Automation That Works: Turning Website Leads into Real Conversations
- Tricia Boomhower
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
Many firms have a contact form on their website, encouraging potential customers to reach out. A website form fill is a great start, but getting potential leads to fill it out isn’t the win. What happens next determines whether that lead turns into a conversation, a relationship and maybe even a client.
I’ve worked on growth teams long enough to know: speed matters, context matters and alignment matters. But as marketing and business development (BD) teams take on more responsibility (and stretch smaller teams further), we need systems in place to do the heavy lifting. That’s where automation makes all the difference.
Build once, refine often
If you’re still manually managing lead follow-up, segmenting lists by hand or toggling between spreadsheets and emails, you’re doing too much of the wrong work.
Workflows, especially in platforms like HubSpot, help you create a system that captures leads, qualifies them based on real behavior and routes them to the right person at the right time. It’s not about removing the human touch; it’s about making sure you spend time where it counts.
Think of it this way: every task you automate is time you get back to build campaigns, test messaging or sit down with your BD team to align on pipeline goals. The better your automation, the more strategic your team can be.
Qualify with intention, not assumption
One big mistake I see is treating all website leads the same. They aren’t.
Use your lead scoring tools wisely. Define the criteria that matter to your firm: job title, firm size, level of engagement, content consumed, etc. Assign a value to each one. If someone clicks on “Schedule a Call” or completes an assessment, that’s not the same as someone who downloaded a checklist six months ago.
And don’t let leads sit just under your scoring threshold forever. Build re-engagement campaigns to nudge them forward. A warm lead is often just a few smart touches away from moving from an MQL to an SQL.
Align with BD; don’t overwhelm them
Good automation helps marketing and business BD work smarter.
When a lead hits your engagement threshold, make sure your system creates a clean, actionable hand-off. Automated notifications, task assignments and due dates go a long way in creating accountability without requiring BD to dig through a database or ask, “Who is this, where did they come from, and why does it matter?”
Not every lead is going to fit neatly into a workflow, and that’s fine. There’s still a place for manual review. But when much of your process is streamlined, your team can spend more time connecting and less time sorting.
Cold leads aren’t dead leads
Just because someone isn’t ready to talk today doesn’t mean they won’t be tomorrow.
Longer sales cycles are common, especially in financial professional services, so staying top of mind is key. That’s where nurture campaigns come in. Whether it’s thought leadership, educational content or light-touch check-ins, consistent visibility builds familiarity and trust over time.
Even when it feels like your emails are going out into the void, they’re not. One of my favorite pieces of feedback is hearing from our BD team that a prospect said, “I’ve been seeing your emails come through, I just haven’t had a chance to reach out sooner.”
Those quiet touches often set the stage for the warm conversation that follows.
Don’t automate everything, automate the right things
Let’s be real: automation isn’t the answer to everything. But it is the answer to the repetitive, time-consuming work that keeps you from focusing on strategy, creativity and relationships.
If you’re part of a small team, here’s what I recommend:
Start by mapping your process. What actually happens after someone fills out a form? Do they get an immediate confirmation email? Does your system properly tag and route them? Walk through it step by step and you’ll quickly spot the gaps.
Get honest about what’s manual and what could be automated. Do you still personally assign every lead to BD? Manually enter contacts from webinars? Follow up one by one on every form download? These are great candidates for automation because they’re simple, repeatable and easy to build out.
Test and refine. Automation isn’t “set it and forget it.” Build smart workflows but revisit them often. Is your lead scoring still aligned with your ICP? Are you nurturing the right contacts and handing them off at the right time? Even minor updates can make a big difference.
Marketing should own the middle
Marketing often gets measured on lead generation, but some of our best work happens in the middle of the funnel.
We’re the ones who guide the journey between awareness and conversation. With the right automation and workflows, we’re not just driving MQLs; we’re delivering context, building trust and helping BD start warmer conversations with the right people. And that’s where real growth happens.
Do you want to fast-track your firm’s success in the areas of marketing and business development?
The Boomer Marketing & Business Development Circle is a peer group of top marketing and business development leaders in the accounting profession who are committed to aligning marketing and business development initiatives with firm strategy. Apply now to get plugged into the Circle and start growing your firm.
Tricia Boomhower is the Marketing Coordinator at Boomer Consulting, Inc., where she supports digital marketing and inbound lead generation in collaboration with the firm’s growth team. She brings a diverse background in sales and marketing - from launching startups to selling luxury linens to top-tier hotels - and holds a marketing degree from Colorado State University. Tricia is passionate about working with purpose-driven teams to make an impact beyond the workplace.