Internet lead follow-up
Call every internet lead inside the calling window, then hand the result to your CRM.
An AI phone agent can call a new internet lead while the customer is still looking. Cleo reads the lead from your lead provider’s email, queues the first call right away when the customer’s 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window is open, leaves a voicemail if nobody answers, stops once the customer books, and sends the lead on to your CRM with the call outcome and a summary.
The short answer
Can an AI phone agent call my internet leads?
Yes, at stores where internet leads are switched on. The dealership gives its lead providers a Cleo intake email address. When a lead arrives, Cleo reads the customer's name, phone number and the vehicle they asked about, and queues a call. The first call is timed to the customer's 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local window, and every call goes out only while the calling schedule you set is open. It stops when the customer books, when the lead is marked do not contact, when the customer replies by text, or when a call is answered. When it is finished with a lead, it emails the lead on to your CRM with the call outcome and a summary added.
From form fill to CRM
Six steps, and where your team stays in control.
The lead arrives.
Your lead provider sends the lead in ADF format to the intake email address Cleo gives your dealership. Cleo reads it and takes the customer's name and phone number, the vehicle of interest, the lead source and a summary.
The call is queued.
A lead with a phone number is queued for an outbound call. If the customer's calling window is open, the first call is queued right away. If not, it waits for the window to open.
The window follows the customer.
For internet leads, the window for the first call is 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the customer's local time, worked out from the lead's ZIP code, then the phone number's area code, then your dealership's time zone. Every call, including retries, goes out only while the calling schedule you set is open.
The call.
Cleo introduces itself as Cleo from your dealership, gives the reason for the call in a sentence, keeps discovery light and works toward a specific visit or test drive. It already knows the vehicle the customer asked about and where the lead came from.
No answer.
If nobody answers, Cleo retries up to the maximum number of attempts you set, with a wait between attempts that grows up to a cap you set. When a call reaches voicemail, Cleo waits for the beep and leaves a prepared message. Depending on the contact flow you pick, it can text a lead who did not pick up.
It stops, and your CRM gets the lead.
Cleo stops once an appointment is booked, once the lead is marked do not contact, once the customer replies by text, or once a call is answered. It then emails the lead on to your CRM address with the call outcome and a call summary added.
A lead with an email address but no phone number is not called. It is closed as undialable and still passed on to your CRM.
Why speed matters
Web leads go cold, and most are answered slowly.
37%
responded within an hour to a web-generated test lead, of 2,241 US companies audited by Harvard Business Review in 2011
23%
never responded at all, in the same Harvard Business Review audit
5.5%
of over 3,000 dealerships gave a quality response, a real response and not a completely automated one, in 60 minutes or less (Maritz internet sales coach, January 2025)
In a separate Harvard Business Review study of 1.25 million sales leads, the same authors found that firms that tried to contact a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it as firms that tried even an hour later. These are public figures and not Cleo results. The Harvard Business Review studies are cross-industry, from 2011, and not specific to dealerships. The Maritz survey is summarized by a sales-training vendor.
A lead that fills in a form is asking for a conversation now. The question for a sales manager is who calls, and when.
Control
Every touch is on the Leads page.
What your team sees
The Leads page in the Cleo dashboard shows each lead’s steps: lead received, call answered or not answered, voicemail left, text sent, customer replied and forwarded to the CRM.
What you set
The CRM email address enriched leads are forwarded to.
Custom instructions for the outbound call and text agent.
The calling schedule Cleo reaches out within.
The maximum number of attempts and the wait between them.
Whether a lead who did not pick up also gets a text.
Before you start: five things to settle with your sales team.
1. Which lead providers send ADF email to you today, and can each one send to a second address?
2. What does each lead form tell the customer about being called, and who at your dealership owns that wording?
3. Who works a lead after the call, and does your CRM show the call summary where they look?
4. What should the call say about your current offers, and who keeps that guidance up to date?
5. Which hours does your sales team want a first call to land in, and does that schedule suit customers in other time zones?
FAQ
Still have questions?
Can an AI phone agent call internet leads automatically?
Yes, at stores where internet leads are switched on. Cleo reads each lead from your lead provider's email, queues a call, and works toward a visit or test drive.
When does Cleo call a new lead?
What happens if the lead does not answer?
Will it keep calling after the customer books or replies?
Does the lead still reach our CRM?
Yes. When Cleo has finished with a lead, it emails the lead on to your CRM address with the call outcome and a call summary added. A lead with no phone number is not called, and is still passed on.
Can we see what happened on each lead?
What happens if the lead does not answer?
Will it keep calling after the customer books or replies?
Contact
Bring your last month of internet leads to the demo.
Book a demo, tell us which lead providers you use, and see what Cleo would do with the next lead that arrives.
