Use case · Growth · Lead capture
Lead Capture & Routing
Lead capture and routing pulls every lead, from every source, into one CRM and sorts it hot or warm as it arrives. Hot leads reach your team straight away. Everyone else gets a reply within seconds and moves into follow-up. Each record is tagged with where it came from, so you can see which channels bring in the best leads.
- Every lead source in one place
- 1 CRM
- Typical multi-source build
- 2–3 weeks
- Reply to every warm lead
- Seconds
What is lead capture and routing?
Lead capture and routing is an automation that collects leads from every place they arrive, such as website forms, portal emails, enquiry emails, social DMs, missed calls and lead ads, and puts them in one CRM. An AI step reads messy emails into clean records, each lead is tagged by source and sorted hot or warm, and hot leads trigger an instant alert.
What goes wrong when leads arrive in five places?
When leads arrive in four or five places, each one lands somewhere different. Details are copied out of emails by hand, some enquiries sit unread for a day, and nobody can say which leads are the serious ones. Your best prospects wait in the same queue as everyone else, and some are never followed up at all.
Details copied by hand
Portal notifications and enquiry emails have to be retyped into the CRM, which is slow and full of mistakes.Enquiries sit unread
A lead in someone's personal inbox or a DM nobody checked can wait a day, or for ever.Nobody knows what works
Without a source on every lead, you can't tell which channel, ad or post is worth the money.
How does the automation capture and sort every lead?
The automation connects every lead source to one pipeline built in Make.com or n8n. An AI step parses each email into a structured record, the lead is tagged with its source and sorted hot or warm on criteria you agree, hot leads trigger an instant alert, and warm leads get an acknowledgement and move into a nurture sequence.
With AI automations
A new lead from any source: a form, a portal or enquiry email, a social comment or DM, a missed call or a lead ad
Capture every source
Each source is connected to one pipeline in Make.com or n8n.Read and parse
An AI step reads each portal or enquiry email and pulls out the lead's name, contact details and what they're interested in.Tag by source
Every record shows where it came from.Sort hot or warm
On criteria agreed with you, such as an urgent timeframe, finance already agreed or a specific need.Alert on hot leads
You and your assistant get an instant notification with the lead's details and source.Acknowledge warm leads
An immediate email or SMS thanks them, starts the qualification and moves them into follow-up.Manage it in one place
Your team filters by source and tag, assigns leads and can take over by hand at any time.
| Source | How it's captured |
|---|---|
| Website forms | Each submission is sent to Make.com or n8n by webhook the moment it's filled in |
| Portal lead emails | The automation watches your inbox, picks out portal notifications by sender and parses the lead |
| Direct enquiry emails | Keyword filters on subject and body separate genuine enquiries from everything else, then AI parses them |
| Facebook and Instagram comments and DMs | Captured in ManyChat or GoHighLevel through social DM lead capture flows |
| Missed calls | Texted back and captured through missed-call capture |
| Lead ads | Sent into the same pipeline and tagged by source |
| Existing leads | Imported from your spreadsheets on day one |
For a US cash home buying company operating across several states, every new lead from its website forms and Google or Facebook ads now creates a New Lead Followup task in its GoHighLevel CRM, due the same day. That build is still in progress.
How do you know where every lead came from?
You know where every lead came from by tagging it at the point of entry. We build a library of tracked UTM links for every channel, salesperson, referrer and lead magnet, a separate entry page per source, and source fields on every contact. Where organic and paid leads behave differently, they run through separate pipelines.
- A tracked link library. Ready-made UTM links for each social platform, ad platform and type of email, plus one per salesperson, referrer and lead magnet. A lead who arrives through a setter's or referrer's link is credited to them automatically.
- An entry page per source, so each lead is tagged the moment it arrives.
- Source fields on every contact, such as Lead Source, Ad Campaign Name taken from the link, and a Lead Entry Date filled in automatically.
- Separate pipelines where sources differ, such as organic and paid, each with its own automations.
