Automation is the name of the game when it comes to getting the most out of Salesforce. Capturing lead information with the handy web-to-lead functionality is one of the core elements for enabling Sales teams. Not only is the information the lead entered from the web form stored directly onto a lead page in Salesforce, but you can set up the system to auto assign a Sales rep, and have that user notified regarding the new inquiry.

But what if your Sales team isn’t going to be able to follow up right away? You don’t want to lose that momentum. Or maybe you just want to buy your team a bit of time to ensure they can do their research before reaching out? You guessed it, automation is the answer.

The best option here is the web-to-lead autoresponse emails. Once the template and sending filters are setup, an email will be automatically sent out to the new lead, as soon as their info registers in the system. As this feature comes standard on the CRM, we have a few tips below for setting up and optimizing your Salesforce autoresponse emails.

Setup your template (letterhead)

To make life easy on yourself, start by setting up a template, also known in Salesforce as a letterhead. This way, every successive, similar email you want to build will already have the same basic components, such as a header logo, and ensure they all look the same.  Click here for steps on creating a letterhead

(This can also be done in Pardot if you want nicer looking emails. By default, Salesforce offers limited formatting options for your emails)

Create the different variations dependant upon the use case

For this, you need to define the when and the why of each email you are going to be using. Did you capture the lead from a demo video, whitepaper download, or simply someone clicking a “contact us” button?

Best practice for both Sales and Marketing is to send different emails in each of these use cases. But now that you have your letterhead, the basic formatting is already taken care of. From there, create your first email, and you can always use the clone option when making more to quickly build variants that feature small tweaks.

Content is king

Of course, you need to make sure that the content of the email is relevant and specific to the use case. Don’t get off to a bad start by thanking someone for watching a video if they haven’t seen any video. A few other tips for these autoresponse emails.

• Use merge tags – marketing researchers have proven time and again that adding in a merge tag and personalizing, like the lead’s first name, can have a big impact on improving how an email is received.
• Give added value – another handy marketing trick is to follow up with added value to further engage. Whether it be a blog post, success story or any other content you have created, just be sure that it can add some real value for your lead.

Define your web to lead autoresponse rules

Once you have all of your emails built, it’s time to make sure they send to the right lead. For this, Salesforce allows you to build your sending rules on a large number of fields in either the lead, campaign or current user.

For example, a common use here is the “Lead Source” default field. Simply that you will send a different email to each lead, based on where they came into the system. Whichever fields you choose, do make sure to pick reliable fields that won’t be changing frequently, or can have data error problems. Click here for steps on setting up the autoresponse rules.

-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team

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Mike Walsh

CEO of CloudMyBiz Salesforce CRM consulting services with a deep knowledge in the lending industry. Taking keen interest in the project management side of operations, playing a vital role in the 31% YOY company growth. Strategic leader, mastering the ability to problem solve at every level of the business, providing effective solutions for clients.