How to automate SMS follow-up after a customer inquiry

Research from Harvard Business Review shows that businesses that respond to web leads within 5 minutes are 9x more likely to convert them than businesses that wait 10 minutes or more. Most small businesses respond within hours — or days. Automated SMS follow-up closes that gap and wins business from competitors who are still checking their email.

A customer fills out your website contact form at 7:42pm. Within 90 seconds, they receive: "Hi [Name], this is [Business Name] — we got your inquiry about [service they selected]! We will follow up first thing tomorrow morning. In the meantime, is there anything urgent you would like us to know?"

That message does three things: confirms their inquiry was received, sets expectations for follow-up, and opens a two-way conversation right away.

When the customer replies, the message comes to your business line like a regular text. You see it in your CRM or in the app. You can reply from your phone or computer. The customer is already engaged, already waiting for your response — you are not starting cold anymore.

Keep it short and personal. Use their first name if the form captures it. Reference what they asked about — this proves the system read their submission and is not a generic blast. Do not oversell in the first message. The goal is to open a conversation, not close a deal in 90 seconds.

If the customer does not reply to the first text, your system can send a second message 24 hours later: "Hi [Name], just wanted to make sure you got our message yesterday. We are ready to help whenever you are — just reply here or call us at [Number]."

If they still do not reply after that, a third message 3 days later keeps the door open without being pushy: "Whenever you are ready, we are here. [Business Name] — [Phone]."

This three-touch sequence catches the leads who were interested but got distracted before replying.