For an Australian online fitness coaching business, we built a UTM link library covering Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, paid ads, email, each setter, each referrer and each of its five lead magnets, in organic and paid versions. Organic and paid leads run through separate pipelines with the same stages.
Which systems deliver it?
Lead capture and routing is delivered by AI automations, built in Make.com or n8n and connected to your CRM, or built inside GoHighLevel or ManyChat when most leads come from Facebook and Instagram. A typical multi-source build goes live in about 2–3 weeks. An AI voice agent can be added to call hot leads within minutes.
| System | Trigger | What it does | Package note |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Automations | Any new lead | Captures, parses, tags, sorts, alerts and acknowledges | Typically 2–3 weeks for a multi-source build |
| AI Voice Agents | Hot or new lead | Calls within 2 minutes for a full qualification (see speed-to-lead) | Optional add-on to the automation |
| If… | We usually recommend |
|---|---|
| Most leads come through Facebook and Instagram, and you want something simple | ManyChat as the CRM and inbox, with Make.com connecting forms and email |
| You want calls, texts, pipelines and calendars in one platform | GoHighLevel, with Make.com or n8n for anything it doesn't connect to natively |
| You already have a CRM you're happy with | Make.com or n8n connecting every source into it |
Where is it used?
Lead capture and routing suits any business with leads arriving in four or five different places. Real estate agents use it for portal leads, website forms and DMs; car dealerships for web leads and enquiry emails; education providers for enquiry forms and social campaigns; and home services businesses for quote requests and missed calls.
Same job, their words
Portal leads from sites such as Zillow, website forms, direct emails and Instagram DMs all land in one property CRM, parsed and tagged by source. A motivated buyer with finance agreed is flagged hot and the negotiator is alerted at once.
Proof
Every chat becomes a scored lead or a support ticket
Every prospect captured with a 1–10 score · current students routed to support
What are the limits?
Lead capture and routing sorts known contacts by what they've told you. It doesn't identify anonymous website visitors. By default, form and email leads get an instant acknowledgement and are sorted on the details they've given; a fuller back-and-forth qualification can be added. Email parsing gets more reliable the more example emails we see.
- Known contacts only. We sort leads by their form answers and their website and email activity, not by tracking anonymous visitors.
- Fuller qualification is an add-on. Such as an AI voice agent calling every new lead within minutes.
- Parsing improves with examples. Send us 2–3 example lead emails from each portal before the build.
- What we need from you. Admin access to your website and CRM (or an introduction to whoever manages them), your definition of a hot lead, and the details you want captured.
Frequently asked questions
Questions
Answer
Can you pull leads from property portals like Zillow?
Yes, from portals that send lead notification emails, such as Zillow and Trulia. The automation watches your inbox, picks out portal emails by sender and uses an AI step to pull out the lead's name, contact details and the property they asked about. Parsing is set up from 2–3 example emails per portal and gets more reliable with more examples.
Which CRM do the leads go into?
The CRM you already use, if you're happy with it, connected through Make.com or n8n. If you're choosing, we usually recommend GoHighLevel when you want calls, texts, pipelines and calendars in one platform, or ManyChat when most leads come through Facebook and Instagram. Existing leads are imported from your spreadsheets on day one.
How are hot leads flagged?
Each lead is sorted hot or warm on criteria agreed with you, such as an urgent timeframe, finance already agreed or a specific need. A hot lead triggers an instant notification to you and your assistant with the lead's details and source, so the right person calls straight away. Warm leads get an automatic acknowledgement and move into follow-up.
Can you track which ad or post a lead came from?
Yes. We build a library of tracked links for every channel, ad, salesperson, referrer and lead magnet, and the CRM records the source and campaign name on every contact. Separate entry pages per source and separate pipelines for organic and paid leads keep the attribution clean, so you can see which channels bring in the best leads.
Do you identify anonymous website visitors?
No. Lead capture and routing works with known contacts: people who have filled in a form, sent an email or DM, called you or replied to an ad. We sort them by what they've told you and by their activity with your website and emails. We don't identify visitors who haven't shared their details.