On this page
- What you get
- How it works
- What lead sources and conditions can a rule check?
- How does per-chatbot scoping work?
- What happens when a rule sends a template?
- How does first-match-wins evaluation work?
- With VGraple CRM vs manually triaging new leads
- Who uses it
- What Meta allows
- Plans and limits
- Recent improvements
In short
- An automation rule runs once, the instant a new lead is created, and checks up to 5 conditions against that lead
- First matching rule wins: rules run in a set order and only the first one whose conditions all match takes action
- Three actions per rule: assign to a team member, enroll in a sequence, and send an approved template immediately
Automation rules are the routing layer that decides what happens the instant a new lead lands in VGraple CRM, before anyone on your team has looked at it. A rule checks a small set of conditions (where the lead came from, which campaign, which form, which pipeline, which chat widget) and, if it matches, assigns the lead to a team member, enrolls it in a follow-up sequence, sends an approved WhatsApp template immediately, or does all three in one pass.
What you get
- Rules that run automatically the moment a new lead is created, with no manual trigger
- Up to 5 conditions per rule, combined with AND logic (all must match)
- Six selectable lead sources: Meta Lead Ad, Web Form, WhatsApp Form, Chatbot, Comment Rule, Manual
- Condition fields for campaign name, form name, pipeline, label and chatbot widget, each with equals or contains matching where relevant
- Three actions per rule: assign to a team member, enroll in a sequence, send an approved template right away
- First-match-wins evaluation in a reorderable priority list, so specific rules can sit above catch-all ones
- Template sends go through the same tracked send path as a manual message, so they show up in the conversation history
How it works
- Open Lead Automation Rules and create a rule. From Settings, the Lead Rules page lists every rule in the order it runs, with a plain-English summary of its conditions (for example, "Source is Meta Lead Ad" or "Campaign name contains Diwali").
Add conditions. Pick a field (Source, Campaign name, Form name, Pipeline, Label, Chatbot), an operator where one applies (equals or contains), and a value. Add up to 5 conditions; a rule only matches when every one of them is true for the lead being evaluated.
Choose the actions. Assign the lead to a specific team member, pick a sequence to enroll it in, and/or pick an approved template to send the instant the rule fires. Any or all three can be set on the same rule.
Set the order. Rules evaluate top to bottom; drag a rule to reorder it. Put your most specific rules (a particular campaign or form) above general ones (any Meta Lead Ad) so the specific rule gets first pick.
A new lead arrives and the first matching rule fires. The instant a lead is created, whether from a Facebook Lead Ad, a website form, a chatbot conversation, or a comment-to-DM capture, every active rule is checked in order, and the first one whose conditions all match runs its actions. No later rule is evaluated for that lead.
Watch the results in the lead's activity. The lead's assignment, sequence enrollment status, and any template sent by the rule are all visible on the lead record and, for the template, in the linked conversation's message history.
What lead sources and conditions can a rule check?
The Source condition covers six values: Meta Lead Ad, Web Form, WhatsApp Form, Chatbot, Comment Rule, and Manual. Every condition besides Source, Pipeline and Chatbot (which are exact-select dropdowns) supports "equals" or "contains" matching, so a Campaign name condition set to "contains Diwali" catches every ad whose campaign name includes that word without listing each one individually. Combine conditions to get specific: Source equals Meta Lead Ad, and Campaign name contains "Diwali Sale" targets leads from one seasonal ad set only.
Example
A D2C store runs two Meta Lead Ad campaigns at once, a discount offer and a new-arrivals teaser. Two rules, each matching on Campaign name, send a different welcome template and enroll leads in a different sequence depending on which ad they came from.
How does per-chatbot scoping work?
If your org runs more than one chat widget, each with its own knowledge base and purpose (a sales widget on the homepage, a support widget on a help center page), the Chatbot condition lets a rule match leads from one specific widget only. This is the same chatbot_config_id value stored on every chatbot-sourced lead, so a rule scoped to your sales widget never fires for a lead your support widget captured, even though both use the Chatbot source value.
