From Conversion to Action: Building Automated Workflows With WhatConverts

A practical field guide from Automation Ace.

Most marketing reports stop at “we got 140 leads this month.” The questions that matter come after that: which of those were real, which turned into quotes, which closed, and which campaigns produced the revenue. WhatConverts tracks leads from phone calls, web forms, chat, and more, and ties each one to the marketing channel, campaign, and keyword that produced it. That makes it a strong starting point for automation, because every lead arrives with context.

This guide shows how to turn WhatConverts conversions into action: alerting the right person, creating CRM records with attribution, qualifying leads with AI, following up on missed calls, and sending sales values back so your reports and ad platforms learn what actually makes money. If you want the broader picture of pipeline automation first, see the sales pipeline automation playbook.

What WhatConverts does

WhatConverts is lead tracking software used by marketing teams, agencies, and businesses that get leads from several channels. At a high level it:

• Tracks calls with tracking numbers, so a call can be tied to the ad, keyword, or page that produced it.
• Tracks forms and chats on your site, capturing the submission along with its source.
• Collects leads in one place, so calls, forms, and chats can be reviewed, qualified, and reported together.
• Lets you qualify and value leads by marking whether a lead is quotable and recording quote and sales values.
• Reports by channel, so you can compare campaigns by qualified leads and revenue, not just raw conversions.

Plans, features, and integrations change, so confirm which tracking types and integrations your account includes before you build.

What a WhatConverts lead contains

Automations are only as good as the data they carry. A WhatConverts lead typically includes:

The single most important habit: store the WhatConverts Lead ID on the CRM record. Without it, every later step (updating values, sending conversions, matching reports) depends on fuzzy matching by phone or email.

The conversion-to-action loop

Think of lead tracking automation as a loop, not a one-way push. Leads flow out to the people and systems that act on them, and outcomes flow back so marketing can learn.

Most teams stop after step 3. The real value is in steps 6 and 7, where revenue data flows back and changes how you spend.

If calls are your main lead source and you also need the phone system itself (numbers, routing, IVR, recording), see building automated call workflows with 800.com.

Four ways to get leads out of WhatConverts

• Native integrations: WhatConverts has built-in integrations with a number of CRMs, ad platforms, and analytics tools. Use them when they cover your case; they are the least maintenance.
• Zapier: connect WhatConverts to thousands of apps without code. Good for alerts, CRM records, AI steps, and write-backs.
• Webhooks: WhatConverts can send lead data to a URL you choose when a lead is created or updated. Use this for near real-time custom logic; see what a webhook is.
• API: read and update leads programmatically, including qualification fields such as quotable status, quote value, and sales value. Use this for bulk work, custom dashboards, or CRM write-backs at volume.

If you are unsure which to use, API vs webhook: when to use each walks through the trade-offs. You can also receive WhatConverts webhooks in Webhooks by Zapier when you want webhook speed with Zapier's app connections.

Workflow 1: Instant lead alerts with source

A new lead should reach the person who can act on it within seconds, with enough context to act well.

1. Trigger: a new lead in WhatConverts.
2. Filter: skip leads already marked as spam or duplicates, and route by lead type or location.
3. Notify: post to the right Slack channel or send an SMS to the on-call person with the name, phone, lead type, source, campaign, and landing page.
4. Link: include a link to the lead or CRM record so nobody has to search.

Knowing the source changes the first conversation: a lead from a “emergency repair” ad needs a different reply than one from a blog post. Keep alerts focused so people do not start ignoring them; see Slack notification best practices.

Workflow 2: Create CRM records with attribution

Every real lead should exist in your CRM with its marketing source attached, so sales can see it and revenue can be reported by channel later.

1. Search first: look up the contact by email or phone. Normalize phone numbers before searching.
2. Create or update: create the contact if there is no match; otherwise add the new lead as an activity or note.
3. Map attribution: write source, medium, campaign, keyword, and landing page into dedicated CRM fields, and store the WhatConverts Lead ID.
4. Create the deal only for lead types and categories that represent real sales opportunities.

Use original-source fields that are set once and never overwritten, plus latest-source fields that update on each new lead. For CRM-specific patterns, see Close + AI pipeline automation, Pipedrive automation, or HubSpot and Zapier. If records are not showing up, see why CRM records are not syncing.

