Auto-Responders

When a prospect submits a lead, their intent is highest in the minutes that follow. If there is no immediate response, many prospects move on before a salesperson ever reaches them. Auto-Responders let you send an automated, personalised email or WhatsApp message the moment a lead is captured, so every prospect gets a timely, branded first touch, regardless of when the lead arrives or how busy your team is.

What are Auto-Responders?

Auto-Responders are automated messages set up within the Destinations step of any Driftrock Capture. They trigger instantly when a lead is successfully processed, sending an email or WhatsApp message directly to the prospect. You control the timing, content, sender details, and the conditions under which each message is sent.

Why use Auto-Responders?

Speed-to-contact is one of the strongest predictors of lead conversion in automotive. Prospects who receive an immediate response are significantly more likely to engage with a salesperson than those who wait hours. Auto-Responders give you:

Instant engagement at scale. Every lead receives a response within seconds, whether it arrives at 9am or midnight.

Personalised content. Dynamic fields pull lead data (name, vehicle of interest, preferred time) directly into the message, making each response feel relevant rather than generic.

Flexible delivery. Send a brochure, a test drive confirmation, a digital asset, or simply a warm acknowledgement, depending on what the prospect asked for.

Conditional logic. Set routing rules so different messages go to different lead types, for example, a specific email for EV enquiries and a different one for finance requests.

How it works

Auto-Responders are configured at the Automation level of any Capture. When a lead is processed and passes any routing rules you have set, the message is triggered automatically. You can use merge tags (for example, {first_name} or {model_of_interest}) to personalise the subject line and body.

For emails, you can build templates using a drag-and-drop editor, raw HTML, or plain text. You can also connect a custom sender domain so messages appear to come directly from your brand rather than a generic address. All templates are stored centrally so you can reuse them across multiple Captures.

Getting started

Before you begin, make sure you have a Capture set up and active in Driftrock.

Go to Your Captures and open the Capture you want to add an Auto-Responder to.

Navigate to the Automate step of the Capture setup.

Select Auto-Responders from the list of destination types.

Choose an existing template or click to create a new one using the HTML or drag-and-drop editor.

Set the Subject line and select your custom sender domain in the From field.

(Optional) Enable routing rules to control which leads receive this message. For example, only send a brochure email to leads where model_of_interest equals a specific vehicle.

Map any dynamic fields so personalisation tags in your template match the incoming lead data correctly.

Save and set the automation to Active.

Tips for getting the most out of Auto-Responders

Set up your custom sender domain in Driftrock settings before launching. Emails sent from an unverified domain are more likely to land in spam folders, which reduces open rates significantly.

For lead forms that include a preferred contact time or date, use dynamic fields to confirm those details back to the prospect in the message. A personalised confirmation email reduces no-shows for test drive bookings and dealer appointments.

If a personalisation tag is appearing blank in your emails, check the field mapping in the Capture setup to make sure the incoming source field is correctly linked to the Driftrock standard field.