Skip to content

Every 15 minutes

Create follow-ups when a lead replies with interest

When a lead replies, the email is checked for interest and a call is booked on the deal for the ones who want to talk.

Runs
Every 15 minutes
Apps
Pipedrive
AI
Yes, uses the built-in AI allowance
Access
read+write (mailbox access)

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: every 15 minutes, check new emails from Pipedrive persons, decide whether each one shows interest in a meeting, and for those, create a call activity on their deal due tomorrow and email me.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

A salesperson with forty open deals in Pipedrive cannot read every reply as it arrives. A prospect writes back with a short line such as 'Can we talk Thursday?' and it sits between newsletters and receipts for two days. Meanwhile a polite brush-off gets the same attention as a buying signal, so hot leads cool off while the rep answers whatever happened to be on top of the inbox.

Every 15 minutes, new mail threads and messages synced to Pipedrive are listed, and ones already handled are skipped. ClickRuntime's built-in AI reads each reply and judges whether the sender wants a meeting, is asking a question, is declining or is simply out of office. If interest is clear, a follow-up activity is created on the deal and you get an email pointing to it.

Small sales teams and founders doing their own outreach get the most from it, since nobody is triaging the inbox for them.

What you get out of it

  • Hot replies get answered the same day

    A message saying yes to a call is the most perishable thing in a pipeline. Spotting it within fifteen minutes and creating a task means the rep replies while the prospect is still thinking about it.

  • Brush-offs stop eating your attention

    Classifying replies separates real interest from out-of-office notes and polite declines. Reps spend their limited time on conversations that can become revenue instead of reading everything in arrival order. Your inbox time goes to people ready to talk.

  • Follow-ups exist as activities, not memories

    The follow-up lands in Pipedrive as an activity with a due date, so it appears in the rep's normal list. Nothing depends on remembering to come back to an email later.

  • Consistent judgment across the team

    The same reading is applied to every reply, regardless of who owns the deal or how busy they are. New reps are no longer less likely to notice subtle buying signals than veterans.

  • No built-in AI key to manage

    The classification uses ClickRuntime's own AI, so there is no extra vendor account to open or key to rotate. That keeps setup short enough for a founder to finish in an afternoon.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. Every 15 minutes, the automation checks the emails synced to Pipedrive for new replies from your contacts.

  2. It skips any reply it has already looked at.

  3. AI reads each reply and decides whether the person is interested in talking.

  4. For interested replies, a call is added to the deal for tomorrow and you get an email quoting the reply.

Before it runs live

  • Connect Pipedrive

What you get

RunsEvery 15 minutes
Create follow-ups when a lead replies with interesttoday, 9:00Succeeded
Email · Interested reply: Re: Northwind pilot"Thanks, this looks good. Could we set up a call on Thursday to go through pricing?" · call activity added for tomorrow

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.
  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

  • Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
  • Change what the AI looks for, or how it writes the result
  • Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
  • Combine it with other Pipedrive steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.
ai_qualifies_email_replies_from_contacts.pyexample
from datetime import date, timedelta
from clickruntime import on_trigger, credentials, http, ai, state, notify, report_fetched

API = "https://api.pipedrive.com"

@on_trigger
def run(event):
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {credentials.connection('pipedrive', 'work')}"}
    threads = http.get(f"{API}/v1/mailbox/mailThreads", headers=headers,
                       params={"folder": "inbox", "limit": 50}).json()["data"] or []
    seen = state.get("seen") or {}
    new = [t for t in threads if seen.get(str(t["id"])) != t["update_time"]]
    report_fetched(len(new))
    if not new:
        return {"checked": 0}
    for t in new:
        msgs = http.get(f"{API}/v1/mailbox/mailThreads/{t['id']}/mailMessages", headers=headers).json()["data"] or []
        latest = msgs[-1] if msgs else {}
        if t.get("deal_id") and latest.get("snippet"):
            label = ai.generate(latest["snippet"][:1500], max_output_tokens=5,
                                system="Does this email show interest in a meeting or call? Answer yes or no.").text.strip().lower()
            if label.startswith("yes"):
                http.post(f"{API}/api/v2/activities", headers=headers, json={
                    "subject": f"Call: {t['subject']}", "type": "call", "deal_id": t["deal_id"],
                    "due_date": (date.today() + timedelta(days=1)).isoformat()}).raise_for_status()
                notify.email_me(f"Interested reply: {t['subject']}", latest["snippet"][:500])
        seen[str(t["id"])] = t["update_time"]
    state.set("seen", seen)
    return {"checked": len(new)}

FAQ

Common questions

Which emails does it look at?
It reads mail threads and messages synced into Pipedrive through its email sync, so only emails Pipedrive can already see are classified. Messages from addresses not linked to a person or deal are not part of the check.
What if the AI misreads a reply?
The email you receive includes the original message and the label it chose, so you can correct it in seconds. A wrong label costs a glance, and because the AI creates a task rather than sending anything, no prospect receives an automated reply.
Can it create a deal stage move as well?
Yes, you could have it move a deal to a meeting-requested stage when interest is clear. Say so in chat and you will see the revised steps for approval, so nothing changes in your pipeline without your sign-off.
What permissions does it need?
read+write (mailbox access). Nothing else in your accounts is used.
Does it need AI?
Yes. It uses ClickRuntime's built-in AI, so you don't need an OpenAI or Anthropic key. Every plan includes a monthly AI allowance.
How many runs does it use?
One run each time it checks. Checks that find nothing new and stop right away aren't counted.
Can I change how it works?
Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Set up “Create follow-ups when a lead replies with interest” from your assistant

Copy the prompt above, or connect your assistant first. Free plan, no credit card.