sit in New, and only the keen lead should text you.

If nothing runs, check every workflow is published. Execution Logs show a missed form or Facebook filter. If you and the bot both reply, set the contact to Inactive.

Want it ready-made?

The AI Lead Replies agent from Ten Minute Agents sets this up for you:

  • an opportunity is created in your New Leads pipeline
  • an AI-written personal first reply goes out within a minute
  • the lead qualifier asks about need, timing and budget
  • hot leads text you and get your booking link
  • warm leads get a short nurture sequence, and cold leads get one check-in
  • the bot stops as soon as you reply yourself

It comes with a plain-English guide designed to take about ten minutes. You can buy it on its own for £29, or get it with all five agents in the Small Business Agent Pack.

Not sure it's the right one to start with? Take the 2-minute quiz.

FAQ

Do I have to use Facebook? No. Form Submitted is enough. Add the Facebook trigger only when that integration is connected.

Can the bot invent prices? Not if you tell it to use the knowledge base, and you test a question you have not answered there.

What if someone fills the form twice? Allow Re-entry lets them in again after the first run finishes. Turn off duplicate opportunities if you do not want two open deals.

Sources

Links marked (affiliate link) may earn Click Flow Grow a commission at no extra cost to you. Ten Minute Agents isn't affiliated with or endorsed by HighLevel.

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