The short answer: connect the inbox your website’s form notices go to, add your phone number, and tell alfred_ once: “Text me when someone fills out the contact form on my website.” Each new inquiry sends you a text with who it is and what they want. Text back what to say, and alfred_ writes the email to the address they gave; it goes when you say send.
The lead that booked someone else
You run a painting company. Your website has a “Get a quote” form, and each submission arrives as an email from your website builder: “New form submission,” from a no-reply address, in the same inbox as supplier orders and job photos.
A homeowner fills it out at 11 AM on a Wednesday: exterior, two stories, wants it done before Thanksgiving. You’re on a ladder until 4. By the time you see it, she’s already scheduled an estimate with the second company she contacted.
The native ways, and where they stop
The website builder’s app. Some send push notifications. Many owners never installed the app, and the email is the only notice.
Forwarding form emails to your phone number. Works on some carriers, arrives as a wall of form fields, and you can’t answer from it.
Checking email between jobs. When the jobs allow it.
Set up the rule
- Connect the inbox your website sends form notices to (Gmail, Google Workspace, Outlook or Microsoft 365). Sign in with Google or Microsoft; your password stays with them.
- Add your phone number and text alfred_ once from that phone. That turns texting on.
- Say the rule, by text or in the app: “Text me when someone fills out the contact form on my website.”
- alfred_ repeats it back. Check it, and it’s saved. See Email rules.
What the text looks like
alfred_: New website inquiry, 11:02 AM: Rachel Burke, exterior repaint, two-story house, wants it done before Thanksgiving. Email rachel.burke@example.com.
You: tell her thanks, i can come look thursday at 5 or friday at 8, which works
alfred_: Here’s the email to Rachel (rachel.burke@example.com): “Hi Rachel, thanks for reaching out. I can come by to look at the house Thursday at 5 PM or Friday at 8 AM. Which works better for you?” Send it?
You: send
Illustrative exchange. The customer and details are invented.
Where each step happens
- Phone, on the job: the text arrives in iMessage on iPhone, or RCS or SMS on Android.
- Answering: “send” or “yes” sends it; anything else changes it first.
- Desktop: rules live in Settings, Rules; the reply is in your sent mail like any email.
The honest caveat
alfred_ reads the form notices that reach the inboxes you connect, so a form that only saves to the website builder’s dashboard isn’t seen; turn on its email notice first. Check the To line before you send, since the reply goes to the address typed in the form. Quiet hours hold texts until they end, so set them to match when you’d actually answer. alfred_ is a paid product; plans are on the pricing page.
