> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.closethecall.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Automations Overview
> 10 automated pipelines that follow up, remind, recover, and nurture — so you never lose a lead or forget a customer.
Automations handle the follow-up work that most small businesses forget to do. They send texts, emails, and owner alerts on your behalf — automatically — so you can focus on doing the actual work.
You'll find all automations on the [Automations page](https://app.closethecall.com/automations) in your sidebar.
## How a Pipeline Works
Every automation follows the same pattern: a trigger fires, one or more steps execute across channels, and you get a measurable outcome.
```mermaid theme={null}
flowchart LR
T[Trigger Event] --> D{Delay}
D --> S1[Step 1: SMS / Email / Alert]
S1 --> C{Customer Responded?}
C -- Yes --> O1[Outcome: Engaged]
C -- No --> S2[Step 2: Follow-up]
S2 --> O2[Outcome: Escalate or Close]
```
## The 10 Pipelines
| # | Pipeline | Trigger | Steps | Channels | Description |
| -- | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| 1 | **Missed Call Rescue** | Missed call / hangup / voicemail | SMS within 60s, email if no reply in 30min | SMS, Email, Owner Alert | Recovers leads from calls the AI couldn't handle. Businesses that text back within 1 minute recover up to 40% of missed leads. |
| 2 | **Lead Nurture** | New lead captured | Immediate owner alert, then 24h follow-up SMS if no contact made | SMS, Email, Owner Alert | Makes sure no lead slips through the cracks. Notifies you instantly and follows up if you haven't reached out. |
| 3 | **Appointment Lifecycle** | Appointment booked | 1h reminder with confirm/cancel links, post-appointment review request | SMS | Reduces no-shows with a timely reminder, then captures a review from happy customers. |
| 4 | **Quote Follow-up** | Quote sent but not accepted | AI-personalised follow-up SMS after configurable delay (default 24h) | SMS, Email | Uses the original call transcript to write a personalised nudge rather than a generic "just following up." |
| 5 | **Morning Briefing** | Daily at 08:00 local time | Email summary of yesterday's calls, leads, appointments, and action items | Email | Start every day knowing exactly what happened and what needs attention. |
| 6 | **No-Show Recovery** | Appointment marked as no-show | SMS to customer offering to rebook, owner alert | SMS, Owner Alert | Recovers revenue from missed appointments by offering an easy rebook link. |
| 7 | **Payment Chase** | Invoice overdue | Reminder at 1 day, 3 days, and 7 days overdue | SMS, Email | Politely chases unpaid invoices on an escalating schedule so you don't have to send awkward texts. |
| 8 | **Win Back** | Lead inactive for 30+ days | Re-engagement SMS with seasonal or promotional offer | SMS | Brings cold leads back into your pipeline with a timely nudge. |
| 9 | **Negative Sentiment** | Call flagged as negative sentiment | Owner alert within 5 minutes, no review request sent | Owner Alert | Flags unhappy callers immediately so you can personally intervene before they leave a bad review. |
| 10 | **Onboarding Drip** | New account created | Welcome email, setup tips at day 1/3/7, "Need help?" check-in | Email | Guides new users through setup so they get value from CloseTheCall quickly. |
## Multi-Channel Delivery
Each pipeline can use one or more channels depending on what makes sense for the situation.
Text messages to the customer's phone. Best for urgent, time-sensitive actions like missed call recovery and appointment reminders.
Branded HTML emails for longer content like morning briefings, invoice reminders, and onboarding tips.
Notifications to you (and your team) by SMS and/or email. Used when something needs human attention — a hot lead, a negative call, or a no-show.
## Pipeline Details
### 1. Missed Call Rescue
When someone calls and the AI can't connect (e.g. the AI is already on another call, or the caller hangs up too quickly), this pipeline kicks in.
**Default message:**
> "Hi, thanks for calling \[Your Business]. Sorry we missed you! Reply to this text and we'll get back to you ASAP."
**Configuration:**
* Toggle on/off
* Customise the SMS template (variables: `{businessName}`, `{callerName}`)
* Set delay before sending (default: 60 seconds)
This is the single highest-impact automation. Enable it first.
### 2. Lead Nurture
Fires the moment a new lead is captured by the AI during a call or chat.
