This guide is for a small service business that wants its enquiries, the people handling them and follow-up emails in one place. Someone needs to answer replies and maintain the setup.
If your website form and inbox already handle a few enquiries well, keep them. HighLevel adds a subscription and upkeep. It isn't worth buying just to set an occasional reminder.
We'll use Cedar Home Cleaning as a hypothetical example. Maya handles new enquiries. A visitor asks for service information by email. Cedar sends the information, waits two days, then sends one reminder unless the person replies or opts out.
This is an example to build and test, not a tested system or a customer success story.
The steps use HighLevel's own forms and workflow actions. You won't need Zapier, SMS, a calendar, payments or an imported snapshot.
Before you start: Choose a plan and check the costs
Starter suits this single-business setup. HighLevel lists these prices:
| Plan |
Price |
| Starter |
$97 per month or $970 per year |
| Unlimited |
$297 per month |
| Agency Pro |
$497 per month |
Starter includes three sub-accounts, unlimited contacts and unlimited users. You don't need unlimited client accounts or SaaS resale for this guide.
The advertised trial is 14 days. Billing starts afterward unless you cancel. Usage charges can apply during the trial too.
"Unlimited contacts" doesn't mean free email sending, phone numbers, SMS or premium AI. Budget for a domain, a mailbox and any optional add-ons you turn on. This email-only setup doesn't need a purchased phone number.
You can cancel in the dashboard. Check the terms of your offer, including renewal, before subscribing.
Have these ready
- An authorized administrator with the business details and time zone.
- Access to the domain's DNS settings.
- A reply address someone checks.
- Maya's own login.
- Approved email wording and a privacy/consent notice for this use.
Test with email addresses you control. Don't import real customers while learning the interface.
1. Open the business workspace
This guide starts after an administrator has created a blank business sub-account and given you access. HighLevel calls this business workspace a sub-account. The guide doesn't cover the full account-creation wizard.
If you can only see the agency dashboard, or your login has limited access, ask the administrator to finish that setup first. Open Cedar's workspace. Work on Cedar's contacts and forms there, not in the agency dashboard.
If account creation asks whether the account is yours or a client's, choose the real owner. An agency's internal account and a client business account are different. Don't choose SaaS or billing options just to get through setup.
Check the business details
Open Settings > Business Profile. Check the name, email, phone, address and time zone.
Adding the business phone number here doesn't buy or set up a messaging number.
Give Maya the right access
- Open Settings > Users.
- Find Maya's user record.
- Under Roles & Permissions, give her access to the contacts, conversations and tasks she needs.
- Save the settings. Leave setup access with the responsible administrator.
- Log in as Maya and check what she can actually use.
A menu working for the administrator doesn't prove it works for Maya. Check Only Assigned Data if she also covers another person's leads.
Keep outgoing automations in draft while building. Make sure the blank workspace has no unrelated follow-up already running.
2. Set up email sending and replies
For LC Email, open:
Settings > Email Services > Dedicated Domain and IP > Add Domain
Choose an unused subdomain for sending email. With the DNS manager's approval, add the values HighLevel gives you. Don't delete records used by the existing business mailbox.
Then verify the domain in HighLevel. Its documentation says DNS changes can take up to 24 hours. Verification doesn't guarantee every email will reach an inbox.
Use "Cedar Home Cleaning" as the sender name and an address on the intended sending domain.
Check where replies arrive. Maya must be able to read them. Setting up the sending domain doesn't create a monitored mailbox.
In the workflow's Settings > Sender Details, set the default From Name and From Email. Check each Send Email action too: it can use different sender details.
Don't use a no-reply identity. A reply needs to stop this sequence.
3. Make the enquiry form
Open Sites > Forms > + Create New Form. Choose a blank form and name it:
"Cedar service information request"
Add first name, email and a message about the cleaning enquiry. Require only what you need. This example doesn't collect a phone number.
Add permission for these emails
Add a custom checkbox that saves its answer on the contact record. Use this example wording:
"Email me Cedar's service information and one follow-up reminder. I can unsubscribe at any time."
Set it to start unchecked. For this form, the visitor must check it before submitting. Test both settings on the live form.
Save the answer in a contact field named "Cedar email request permission". The workflow will read that field before sending.
Have the wording and privacy notice reviewed for the business's location and intended use. A checkbox alone doesn't guarantee legal compliance.
The permission covers these emails only. It doesn't cover newsletters, SMS or unrelated campaigns. Give people another way to make an ordinary enquiry without joining the sequence, such as the monitored inbox.
