GoHighLevel Workflow Examples: 10 Ready-to-Build Automations

1. Missed call text-back

What it does: Sends an SMS within 60 seconds of any unanswered inbound call to keep the lead engaged rather than calling the next business.

Trigger: Missed Call. Filters: none (catches all missed calls). Re-enrollment: enabled.

Actions:

• Wait: 0 minutes
• Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, sorry we missed your call. We are with a customer right now. What can we help you with? We will call you straight back."

Key setting: Enable re-enrollment so the workflow fires on every missed call, not just the first from each contact. Turn on business hours filtering only if you cannot respond after hours.

2. New form lead response

What it does: Responds to every new form submission within 60 seconds, notifies your team and follows up if the lead does not reply.

Trigger: Form Submitted. Select your specific form or leave blank to catch all forms.

Actions:

• Wait: 0 minutes
• Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, thanks for getting in touch with [Business Name]. We got your message and will be in touch shortly. What is the best time to call you?"
• Wait: 5 minutes
• Internal notification: email to team member with lead details and contact info
• Wait: 2 hours
• If/Else: has the contact replied in the last 2 hours? If yes, end. If no, continue.
• Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, just following up on your enquiry. Happy to jump on a quick call. What time works for you today?"

3. Estimate follow-up sequence

What it does: Follows up on every sent estimate with 4 touches over 7 days, stopping automatically when the prospect replies.

Trigger: Pipeline Stage Changed. Select your pipeline, stage: Estimate Sent.

Actions:

• Wait: 0 minutes. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, just sent your estimate over. Let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to adjust anything."
• Wait: 1 day. If/Else: replied? If yes, end. Send Email: subject "Your estimate from [Business Name]" with a summary of what is included.
• Wait: 2 days. If/Else: replied? If yes, end. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, checking in on the estimate. Happy to answer any questions or get on a quick call."
• Wait: 4 days. If/Else: replied? If yes, end. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, just one last check-in on the estimate. No pressure at all. Let me know either way."

4. Appointment confirmation and reminders

What it does: Confirms every booking immediately and sends reminders 24 hours and 2 hours before the appointment.

Trigger: Appointment Booked. Select your calendar.

Actions:

• Wait: 0 minutes. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, your appointment with [Business Name] is confirmed for {{appointment.start_time}} on {{appointment.start_date}}. Reply R to reschedule if needed."
• Wait: until 24 hours before appointment start. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, reminder about your appointment tomorrow at {{appointment.start_time}}. Reply C to confirm or R to reschedule."
• Wait: until 2 hours before appointment start. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, see you today at {{appointment.start_time}}. [Location or call link]. Let us know if anything comes up."

5. Post-job review request

What it does: Sends a review request 2 hours after a job is marked complete, with an email follow-up 24 hours later.

Trigger: Pipeline Stage Changed. Stage: Completed.

Actions:

• Wait: 2 hours. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, glad we could help today. If we did a good job, a quick Google review would mean a lot to our team: [review link]."
• Wait: 24 hours. If/Else: replied? If yes, end. Send Email: subject "How did we do, {{contact.first_name}}?" with a request and the review link.

6. No-show recovery

What it does: Reaches out to contacts who missed an appointment and makes it easy for them to rebook.

Trigger: Appointment Status Changed to No Show.

Actions:

• Wait: 3 hours. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, we missed you at your appointment today. We know things come up. Would you like to rebook? Here is the calendar: [booking link]."
• Wait: 24 hours. If/Else: replied? If yes, end. Send Email: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, following up on the missed appointment. Happy to rebook at a time that works better. [Booking link]."

7. Cold lead re-engagement

What it does: Re-engages contacts who enquired but went silent, with three touches over 14 days before marking them as unresponsive.

Trigger: Tag Added. Tag: "cold lead".

Actions:

• Wait: 1 day. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, we spoke a while back about [service]. Just checking if that is still something you are looking at. No pressure either way."
• Wait: 4 days. If/Else: replied? If yes, remove tag "cold lead", end. Send Email: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, following up one more time. [Include a relevant tip or recent result]. Happy to pick up the conversation if the timing is better now."
• Wait: 7 days. If/Else: replied? If yes, end. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, last check-in from us. If the timing is not right, no problem at all. We are here when you need us."
• Add tag: "unresponsive". Remove from workflow.

8. New client onboarding

What it does: Welcomes a new client and guides them through their first week with the business or programme.

Trigger: Pipeline Stage Changed. Stage: Won (or Client Enrolled for coaching businesses).

Actions:

• Wait: 0 minutes. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, welcome to [Business Name]. We are excited to get started. You will hear from us shortly with everything you need."
• Wait: 30 minutes. Send Email: full welcome email with onboarding instructions, what to expect and who to contact with questions.
• Wait: 3 days. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, just checking in. How is everything going so far? Any questions we can answer?"
• Wait: 7 days. Send Email: week 1 summary and what is coming next.

9. Referral request after completion

What it does: Asks satisfied clients for referrals 60 days after their job or programme completes, when satisfaction is high and the relationship is warm.

Trigger: Tag Added. Tag: "job completed 60 days" (applied manually or via a date-triggered campaign).

Actions:

• Wait: 0 minutes. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, hope everything has been great since we worked together. If you know anyone who might need our help, we would love an introduction. We take good care of referrals."
• Wait: 7 days. If/Else: replied? If yes, end. Send Email: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, following up on the referral message. If anyone comes to mind who could use our services, a quick introduction would mean a lot. Happy to return the favour any way I can."

10. Seasonal campaign trigger

What it does: Sends a seasonal outreach to all past customers ahead of the relevant season to generate repeat business.

Trigger: Tag Added. Tag: "spring campaign" or "fall campaign" (applied via a one-time bulk campaign to past customer contacts).

Actions:

• Wait: 0 minutes. Send SMS: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, it is getting close to [season] and we have a few openings for [seasonal service]. Would you like to get booked in before things get busy? Reply YES and we will sort it out."
• Wait: 3 days. If/Else: replied? If yes, end. Send Email: "Hi {{contact.first_name}}, following up on the [seasonal service] availability. We have limited slots this month. Happy to get you scheduled if the timing works."
• Remove tag: clear the campaign tag so this contact is not enrolled again.

Building tips that apply to all workflows

Always add If/Else reply checks. After every outbound message, add a Wait step then an If/Else that checks if the contact has replied. If yes, end the workflow. If no, continue. Without this, messages keep going after someone has already engaged.

Use business hours filtering. In Workflow Settings, enable Allow Workflow to Run During Business Hours. Customer-facing automated messages should not arrive at 2am or on Sunday mornings.

Test before publishing. Create a test contact with your own phone number and email. Trigger the workflow manually and confirm every step fires correctly on your own devices before it goes live on real contacts.

Name workflows clearly. Use names that describe the trigger, the audience and the action: "Missed Call Text-Back," "Estimate Follow-Up, Service Business," "Review Request, Post-Completion." Clear names make it easy to find and manage 15 to 20 workflows in a busy account.

See our full workflows tutorial for how triggers, actions and conditions work in detail, and our SMS automation guide for the compliance and message quality considerations that apply to every SMS workflow.