Workflow 3: AI lead qualification

Not every conversion is a lead. Existing customers calling about an appointment, vendors, job seekers, and wrong numbers all look like conversions in a basic report. AI is good at sorting them, especially when it can read form text, chat transcripts, or call transcripts (where your account records and transcribes calls).

Send the lead content to an AI step and ask for structured output:

{
  "lead_category": "new_customer | existing_customer | vendor | spam | job_seeker | other",
  "suggested_quotable": "yes | no | pending",
  "service_requested": "e.g. water heater replacement",
  "location": "city or ZIP if mentioned",
  "urgency": "today | this_week | researching",
  "summary": "two sentences a rep can read in the CRM",
  "confidence": 0.0-1.0
}

Write the category, summary, and suggested status to your CRM and, where it makes sense, back to WhatConverts. Start in suggest-only mode: a person confirms the quotable status for a few weeks while you compare AI suggestions to their decisions. Once agreement is consistently high, let high-confidence results update automatically and route low-confidence ones to review with a human approval step.

For prompt design, see AI lead qualification with Zapier and OpenAI, and if the AI step returns broken output, why an AI step returns invalid JSON. Recording and transcription rules vary by location, so confirm your call recording disclosures.

Workflow 4: Filter spam and non-sales calls

Spam form fills and solicitation calls inflate lead counts and waste sales time. Layer your filters:

• Rules first: block known spam patterns (links in the name field, disposable email domains, repeat numbers) with a filter step.
• AI second: let the AI category from workflow 3 flag vendor, job seeker, and spam leads.
• Mark, do not delete: mark these leads as not quotable and keep them out of CRM deal creation, so reports stay honest and you can audit mistakes.

Workflow 5: Missed call and unanswered form follow-up

A missed call from a paid ad is one of the most expensive leaks in local marketing. Automate the recovery:

1. When a call lead comes in as missed or very short, create an urgent CRM task for the owner.
2. Optionally send a text-back (“Sorry we missed you, how can we help?”) from your business number if the caller can receive SMS and your consent rules allow it; see business phone automation and SMS compliance.
3. For form leads with no logged activity after a set number of minutes, escalate to a manager.
4. If the lead is still unreached after a few attempts, move it into a nurture sequence instead of letting it go cold.

Workflow 6: Send sales values back to WhatConverts

This is the workflow that turns lead tracking into revenue tracking. When a deal closes in your CRM, send the outcome back to the WhatConverts lead that started it.

Trigger:  CRM deal moves to Won (or a quote is sent)
Step 1:   Read the WhatConverts Lead ID stored on the deal or contact
Step 2:   If there is no Lead ID, search WhatConverts by phone or email
Step 3:   Update the lead: quotable = yes, quote value or sales value = deal amount
Step 4:   Log the update (deal id, lead id, value, time)
Step 5:   Filter future "lead updated" Zaps so this write-back does not loop

Use quote value when a quote is sent and sales value when the deal is won, so you can report on both pipeline and revenue by channel. WhatConverts documents this kind of Zapier write-back for some CRMs, and its API supports updating lead qualification fields; confirm the current options for your CRM.

Watch for loops: if another Zap triggers on “lead updated,” your write-back will fire it. Filter on the fields you care about, or skip updates made by your integration. See why a Zap gets stuck in a loop.

Workflow 7: Feed real revenue back to ad platforms

Ad platforms optimize toward whatever you tell them is a conversion. If every call counts equally, they will happily find you more wrong numbers. Sending qualified leads and sales values back (often called offline conversion import) teaches them which clicks produce revenue.

• Send qualified conversions, not raw leads. Trigger on a lead being updated to quotable, or on a sales value being added.
• Include the value so bidding can favor higher-value leads.
• Use the native integration when available. WhatConverts and Zapier both offer Google Ads options; check which fits your setup and attribution rules.
• Mind the timing. Ad platforms limit how long after the click a conversion can be uploaded, so do not let qualification sit for weeks.

Workflow 8: Automated client and channel reporting

Agencies spend hours each month turning lead data into client reports. Automate the routine part:

• On a schedule, pull last week's leads per client or profile through the API or a reporting integration.
• Calculate total leads, quotable leads, quote value, and sales value by channel.
• Have AI write a short summary (“quotable calls from Google Ads rose; most were water heater jobs in two ZIP codes”), then have the account manager review it before it goes out.
• Post internal digests to Slack and send the reviewed version to the client.