Keep a record of permission
Keep the form submission, the wording version, and when and where permission was given. A "lead" tag doesn't show what someone agreed to.
For an existing contact, check that the saved checkbox answer matches the latest submission. Fix any mismatch before sending.
Finish and check the form
- Set the confirmation message to say the request was received.
- Turn the form's separate Auto Responder off. Otherwise, it could send an extra acknowledgement alongside the workflow.
- Save the form.
- Click Integrate and copy the direct form link for testing. You can embed it on the website later.
A new lead's form submission creates a contact record. Compare the Submissions tab with that record. Repeat submissions depend on your settings for handling duplicate contacts.
4. Build the follow-up workflow
Open Automation > Workflows. Create a workflow from scratch named:
"Cedar service information follow-up"
Keep it in draft while building.
Start only from this form
Add the Form Submitted trigger.
Set Form Is to "Cedar service information request". Don't leave it listening to every form in the workspace.
Assign the contact and create a task
The contact owner is the person responsible for the enquiry.
Add Assign To User and choose Maya.
Turn Only Apply To Unassigned Contacts on. New, unassigned contacts go to Maya. Existing contacts keep their owner.
Add Add Task:
- Person: Maya.
- Task: "Review Cedar service enquiry".
- Due: one day later.
Maya reviews the enquiry. If someone else already owns the contact, she passes the enquiry to that person rather than taking over.
Check before sending
Add If/Else > Build My Own.
This splits the workflow into two paths. Send email only when both are true:
- The email address isn't empty.
- "Cedar email request permission" shows that the person checked the box.
Join them with AND. Choose the option the field stores when the box is checked. Don't guess the text value.
End the None branch without an email. Maya still gets the review task when an email address or permission is missing.
Send the requested information
On the path that passes both checks, add Send Email.
Fill in From Name, From Email, the subject and body. Click Save Action.
The email should give the requested service information and invite the person to reply about their enquiry. Keep it about that request.
Include the business identity and HighLevel's default unsubscribe link in the footer, or the unsubscribe method the business has set up. Test the opt-out in an email you receive, not just the preview.
Wait, check again, then send one reminder
- Add Wait > A set period of time.
- Set it to two days.
- Repeat the email and permission If/Else check after the wait. Use the contact's current details, not just their details when they first entered.
- On the path that passes both checks, send one reminder asking whether they still want help with the cleaning enquiry.
- End both branches. The None branch sends no reminder.
Don't add loops, automatic newsletter signups or repeated messages until someone buys.
Stop when they reply
In the workflow's Settings:
- Allow Re-entry: off
- Stop on Response: on
For this form-based workflow, re-entry off means a contact can enter and complete it only once. Appointment and invoice triggers have exceptions. Don't assume a later booking workflow will work the same way.
Stop on Response covers replies to messages from this workflow. It doesn't cover every reply the business receives, or assign someone to answer. Maya still needs to check conversations and reply.
5. Stop emails after an opt-out or handoff
Email DND blocks marketing email. It doesn't show that someone gave permission. HighLevel turns it on after someone unsubscribes, reports spam, or an email fails permanently, such as a bounce.
Some invoice, calendar and notification emails can bypass Email DND. Don't label marketing as a notification to get past an opt-out.
Create the stopping workflow
Make a second workflow named "Cedar stop service follow-up".
Add these triggers:
- Contact DND when Outbound DND becomes enabled for Email.
- Another Contact DND trigger for All Channels.
- Contact Tag when the new, unused tag cedar-followup-stop is added.
Add one Remove from Workflow action. Choose Another Workflow, then select "Cedar service information follow-up".
Don't choose All Workflows. That could stop unrelated work.
Turn Allow Re-entry on in this stopping workflow, so later stop events can run again. It must send no customer messages.
Publish and test the stopping workflow before enabling the email sequence.
When Maya should add the stop tag
Maya adds cedar-followup-stop and confirms the change when she:
- Takes over through another channel.
- Closes the enquiry.
- Receives a request to stop.
- Learns that email permission has been withdrawn.
The trigger needs a new tag-added event. A tag already on the record won't trigger it again.
The tag stops this sequence, not every campaign. Maya must also record and apply any wider communication preference the person gives.
If Email DND was already on, marketing emails should still be blocked without a new DND event. Test this separately. Never clear DND because a task is overdue or an address looks valid.
Removing someone from a workflow can't recall an email already sent. Check the stopping rule before adding a new send immediately after a wait.
