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Leads and follow-ups

When interest becomes a lead and when the bot may write again​

The bot can record genuine sales interest so your team can find a promising conversation later. A lead record and an automatic follow-up are related, but they are not the same thing: many leads should not receive another message.

What counts as a lead​

The bot records interest when the customer shows a real buying signal, such as asking how to buy, discussing a product or service they want, sharing quantity or timing, or requesting a quote or callback.

A factual question or casual browsing can still be useful context, but it should not trigger a pushy follow-up. A decline, request for space or request not to be contacted must not schedule one.

Leads appear in Messages and on the Dashboard so your team can review the conversation and decide what to do next.

Getting notified of a lead​

ReadyChatAI can alert you about a new lead in two independent ways: an email about the sales lead, and an in-app notification when a conversation's interest reaches "High interest." These are two separate switches under Settings > Personal > Notifications — Sales leads and High-intent lead — and they fire on different triggers: the email on every newly recorded interest, the notification only once per conversation when interest peaks as high.

For businesses created since mid-2025, the Sales leads email is off by default. Unless you turn it on, the lead is still recorded and visible on the Leads board, but you won't get an email about it. Older accounts may still have it on from before the default changed.

Even with the email switch on, ReadyChatAI only sends it when your business email address is verified and you haven't unsubscribed from that email category. It is also limited to one email per customer every 24 hours, so if the same person keeps showing interest the same day you won't get a second email — the lead record itself still updates every time.

When a follow-up is scheduled​

The bot may schedule a reminder when there is strong, unfinished intent: for example, a requested callback, a custom or volume quote that needs a person, or a customer who clearly wants to buy but cannot finish in chat.

The setting Configure > How many follow-up reminders should the bot send? allows:

  • 0: no automatic reminders
  • 1: one reminder, the default
  • 2: a first reminder and one final reminder

The usual timing is about an hour for the first reminder and about the next day for the second. If the customer says when to follow up — "call me later today," "I'll get back to you tomorrow" — the bot can use that timing instead, anywhere from 30 minutes up to the channel's messaging-window limit (about 20 hours on WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook). The exact delivery also depends on whether the channel still permits the business to message the customer.

Automatic reminders never count against your plan's message quota — since they're the bot's own initiative rather than a reply to a customer, they're excluded from billing. They still show up in Messages exactly like any other bot reply.

The reminder is not a fixed template. The bot writes it fresh for each customer, naming the actual product or service and price when known, in the language the customer was using, and matching the tone you've configured. When two reminders are enabled, the second is deliberately softer — a brief closing note with no question, not a repeat of the pitch.

Playground conversations never receive follow-ups.

When ReadyChatAI cancels the reminder​

A pending follow-up is suppressed when it is no longer appropriate, including when:

  • the customer sends another message
  • the customer completes the order or appointment
  • a human takes over the conversation
  • the conversation is escalated for human handling
  • the customer declines or asks not to be contacted
  • you turn off Chat AI for that conversation, or turn off auto-reply for the whole channel — a reminder already scheduled before you flipped the switch is cancelled

An escalation mark does not itself pause ordinary bot replies. The bot pauses only after a human sends a reply, and every human message renews the configured pause. The follow-up is nevertheless suppressed so an automated sales message does not compete with the human handoff.

Good practice​

  • Use the Leads view to read the actual conversation, not just the interest label.
  • Choose zero reminders if your business or channel should never initiate a sales nudge.
  • Do not use follow-ups for support complaints, refunds or repeated pressure after a customer declined.
  • Keep your connected channel active; ReadyChatAI cannot deliver through a disconnected account or outside a platform's allowed messaging window.