Example
A SaaS company's pricing-page chat widget captures high-intent leads; a rule scoped to that widget alone assigns them directly to a senior salesperson instead of the general queue every other chatbot lead goes into.
What happens when a rule sends a template?
The template-send action only fires when the lead already has a phone number attached, since there is nothing to send to otherwise. The send itself goes through the platform's tracked template-send path rather than a raw API call: it lands in the conversation's message history exactly like a message an agent sent manually, it is blocked if the contact has opted out, and if the lead had no linked contact yet, the newly resolved or created contact is linked back to the lead record automatically. Earlier automation-rule sends bypassed this tracked path and left no record in the inbox; that gap was closed so every rule-triggered message is now auditable the same way a human-sent one is.
Watch out
A rule's template action only fires once, at lead creation. It is not a retry mechanism, if the send fails (for example, the template gets paused by Meta between rule creation and lead arrival) it is not automatically retried on the next matching lead.
How does first-match-wins evaluation work?
Rules are checked in the order shown on the Lead Automation Rules page, and the moment one rule's conditions all match, its actions run and evaluation stops for that lead entirely, no other rule is checked. This means a catch-all rule with no conditions (matching every lead) should always sit at the bottom of the list; put it above your specific rules and none of the specific ones will ever fire.
Example
A real-estate agency has three rules: one for a specific campaign, one for any Meta Lead Ad, and a catch-all at the bottom for everything else. A lead from the specific campaign matches the first rule and stops there, never reaching the general Meta Lead Ad rule below it.
With VGraple CRM vs manually triaging new leads
| Manual triage | Automation rules | |
|---|---|---|
| Assigning a new lead to the right person | Someone checks the queue and assigns it | Assigned instantly based on source or campaign |
| Sending an instant acknowledgment | Whenever an agent gets to it | Template sent the moment the lead arrives |
| Starting the right follow-up sequence | Manual Enroll Leads action, per lead | Enrolled automatically by the matching rule |
| Routing leads from different chat widgets differently | Manual sorting by widget | Chatbot condition scopes the rule automatically |
| Consistency across shifts and holidays | Depends on who's on duty | Runs the same way 24/7, no staffing required |
| Auditing what happened to a lead | Ask whoever handled it | Assignment, enrollment and template send are all recorded |
Who uses it
D2C stores route Meta Lead Ad campaigns straight into product-specific welcome sequences the instant someone submits interest, before the shopper has closed the ad. See WhatsApp automation for ecommerce.
Real-estate agencies assign leads from a specific project campaign to the agent handling that project, automatically, from the moment the lead ad fires. See WhatsApp automation for real estate.
Coaching institutes scope rules to individual chat widgets running on different course landing pages, so a lead from the "IELTS prep" widget enrolls in the IELTS sequence and a lead from the "Study abroad" widget enrolls in a different one. See WhatsApp automation for education and coaching.
Clinics use a form-name condition to send a different instant acknowledgment template depending on which intake form (new patient vs. follow-up) was submitted. See WhatsApp automation for healthcare.
What Meta allows
Because rule-triggered sends go through the same tracked template-send path as every other outbound message on the platform, opt-out enforcement, template pause detection, and quality-rating pacing all apply automatically; a rule cannot bypass any of the protections described on the delivery protection page.
Plans and limits
Automation rules are available on every plan including Free, with no cap on the number of rules an org can create and up to 5 conditions per rule. What limits the volume of template sends and sequence enrollments a rule can trigger is your plan's monthly conversation quota (Free: 100/month, Starter: 2,000, Growth: 10,000, Scale: unlimited), the same limit that governs every other outbound message on the platform.
Recent improvements
- 2026-07: Rule-triggered template sends now go through the tracked send path, so they appear in the conversation history and enforce opt-out status the same way a manually sent template does; earlier sends bypassed this and left no inbox record.
- 2026-07: Chatbot condition added, letting a rule scope to a single chat widget by
chatbot_config_idon orgs running more than one widget. - 2026-06: Fixed an N+1 query pattern in the background jobs that resume pending lead enrollments once a matching WhatsApp contact appears.