> `YOUR GRACE AGENCY  /  AUTOMATION LAUNCH KIT  /  WORKFLOW 01 OF 05`
>
> **AUTOMATE. DELIVER. EMPOWER.**
> *Map the signal. Preserve the judgment. Make the next action obvious.*

# 01 — Lead Intake & Qualification

**Outcome:** Every qualified inquiry becomes a single, owned lead record with a useful next step—without losing context in an inbox.

## Use when

You receive inquiries through a contact form, booking tool, direct message export, or shared inbox and need a consistent way to prioritize and respond.

## Workflow control card

| System detail | v1 decision |
| --- | --- |
| Primary signal | a new inquiry reaches your chosen intake channel |
| Automation role | capture, deduplicate, route, and draft |
| Human boundary | approve outreach, pricing, scope, and fit decisions |
| Safe launch mode | test records and a non-live destination first |

> **APPROVAL BOUNDARY**
> This workflow prepares context and a possible next step. A human decides whether to accept the lead or send any external message.

## Inputs

| Required field | Example |
| --- | --- |
| Lead name | Maya Rivera |
| Email or contact method | maya@northstar.co |
| Service / offer requested | Launch strategy sprint |
| Project need | “We need a clear launch sequence by September.” |
| Budget or range, if supplied | `$2,000–$4,000` |
| Source | website contact form |
| Consent / contact preference | email permitted |

## Trigger

**A new inquiry is submitted or received** in your chosen intake source.

## Workflow steps

1. **Capture** the raw inquiry in a lead table or CRM. Preserve the original message in a `source_message` field.
2. **Normalize** name, email, source, requested service, and date. Do not overwrite the raw message.
3. **Deduplicate** by email or contact handle. If a matching active lead exists, append a note and notify its current owner instead of creating a second lead.
4. **Classify** fit as `priority`, `standard`, `nurture`, or `manual review` using your explicit criteria below.
5. **Route** the lead to an owner and create one next action with a due date.
6. **Draft—not send—a reply** that mirrors the inquiry, states the next step, and asks only for the missing decision-critical detail.
7. **Notify** the owner with the lead link, classification, and why it was chosen.

## Qualification criteria

| Class | Rule | Action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Priority | clear need, matched offer, real deadline, and budget/authority signal | owner reviews within one business day |
| Standard | matched need but missing budget, scope, or timing | send owner-approved discovery reply |
| Nurture | useful future fit but no active timing | add a follow-up date; do not pressure |
| Manual review | sensitive, unclear, spam-like, or outside policy | do not auto-reply; route to owner |

## Outputs

- One deduplicated lead record
- One visible owner and next action
- A classification reason stored as plain text
- A reply draft awaiting human approval
- A simple source-performance view by channel

## Tool-agnostic setup notes

- Create a lead table with `lead_id`, `status`, `owner`, `source`, `fit`, `fit_reason`, `next_action`, and `last_contacted_at`.
- Use a unique key such as a lowercased email. For contact forms with no email, use a manually reviewed key; never guess identity.
- Keep reply sending as a separate, approval-required action until at least 10 clean test runs pass.
- If an AI step classifies fit, require it to return only one of the allowed labels and a short evidence-based reason. Anything else routes to `manual review`.

## Completed example

**Trigger:** Maya submits a website form asking for a September launch strategy sprint.  
**Decision:** `priority` because the requested offer matches, the deadline is explicit, and the supplied range is within the published starting range.  
**Output:** Lead `LD-2026-091` is assigned to Grace; a task “Review discovery notes by Tuesday 11:00” is created; the draft asks for team size and the launch date.

## Edge cases

- **Same person submits twice:** attach the newer message to the existing open lead and post a notification; do not restart the sequence.
- **No budget mentioned:** use `standard`, not `nurture`, if need and timing are clear.
- **A competitor or vendor asks for a meeting:** route to manual review; do not use a sales template.
- **Spam / suspicious links:** tag as `manual review`, do not pass the content into an AI prompt, and never auto-reply.

## QA checks before launch

- [ ] Two submissions from the same email create one lead, not two.
- [ ] Missing required fields land in a review queue rather than failing silently.
- [ ] Every classification includes a human-readable reason.
- [ ] No reply is sent without the chosen approval step.
- [ ] Owner notification includes a direct link to the source record.

## Expected outcome

Within one week, you can see every new lead, its source, owner, decision status, and next action without manually retyping the inquiry.

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`YOUR GRACE AGENCY  ·  WORKFLOW 01 / LEAD INTAKE  ·  HUMAN REVIEW REQUIRED FOR OUTREACH`