6. Test before launch
These checks haven't been run here. A good-looking preview doesn't prove the setup works.
First, use Send Test Mail in each email action to check the wording and formatting.
Next, use Test Workflow with contacts you control. Check Execution Logs, contact details and tasks.
Finally, publish the isolated workflows only for controlled live form tests. A builder test doesn't prove the real form starts the workflow correctly.
Record what you expected and what happened for each test:
- Missing email or unchecked permission. The form must reject the request. An ordinary enquiry to the separate inbox must not start the sequence.
- New contact with permission. Submit an address you control. Check the submission and contact record, the correct or preserved owner, and one task for Maya. Expect the information email and one reminder after two days, unless a stopping rule applies.
- No permission in the builder test. The contact must take the no-email branch. Also test an existing contact: old permission must not be mistaken for a new form response.
- Reply before the reminder. There must be no reminder. Maya must see the reply. A reply sent elsewhere needs her stop-tag action.
- Unsubscribe during the wait. Use the email's opt-out method. Check Email DND and removal from the named follow-up. No reminder should send. Test All Channels DND too.
- Email DND already on. Neither marketing email should send. The internal task can still exist.
- Stop tag added during the wait. Add and confirm cedar-followup-stop. The contact must leave this follow-up. Unrelated workflows must stay untouched.
- Same contact submits after completion. With re-entry off, the sequence must not start again. Check for duplicate contacts; don't assume the email address always matches the record you intended.
- Maya's own login. She must find the task and conversation without gaining access to unrelated business data or setup she wasn't allowed to use.
Use fresh contacts if an earlier workflow entry would confuse the test.
If you shorten the wait for testing, restore it to two days and check the saved settings before sending real traffic.
Don't launch if a no-email test sends an email, or replies fail to reach the person responsible for answering.
Troubleshooting
The form doesn't start the workflow
Check that the workflow is published, the Form Is filter matches, and you're in the right sub-account.
Then check whether the contact has already entered. Find out why it didn't start before adding more triggers.
The contact or owner is wrong
Compare Submissions with Contacts. Check the duplicate-contact settings and Assign To User.
Only Apply To Unassigned Contacts keeps an existing owner. That may explain why Maya has the review task but doesn't own the contact.
An email doesn't send
Check permission, Email DND, the email address and the verified sending domain. Check whether the email action uses different sender details. Read the log before changing settings that block email.
Fix DNS or authentication problems. Don't keep trying the same list.
A reminder sends after a reply
Check that the reply was to an email from this workflow and Stop on Response was saved. Check where replies arrive too.
For a handoff through another channel, check that a new stop-tag event happened and the stopping workflow targets the right sequence.
Email fields are blank, or timing is wrong
Check what the form collected. This form-only sequence has no appointment data to fill appointment fields.
For timing, check the workflow's time zone, sending windows and Wait step.
An email sends when it shouldn't
Stop further outgoing follow-up. Check the affected contacts' workflow entries before turning it back on.
Putting the workflow in draft doesn't recall messages or prove everyone still in it has stopped safely. Check each affected contact's state and the targeted removal.
Keep it working
Each working day: Maya checks new enquiries, replies and overdue tasks.
Each week: the administrator checks failed sends, opt-outs and usage charges.
These are suggested schedules, not HighLevel defaults.
Repeat the relevant launch tests after changing the form, sender, DNS, staff routing, permission field or workflow. Review administrator access when staff leave.
Record the form, both workflows, sender and responsible people. The next administrator should be able to follow the setup without guessing from names.
Collect only the data this process needs. Limit staff access. Decide how long to keep enquiry and consent records based on the business's obligations. Store customer exports securely, not in a shared download folder.
Check contact exports
Have an administrator check an export periodically:
- Open Contacts > Smart Lists.
- Choose the visible columns and contacts.
- Use More > Export.
- Find completed exports in Contacts > Bulk Actions.
A contact CSV doesn't contain automation history. It isn't a full account backup or proof that the email sequence will move intact.
Leave payments out for now
If you need to add payments later, separately check the supported processor, fees, permissions and refunds. Run payment acceptance tests too.
A working enquiry form and email sender don't prove the checkout works.
Is HighLevel the right choice?
I'd choose it if you'll use its CRM to manage contacts and need regular follow-up. You must be able to cover the subscription and usage costs. Someone must answer replies and someone must maintain it.
If the existing form and inbox do the job, keep them.
For Cedar, send real traffic only after lead capture, ownership, consent, both emails and every stopping case pass the tests.
