Built-in CRM
The built-in CRM turns new inquiries into customer records and scheduled work without requiring a separate CRM account. It has three connected concepts organized across two app destinations:
- Contacts - one reusable customer profile with contact details, linked leads, notes, tags, and addresses.
- Jobs - the work or appointment you plan to complete for a customer, including its status, priority, schedule, and service address.
- Calendars - booking hours, appointment length, information to collect, and color-coded schedules managed from the Jobs workspace.
The Leads inbox remains the place for conversations. The CRM keeps the customer and the work around those conversations organized.
Getting here
In Auto-Respond, open the CRM section in the main navigation:
- Choose Contacts for customer profiles and linked conversations.
- Choose Jobs for the unified Calendar/List workspace and Calendar setup.
How the pieces work together
A customer starts as a lead
Every inquiry from a connected source appears in Leads, where you or the AI Assistant can continue the conversation.
Contact details become a contact
When the lead shares a real phone number or email address, Auto-Respond creates a Contact or matches the lead to an existing Contact in the same business. Leads that belong to the same customer can therefore appear together on one profile.
Track work as a Job
Create a Job manually, start one from a Contact, or have a supported scheduling flow create it when an appointment is booked. Each Job can remain linked to its Contact and, when available, the original Lead conversation.
Scheduled work appears in the Jobs workspace
Assign a Job to a built-in Calendar and choose an available slot. The Job appears in both Calendar and List views when it matches the current filters. The Calendar view places it on the schedule, while the List view shows it as a Job record with its scheduled time. The Calendar’s working hours and existing active Jobs determine which slots are available.
What happens automatically
- A Contact is created or updated after a lead provides a real phone number or email address.
- Matching is done within the same business, using phone numbers and email addresses to avoid separate profiles for the same customer.
- The new lead and its source are linked to the matching Contact.
- Appointments made with Built-in Booking become scheduled Jobs on the selected Calendar.
- Scheduled, in-progress, and on-hold Jobs reserve their time so the same Calendar slot cannot be booked twice.
If a lead has not shared a phone number or real email address, it stays available in Leads but does not become an automatic Contact yet. You can still create a Contact manually.
Built-in CRM vs. CRM integrations
The built-in CRM is part of Auto-Respond and works without an external account. CRM integrations are optional connections that send lead or booking data to another system your team already uses.
You can use the built-in CRM by itself, connect an external CRM, or use both. See CRM Systems for external integrations.
Business scope
Contacts, Jobs, and Calendars belong to a business. Use the business switcher in the top bar to focus the CRM on one business and its child locations. Select All businesses to work across every business you can access.
CRM guides
Contacts
Create and find customer profiles, keep contact details and notes, and reopen linked lead conversations.
Jobs
Use Calendar and List views to track scheduled work, status, priority, notes, and related records.
Calendar setup
Set booking hours, appointment length, color, and information to collect from the Jobs workspace.
Leads
Read and reply to the conversations that feed customer information into the CRM.
Questions? Email support@auto-respond.com.