* Sends you an SMS and/or email notification immediately
* If you haven't contacted the lead within 24 hours, sends a follow-up SMS to the customer
### 3. Appointment Lifecycle
Two stages in one pipeline:
1. **Reminder** — 1 hour before the appointment, the customer gets an SMS with **Confirm** and **Cancel** links. If they cancel, the slot is freed and you're notified.
2. **Review Request** — After a completed appointment, sends a Google review request SMS. Skips customers whose call had negative sentiment.
### 4. Quote Follow-up
When a quote is sent but the customer hasn't responded:
* The AI reads the original call transcript and writes a personalised follow-up
* Falls back to your template if personalisation fails
* Configurable delay (default: 24 hours)
### 5. Morning Briefing
A daily email digest at 08:00 local time containing:
* Yesterday's call count and average duration
* New leads captured (with temperature badges)
* Upcoming appointments for today
* Action items (unanswered leads, pending quotes, overdue invoices)
### 6. No-Show Recovery
When an appointment is marked as a no-show:
* Customer gets an SMS: "We missed you today! Would you like to rebook? Reply YES and we'll find a new time."
* You get an owner alert so you can follow up personally if needed
### 7. Payment Chase
Escalating reminders for overdue invoices:
* **Day 1:** Friendly SMS reminder with payment link
* **Day 3:** Email with invoice details and payment link
* **Day 7:** Final reminder SMS + owner alert to follow up manually
### 8. Win Back
For leads that went cold (no activity in 30+ days):
* Sends a re-engagement SMS
* Can include seasonal promotions or limited-time offers
* Configurable inactivity threshold
### 9. Negative Sentiment
When the AI detects negative sentiment on a call:
* Owner gets an alert within 5 minutes
* The review request automation is automatically suppressed for this customer
* Gives you a chance to personally call back and resolve the issue
### 10. Onboarding Drip
For new CloseTheCall users:
* **Day 0:** Welcome email with quick-start steps
* **Day 1:** "Set up your knowledge base" tip
* **Day 3:** "Enable your first automation" tip
* **Day 7:** "Need help?" check-in with link to support
***
## Safety Features
Every pipeline includes built-in safeguards to prevent spam, comply with regulations, and avoid annoying your customers.
| Safety Feature | What It Does |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **SMS Opt-Out (STOP)** | If a customer replies STOP to any text, all automated SMS to that number halt immediately. They can text START to re-subscribe. This is a legal requirement (TCPA/PECR). |
| **Rate Limiting** | No customer receives more than 3 automated messages per day across all pipelines. Prevents message fatigue. |
| **Loop Prevention** | If an automation triggers another automation (e.g. a follow-up SMS triggers a new conversation), the loop is detected and broken after one cycle. |
| **Retry with Backoff** | If an SMS or email fails to send, the system retries up to 3 times with exponential backoff (1min, 5min, 15min). |
| **Deduplication** | The same message is never sent twice to the same customer for the same event, even if the webhook fires multiple times. |
| **Sentiment Gating** | Review requests are automatically suppressed for calls with negative sentiment. |
| **Business Hours Awareness** | Owner alerts respect your notification preferences. Morning briefings send at your local 08:00, not UTC. |
If a customer replies **STOP** to any automated text, they are automatically unsubscribed from ALL future SMS automations. This is a legal requirement and cannot be overridden. The customer can text **START** to re-subscribe.
## Visual Workflow Builder
For advanced users who want to create custom automation pipelines or modify the built-in ones, CloseTheCall includes a visual workflow builder. You can drag and drop triggers, conditions, delays, and actions to build any workflow you can imagine.
See the [Workflow Builder guide](/automations/workflow-builder) for details.
## Enabling and Disabling
Each pipeline has its own on/off toggle. Turning one off doesn't affect the others. When disabled:
* No new messages will be sent for that pipeline
* Messages already queued will still be delivered
* Your configuration is saved so you can re-enable without starting over
Yes. Every automated SMS appears in your **Conversations** page with a tag showing which automation triggered it. Emails appear in your account's email log.
No. All 10 pipelines are included in every plan. The only cost is the SMS messages themselves, which come out of your plan's SMS allowance.
Yes. Every pipeline with a delay step lets you configure the timing. Some pipelines (like Payment Chase) have multiple delay steps that can each be adjusted independently.