Setting up Lead Nurturing follow-ups

Valid for AI Receptionist.

The Lead Nurturing feature allows your AI Receptionist to automatically stay in touch with your contacts after a conversation ends. By setting simple rules, you can schedule follow-up messages, phone calls, or calendar invites to ensure no lead is forgotten.

Why use Lead Nurturing?

Automating your follow-ups helps you maintain a professional connection with your customers without manual effort:

Consistency: Every lead receives a follow-up at the exact right time.
Efficiency: Your AI handles the scheduling and delivery of messages.
Flexibility: You can set different actions for different scenarios, such as asking for feedback after a stay or confirming an appointment.

Adjusting the Lead Nurturing settings

To begin configuring your follow-up rules:

Log in to your IONOS account.
Click on Menu > AI Receptionist in the title bar. The AI Agent Portal opens.
Click on Customer Portal under Actions for the desired receptionist. The Dashboard opens.

Click on Settings from the left-side menu.
Select the Lead Nurturing tab.
Enter your desired instructions.
Click on Save & Publish All Changes in the top right.

Available follow-up actions

You can instruct the AI to perform four main types of tasks:

Send SMS: Dispatch a text message directly to the user’s phone.
Send email: Deliver a custom email to the user's inbox.
Make call: Have the AI initiate a phone call to the user.
Create meeting: Automatically book a time on a connected calendar.

Note

For these tasks to work, the AI Receptionist must have successfully gathered the user's phone number or email address during the initial conversation. If this information is missing, the follow-up task cannot be completed.

Writing your instructions

To set a follow-up, you simply type a natural sentence into the Nurturing Instructions field. Your instructions should include the action, the timing, and the reason.

Format:

- [Action] [Timing] [Context]

Timing examples

Timing type	When it happens	Example
After the chat	Based on when the call ends.	''5 minutes after the conversation''
Relative to an event	Based on a date mentioned in the chat.	''one day before the appointment''

Formatting tips and best practices

To ensure your follow-ups run smoothly, keep these rules in mind:

Be specific: Instead of saying "Contact them later," say “Send an email 2 days after the checkout and ask for a review.”
Minimum delay: For tasks scheduled immediately after a chat, use a delay of at least 5 minutes to allow the system to process the data.
Past events: If the AI calculates a time that has already passed (for example, asking for a "2-day reminder" for a meeting that is happening today), the task will be cancelled.
Stacking tasks: You can list multiple instructions (e.g., one SMS and one email). However, do not make one task depend on another; treat each instruction as a separate rule.

Examples

Real estate agency

- Send an SMS 2 hours before the scheduled walkthrough to confirm the meeting time and provide the exact GPS coordinates.
- Send an email 1 day after the property viewing and ask if they have any specific questions about the listing or the neighborhood.

Medical or dental clinic

- Make a call 24 hours after their dental surgery to ask how they are feeling and remind them of the post-care instructions discussed during the visit.
- Send an SMS 6 months after their last cleaning and suggest they book their next routine check-up.

Law firm or consulting agency

- Send an email 1 day before the consultation and include a list of documents they should bring to the meeting.
- Send an SMS 2 days after the final consultation and ask for a 1–10 rating of their experience with our team.

eCommerce or retail

- Make a call 30 minutes after the conversation if the user asked about pricing but didn't complete a purchase, and offer to answer any technical questions.
- Send an email 5 days after the order delivery and ask them to share a review of their new product for a 10% discount on their next purchase.