Every small business keeps track of leads the same way at first: an inbox, a memory and good intentions. The question owners ask, "how do I keep track of leads?", is really two questions. Where do they go, and who writes them down? Here is the sheet that answers the first, the two questions that sort good leads from noise, and the Library starter that answers the second.
The tracker
Copy this into a Google Sheet. Ten columns; resist adding more.
| Received | Name | Company | Contact | Asked for | Budget / size | Timing | Source | Status | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 6 | Jordan Lee | Brightpath Consulting | jordan@… · 555-0142 | New website + monthly SEO | ~$3k + $500/mo | Start November | Website form | New | Call Wed 2pm |
Three rules:
- One row per inquiry, even from the same company. You will want the history later.
- Status is one of five words: New, Replied, Call booked, Quoted, Closed (won or lost). More states than that and nobody updates them.
- Next step is a date and a verb. "Call Wed 2pm", "Send quote Fri", "Follow up Oct 13". A status without a next step is a lead going quiet.
The two questions that qualify
Lead qualification sounds like a sales process. For a small agency or service business it is two questions you can answer from the inquiry itself:
- Is this the work we do? A three-person consultancy wanting a website and monthly SEO: yes. A request to "fix my Facebook ads account by Friday": probably not, and a kind no now beats a slow one later.
- Can they start and pay in a range we work in? Budget and timing, stated or implied. "$3k up front and $500 a month, start in November" tells you everything.
If both answers are yes, the next step is a short call, not a proposal. If one is no, reply anyway; the referral you get for a graceful no is worth more than the silence.
The first reply asks for the call
Subject: Re: New website and monthly SEO
Hi Jordan, thanks for getting in touch, and for the detail on budget and timing; it helps. A new site plus monthly SEO for a three-person consultancy is squarely what we do. Would you have 20 minutes this week for a call so I can hear what the site needs to do for you? Wednesday afternoon or Friday morning work on our side.
One ask, two times, no proposal yet.
Tensor keeps the sheet and writes the reply
The Library's Log new leads and draft a reply starter is this routine. Its line, exactly: it logs each new client inquiry in your leads sheet and drafts a reply that asks for a short call. In practice:
- You connect your Gmail, for the drafts, and the tracker above.
- When you hand it an inquiry (paste the email in, or turn on Start from new email so new inquiries start it within about a minute), Tensor proposes one row with the name, company, contact, what they asked for, and the budget and timing it can read from their words; existing rows stay as they are.
- It proposes the reply, in your words, asking for a short call; you approve it into your Gmail drafts (every change waits for your OK until you set limits). Nothing is sent by Tensor; you read, edit and send, so the same-day reply is yours to make.
- Every run leaves a receipt: the inquiry it read, the row it wrote and read back, the draft it made.
The sample it was proven on is the Brightpath inquiry in the tracker above. The qualifying is still yours: the sheet shows you the budget and the timing, and the draft asks for the call; whether to take it is your decision. Statuses after "Replied" are yours too, or a responsibility you describe.
Today this works in Gmail and Google Sheets. Microsoft 365 comes later.
Where to start
- Tensor for marketing and B2B agencies and Tensor for home services and cleaning.
- Try it live: answer a sample rental inquiry on sample data; Tensor drafts the reply and waits for your approval.
- Plans from $149 a month.
Related reading
- How to respond to new client inquiries: templates and a same-day routine
- Lead follow-up that never goes quiet
- Google Sheets automation for CRM and records
See it in a demo
Watch a sample rental inquiry become a draft, with your approval before anything is saved.