Overview
SmartMoving’s Automated Follow-up Reminders are configured through Automation Rules in the Workflow Automation settings group.
By creating rules that use Create Follow-up actions, you can automatically create follow-up reminders based on specific events—helping your sales team respond quickly, stay organized, and provide excellent customer service.
This guide walks you through how to configure automated follow-up reminder rules in SmartMoving.
A Note About Lead Routing and Follow-Up Automation
Lead routing and follow-up reminders now share the same unified workflow automation system and can be handled in a single rule:
Lead routing is created using the Assign Lead To action. (Learn more here)
Automated follow-up reminders are created using the Create Follow-up action.
For most sales teams, the recommended setup is:
Create one rule with the trigger When Lead Is Created.
Add two actions in that same rule:
Assign Lead To – to route the new lead to the correct salesperson or sales role.
Create Follow-up – to start a follow-up reminder sequence (for example, beginning with a 2+1 style pattern and then moving into a 5x follow-up cadence).
This keeps lead assignment and follow-up automation tightly linked and easier to manage.
You can still create separate rules if you want follow-ups to start from a different event (for example, Estimate Sent or Job Completed), but when both routing and early follow-ups should happen as soon as the lead is created, combining them in a single rule is the best practice.
Use Cases
Here are some practical use cases for follow-up reminder automation:
New lead follow-up:
Create a sequence of follow-up reminders to ensure fast outreach to new leads.Estimate follow-up:
Create reminders for salespeople to follow up after sending an estimate to help close the deal.Out-of-office or handoff workflows:
Reassign later follow-ups to a different salesperson (for example, a closer or move coordinator) when it’s time to move from initial contact to closing or coordination.
Step-By-Step Guide
Step 1: Manage Business Hours Before Creating Rules
When creating automated follow-up rules, the system follows the business hours. This ensures that follow-up reminders are scheduled only during your company’s defined operating hours.
For example, if your business hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, follow-up reminders triggered outside that window will be scheduled for the next valid business time.
To set or adjust business hours:
Go to Settings > Company Settings > Company Details > Hours of Operation.
Update the start and end times for each day of the week.
Save your changes.
Note: If no hours are configured, the system defaults to 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM.
Step 2: Access Automation Rules
Click the Settings icon in SmartMoving.
Go to the Workflow Automation group in the left-hand menu.
Select Automation Rules.
This is the centralized page where you manage rules for follow-ups, lead routing, and task-based automations.
Step 3: Create a New Follow-Up Automation Rule
On the Automation Rules page, click Add Rule.
Enter a Rule Name (for example, “Follow up on estimate”).
Click Save changes in the slide-up bar to create the rule.
Click the rule to open it and configure the When, Conditions, and Actions sections.
Use the toggle to turn the rule On when you’re ready to activate it.
Step 4: Configure Triggers (When Section)
The When section defines the event that will start the follow-up sequence.
Some common trigger examples include (this is not an exhaustive list):
When an opportunity is booked.
When a deposit is completed.
When an estimate is sent.
When a lead is assigned or reassigned.
When a customer views their customer portal.
When a job is completed.
As SmartMoving evolves, additional trigger options may be added. To see the full, up-to-date list for your account, open the When dropdown in the Automation Rules editor.
Choose the trigger that matches when you want your follow-up reminders to begin.
Step 5: Add Conditions (Conditions Section)
Conditions let you control which leads or opportunities the rule applies to. You can:
Set the rule to Always apply, or
Use ALL or ANY conditions:
ALL – All conditions must be met.
ANY – At least one condition must be met.
Some commonly used condition examples include (not an exhaustive list):
Branch – Target specific branches.
Destination State/Province – Filter by destination.
Opportunity Status – New lead, in progress, booked, etc.
Opportunity Type – Local, interstate, or intrastate.
Origin State/Province – Filter by origin location.
Referral Source – Filter by how the lead found you.
Salesperson – Limit follow-ups for specific sales reps.
Service Type – Moving, packing, moving & packing, etc.
Time of day – Only create follow-ups when the trigger happens within certain hours.
UTM Key – Target leads associated with specific marketing campaigns.
SmartMoving may add more condition options over time. To see the full and current list, use the Conditions dropdown directly on the Automation Rules page.
Note: Within a single rule, you select Always, ALL, or ANY, you can’t mix multiple modes at once.
Step 6: Configure Follow-Up Actions (Actions Section)
In the Actions section, you’ll set up your follow-up sequence using Create Follow-up.
Follow-up Types
When configuring a follow-up, you can choose from several types:
Email: Creates a reminder for the salesperson to send an email.
Call: Creates a reminder for the salesperson to make a phone call.
Text: Creates a reminder for the salesperson to send a text message.
Other: Creates any other custom reminder.
To create a follow-up sequence
You can create a single follow-up or a sequence of up to 10 follow-ups within the same rule.
For each follow-up in the sequence, you can configure:
Timing
Set how many days and hours after the trigger (or after the previous follow-up) the reminder should be created.
Optionally, set the first follow-up to be due immediately. This is useful for hot leads or time-sensitive events like a customer viewing the portal.
Event trigger type for the follow-up
After previous follow-up completed – The next follow-up is only created once the current one is marked complete.
Before earliest job date on an opportunity – Schedule follow-ups relative to the earliest job date (for example, 7 days before the job starts).
Before earliest survey date on an opportunity – Schedule reminders relative to survey dates when using survey-based triggers.
Follow-up Title
Give each follow-up a clear title so salespeople know exactly what to do (for example, “Day 2 – Call to review estimate”).
Follow-up Type
Choose Call, Email, Text, or Other, depending on the action you want the salesperson to take.
Assignment
Assign the follow-up to the current salesperson, or
Assign a follow-up to another user.
For example:
Early follow-ups might go to a development rep responsible for initial contact.
Later follow-ups might be reassigned back to the original estimator, closer, or move coordinator.
Each salesperson will only see the follow-ups assigned to them, keeping their task list clean and focused.
Step 7: Save and Test
After you finish configuring the rule, click Save changes.
Test the rule with a sample opportunity:
Create or update an opportunity so that it meets the trigger and conditions.
Confirm that the reminders are created as expected and assigned to the correct person.
SmartMoving logs automation activity in the Activity section on the Sales screen within the opportunity, so you can verify that the rule ran and what it created.
Additional Considerations
Rule Execution Order
Automation Rules are evaluated top to bottom.
When an event occurs, SmartMoving looks for the first enabled rule whose trigger and conditions match and runs that rule.
You can reorder rules using drag-and-drop to prioritize the most important follow-up workflows.
Avoiding Redundant Follow-Ups
Well-designed rules help prevent issues like:
Follow-ups being created after a lead has already converted or been closed.
Multiple rules creating overlapping reminders for the same scenario.
Use conditions (such as Opportunity Status) and careful rule ordering to avoid unnecessary reminders.
Duplicating and Deleting Rules
Duplicate rules to quickly build variations (for example, different branches, services, or opportunity types).
Delete rules you no longer use to keep your automation library lean and easy to maintain.
Conclusion
SmartMoving’s automated follow-up reminders provide an efficient way to manage your sales pipeline and ensure timely communication with prospects and customers. By leveraging triggers, conditions, and actions, you can automate reminders to help ensure that you never let a deal fall through the cracks.