How to Capture, Rate and Answer Website Leads in ZartonAI
Enquiry forms, hot/warm/cold ratings, drafted replies and instant follow-up — so no website lead waits overnight
A homeowner with a dead furnace fills in the contact form on three websites at 7 p.m. The company that answers first, with a real reply, usually gets the job. The other two answer the next afternoon — if the enquiry did not get buried in an inbox.
This guide shows you how to capture, rate and answer website leads in ZartonAI. You will set up an enquiry form that saves every request, see where new enquiries land, sort them into hot, warm and cold, check the reply ZartonAI drafts for you, and turn the good ones into jobs — with an optional autopilot so nobody waits overnight for a “thanks, we got your message.”
Why website leads slip through the cracks
For most electricians, plumbers, HVAC companies, body shops and contractors, the website form sends an email to one person’s inbox. If that person is on a roof, on vacation or simply busy, the lead sits. Nobody knows whether it was answered, whether the person has hired you before, or whether it was a real job or a sales pitch.
In ZartonAI the form, the customer list, your email and your jobs are one system. A form submission is saved as a record, the person shows up in your customers with their enquiry attached, and the reply, the rating and the job that follows all hang off the same contact.
How to manage website leads in ZartonAI, step by step
- Set up your enquiry form. Build a contact or “request a quote” form in ZartonAI and place it on your website. Choose the fields you need — name, email, phone, the type of work, a message, even a photo upload — and mark which are required. Long forms can be split into steps, and a field can appear only when another answer calls for it (for example, show “Make and model” only when someone picks “Auto body”). Map the form to your leads so every submission is also saved as a lead record, and choose what visitors see afterwards: a thank-you message, a pop-up, or a redirect to a page of your choice.
- Know where new enquiries land. Every submission is kept in the form’s submissions list, and the person appears in your customers with their contact details and their latest enquiry. That customer view also shows whether they are already a customer — how many jobs they have had, how many you won or lost, and the value of work they have given you — so a repeat client never gets treated like a stranger. New leads are also listed in your activity feed and in the business digest, alongside quotes, payments and jobs.
- Rate each lead hot, warm or cold. A rating tells the team what to answer first. Hot means clear work wanted soon; warm means real work but no rush, or too few details; cold means no work was asked for — a vendor pitch, an ad offer, a newsletter sign-up. You can rate a lead yourself with a one-line reason, or let ZartonAI rate it from what the person wrote. You can then list only the hot leads, or only the warm ones.
- Check the reply ZartonAI drafts. When ZartonAI rates a lead that is waiting for an answer, it also writes a reply and saves it as an email draft. Nothing is sent. Open the draft, make sure the names, services and next step are right, and adjust the tone so it sounds like you. A good reply greets the person by name, answers what they asked, and offers one clear next step — a call, a site visit or a time slot.
- Send it now or at a set time. When the draft looks right, send it straight away or schedule it — for example, tomorrow at 8 a.m. for an enquiry that came in at midnight. Scheduled emails go out on their own. Before writing to someone a second time, check their email history so you do not repeat yourself.
- Turn a good lead into a job. Once the person wants a visit or a quote, create a job for them. If they are already in your customers, the job is linked to the existing record rather than a duplicate. Set the lead source to “Website,” add the site address and any access notes, and the job starts at the lead stage, ready for an estimate.
- Put the first reply on autopilot. ZartonAI includes ready-made Autopilot playbooks for leads. Reply to new leads thanks the person as soon as they submit a form and tells whoever handles leads. Tell me about hot leads alerts you the moment a lead is rated hot, with the reason and whether a reply is drafted for you to check. Every automation starts switched off — turn it on when you are happy with what it does.
Hot, warm or cold: a quick guide
| Rating | What it usually looks like | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Hot | “No hot water since this morning, can someone come today?” | Reply within the hour, offer a time, create the job |
| Warm | “Thinking about a panel upgrade next spring, rough price?” | Reply the same day, ask the questions you need for an estimate |
| Cold | “We can get your business on page one of Google…” | No reply needed; leave it rated so nobody wastes time on it |
Tips and common mistakes
- Ask for a phone number and the type of work. Those two fields are what make a lead easy to rate and quick to call back. Keep the rest short — every extra required field loses some visitors.
- Use the instant thank-you, but keep the real answer personal. An automatic “we got your message” buys you a few hours. The reply that wins the job should mention their actual problem.
- Don’t skip the review. Drafted replies are a head start, not a final answer. Check any date, price or service before it goes out — ZartonAI never sends a drafted reply on its own.
- Rate the cold ones too. Marking pitches and spam as cold keeps them out of the way when someone filters for real work.
- Create the job from the existing customer. Search for the person first, so their history, sites and past jobs stay in one place.
Do it with Claude
ZartonAI works with Claude through the Zarton connector, so the owner or office manager can work the lead list in plain language. Claude can list website enquiries, rate them, show you the drafted reply, and create the job — but it only sends an email after you have seen the draft and said yes, and sending works only when “Allow actions” is switched on for the connection. Try requests like:
“Who filled in our website form this week? Rate them and show me the hot ones first.”
“Rate the enquiry from Maria Lopez and show me the reply you’d send.”
“That reply looks good — schedule it for tomorrow at 8 a.m.”
“Make a job for the Lopez furnace repair, lead source Website, at the address she gave.”
“Build a ‘Request a quote’ form with name, phone, email, type of work and a photo upload, and save submissions as leads.”
“Set up the Reply to new leads autopilot, but leave it off until I check it.”
Learn more on our Works with Claude page.
Frequently asked questions
Does ZartonAI reply to leads without asking me?
Not with the drafted reply. When ZartonAI rates a lead it saves the reply as an email draft for you to review. The only automatic message is the instant thank-you from the Reply to new leads playbook, and only if you switch that automation on.
What does a “hot” lead mean?
Hot means the person clearly wants work done soon. Warm means real work with no rush or too few details, and cold means no work was asked for, such as a sales pitch.
Will a repeat customer show up as a new lead?
Their enquiry is attached to their existing customer record, which shows how many jobs they have had and the value of work won. When you create a job for them, the existing customer is reused.
Can I have different forms for different services?
Yes. Each form has its own handle and fields, and you can map each one to your leads. A form can also show or hide questions depending on earlier answers.
Related reading
- How to Create and Send Estimates in ZartonAI — the next step once a lead becomes a job.
- From Hype to Handoffs: A Practical Rollout Plan for AI Receptionists
- How ZartonAI works for contractors
Answer the furnace call before your competitors do. Connect your website form to ZartonAI and see every lead, rated and ready to answer.
Try it at zartonai.com
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