A guided walkthrough
Automate a process
No code, nothing to buy, about ten minutes. If you can fill out a form, you can build this.
An automation is a rule you set once: when this happens, do that. This one catches everyone who fills out your form, files them in a tidy list, alerts you by email, and shows them an instant reply. All free.
Pick the busywork you want gone
- Leads buried in your inbox People reach out, the messages scatter across email and DMs, and following up depends on your memory.
- The review you forget to ask for Happy customers walk away without leaving a Google review, because asking feels awkward and you forget.
- Calls you miss while working You are on a roof or with a client, the phone rings, and that caller dials your competitor next.
- Invoices you chase by hand The work is done, the invoice is out, and now you are writing another just-checking-in email.
The walkthrough below builds the first one, a lead catcher, because it is free and every business needs it. The same shape works for the other three: a trigger you already have, a list to land in, and one alert.
Catch every lead in one place, start to finish
What it doesSomeone fills out your form. Their info lands as a new row in a spreadsheet, you get an email alert, and they see an instant reply. You set it up once and it runs forever.
The toolGoogle Forms and Google Sheets. Both free with any Google account, and they connect to each other with one click.
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Create a free form
Open Google Forms and start a blank form. Title it with your business name and "How can we help?" Then add three short questions: their name, their phone or email, and what they need. Three is plenty; long forms scare leads off.
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Connect the spreadsheet
In your form, open the Responses tab and click "Link to Sheets." That one click is the whole hookup: from now on, every submission lands as a new row, time-stamped, in one list you can work through.
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Turn on the email alert
Still in Responses, click the three-dot menu and choose "Get email notifications for new responses." Now a lead cannot sit unseen: the row appears and your inbox pings you.
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Add the instant reply
In Settings, open Presentation, then Confirmation message. Paste this in, with your phone number swapped into the highlighted part:
Got it, thanks! Your request is in. We read every one and will get back to you within one business day. Need us sooner? Call or text us at [YOUR PHONE NUMBER].
The [highlighted] parts are your blanks. Swap them after you paste.
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Put the form where leads happen
Click Send, copy the link, and put it everywhere someone might reach out: your website, your Facebook page, your Instagram bio, a QR code on the truck. Then watch the sheet fill up while you work.
Keep the form light: name, contact, and what they need. Never ask for sensitive details like account numbers on a public form.
Where to go from here
Or try another walkthrough