For more agency workflows, see Zapier for marketing agencies and client onboarding automation for agencies.

Workflow 9: Lead response time monitoring

Track how fast each lead gets a first response. Compare the lead timestamp from WhatConverts with the first logged call, email, or text in your CRM, store the difference, and alert a manager when it passes your threshold. Weekly, report average response time by rep and by channel. Faster follow-up often improves close rates more than extra ad spend does.

Where AI fits and where it does not

When AI output leaves your team, such as in a client report or an ad platform upload, add a check first. AI Guardrails by Zapier and Human in the Loop are useful here.

Guardrails for lead tracking automations

• Lead ID everywhere. Store it on every downstream record so updates go to the right lead.
• Search before create. Repeat callers should not become duplicate contacts; see why Zapier creates duplicate records.
• Separate new and updated lead triggers. Decide which workflows run on creation and which on updates, and protect against loops.
• Idempotent webhook handling. Expect retries and duplicates; see why a webhook fires twice.
• Protect personal data. Call recordings and transcripts can contain sensitive details; limit who and what can access them.
• Alert on failures. A broken lead sync is invisible until sales asks where the leads went; see the Zapier error handling playbook.

Metrics to track

• Quotable lead rate by channel and campaign.
• Cost per quotable lead, not just cost per lead.
• Quote-to-sale rate and sales value by channel.
• Lead response time and missed call recovery rate.
• Write-back coverage: share of won deals that sent a sales value back to WhatConverts.
• AI agreement rate: how often reviewers agree with the AI category and quotable suggestion.

Capture a baseline first; see defining success metrics before you automate.

A practical rollout order

1. Week 1: instant alerts and CRM sync with attribution fields and the Lead ID.
2. Week 2: missed call and unanswered form follow-up.
3. Week 3: sales value write-back from the CRM to WhatConverts.
4. Week 4: AI categorization and quotable suggestions in suggest-only mode, plus spam filtering.
5. Then: offline conversions to ad platforms, automated reporting, and response time monitoring.

Ready to start? Set up WhatConverts tracking for your main channels, then build workflow 1. When you want the full loop designed across tracking, CRM, and ad platforms, Automation Ace can map it with you.

Frequently asked questions

What is WhatConverts?

WhatConverts is lead tracking software that records leads from phone calls, web forms, chat, and other channels and ties each one to the marketing source, campaign, and keyword that produced it. Teams use it to qualify and value leads and report on which channels generate real revenue.

Can WhatConverts connect to Zapier?

Yes. WhatConverts connects to Zapier, so new or updated leads can trigger workflows in thousands of apps, and Zapier steps can update WhatConverts leads, for example to set quotable status or a sales value. Check Zapier for the current list of triggers and actions.

Does WhatConverts have webhooks and an API?

Yes. WhatConverts can send lead data to a webhook URL when a lead is created or updated, and its API can read and update leads, including qualification fields such as quotable status, quote value, and sales value. See the WhatConverts help center and API documentation for current details.

What does quotable mean in WhatConverts?

Quotable marks whether a lead was a real sales opportunity worth quoting. Along with quote value and sales value, it lets you report on qualified leads and revenue by marketing channel instead of counting every conversion equally.

How do I send sales values from my CRM back to WhatConverts?

Store the WhatConverts Lead ID on the CRM record. When a deal is won, trigger a workflow that updates that lead in WhatConverts with quotable set to yes and the sales value set to the deal amount, using Zapier, a native CRM integration, or the API. Filter other lead-updated workflows so the write-back does not cause a loop.

How can AI help with WhatConverts leads?

AI can summarize calls and chats, classify leads as new customers, existing customers, vendors, job seekers, or spam, extract the service requested and location, and suggest a quotable status with a reason. Start with suggestions a person confirms before letting AI update statuses automatically.

Why send WhatConverts conversions to Google Ads?

Sending qualified leads and sales values back to Google Ads as offline conversions helps its bidding optimize toward clicks that produce revenue rather than every call or form. Send qualified conversions with values, and upload them promptly because ad platforms limit how long after a click a conversion can be imported.

What should I automate first with WhatConverts?

Start with instant lead alerts and CRM sync that includes attribution fields and the WhatConverts Lead ID, then add missed call follow-up and sales value write-backs. AI qualification, offline conversions, and automated reporting come after the basic loop is reliable.