How to Automate Close

Close automates the conversation side: Workflows send emails and texts and create call tasks when a lead, call or form event happens, Workflow Goals stop a run when the lead replies, and Chloe can call new leads. Facts from other systems, such as renewal dates, still reach the lead page by hand, or through an agent like WebRun.

Written by Marta Ellison Automation strategist

Reviewed by Aiko Tanabe Product researcher

Updated Sep 25, 2026 · 3 min read

Close puts the dialer, the inbox and the pipeline on one lead page

Close is a sales CRM with calling, SMS and email built in, made for heads of sales running roughly five to fifty reps and for reps who spend the day on the phone. Recruiting and staffing firms, insurance agencies, coaching businesses and B2B SaaS companies are among the customers it names.

The rep's day runs from Smart Views, saved searches that double as call lists, such as every lead in Interested status with no call this week; a rep can keep one private or share it with the team. The Power Dialer rings down the list one lead after another, and Close logs each call against the lead, so nobody types it up.

Managers listen in on live calls, whisper to a rep mid-call or barge in, and change a Smart View when the team is ringing the wrong people.

A walkthrough of calling in Close: setting up a phone number, calling from a lead page, automatic call logging and tips for the Power Dialer. Video: Getting Started with Calling in Close | How to Make and Track Sales Calls from Your CRM, from Close on YouTube, 5 min.

Facts from other systems reach a Close lead by import or by hand

Close records every call, email and text that goes through it. At an insurance agency, the office manager exports each month's renewals from the management system and imports them into Close. Recruiters at a staffing firm check the applicant tracking system before ringing a candidate, because the lead page does not say who accepted an offer yesterday. Someone at a coaching business types last night's workshop attendees in from the webinar platform, and a SaaS rep opens the product's admin screen to see whether the trial user ever logged in.

After the call, the rep types the outcome twice: once in Close, and once in whichever system holds the policy, the candidate or the account. A rep who skips the Close entry rings the same person again tomorrow, because the Smart View still lists them.

Renewal dates on every insurance lead Renewal dates read from the agency's management system each week and written onto each lead, so this month's renewals Smart View is ready.

Candidate status before the first dial Each candidate's current status copied from the tracking system onto the lead, so nobody rings a person who accepted an offer yesterday.

Workshop attendees ready for the dialer Last night's attendees added as leads with a note on how long they stayed, in a Smart View the Power Dialer can start on at nine.

Smart Views can only filter on what is already in Close

Workflows, on the Growth and Scale plans, start on an event Close records, such as a form submission or a Custom Activity, and then send emails and texts or create and assign tasks. Workflow Goals pause a run when the lead replies, calls back or books a meeting.

Custom Activities record what Close does not track by default, such as support tickets or invoice and payment items. A rep can add one by hand, or a developer can fill them through the API or Zapier. Chloe, the AI agent built into Close, calls new leads, qualifies them and books meetings.

A Smart View filters on fields and activities stored in Close, and a Workflow starts on an event Close recorded. The API route works when there is an API on the far side and someone to connect it, and an agency management system, an applicant tracking system or a webinar platform often has neither.

Custom Activities can carry facts that live in other systems

An account manager at an insurance agency dials this month's renewals straight from a Smart View, because each lead carries a Custom Activity with its renewal date and carrier from the agency management system, read in every Monday.

Recruiters make the morning calls knowing each candidate's status in the tracking system, since it is on the lead page when they dial. At a coaching business, the sales team starts the Power Dialer at nine on last night's workshop attendees, each already a lead with a note on how long they stayed. A SaaS rep calls the trial users who logged in this week first, because the lead page shows the last login from the product's admin screen.

When a rep marks a deal won in Close, the onboarding team gets its details in the policy system or the billing portal they work from. A manager reading a lead's timeline sees the whole conversation, including emails that went to a mailbox Close is not connected to.

The agent keeps the lead page current between call blocks

Between call blocks, the AI agent WebRun works a real Chrome browser through the systems those facts live in and writes what changed into Close as Custom Activities or field updates. The team adds it as a Close user, and on the Scale plan a custom role can limit which leads that user sees.

It never dials or sends SMS, which stay with the reps and Chloe, and it never emails a lead. Status changes and deal stages are left for the rep who owns the lead.

Below are Close's own cards: a weekly pipeline review, stale-deal checks and a data hygiene audit.

Questions people ask

Does this compete with Chloe?

No. Chloe talks to leads: it calls them, qualifies them and books meetings inside Close. The agent reads other systems and writes what it finds into Close, which gives Chloe and the reps better facts to work from.

Which Close plan does this need?

Any. Workflows need Growth or Scale, but the agent uses lead pages, Smart Views and fields any user can open. Custom Activities are not on Solo or Essentials, so on those plans it writes to custom fields and notes instead.

Could it log the wrong facts against a lead?

It matches on the details you choose, such as email address, phone number or policy number, and flags anything it cannot match instead of guessing. The run ends with a list of what it wrote and where, so a rep can check it.

Is a Close API key needed?

No. The agent uses the Close web app as the user you add for it, so nobody sets up an API key or a Zapier connection, and it can read the systems on the other side that have no API at all.

Sources

Close CRM llms.txt Close's own summary of the product: calling, SMS and email built in, Smart Views, the Power Dialer, live call listening and whisper, Chloe, and the teams it is built for.
Workflows | Close Help Center States that Workflows are only on the Growth and Scale plans, lists the trigger events, and describes Workflow Goals that pause a run on an incoming email, SMS, call or booked meeting.
Custom Activities | Close Help Center Describes Custom Activities for things such as support tickets, invoice and payment items and NPS feedback, added via the API or an integration, and that they are not on the Solo and Essentials plans.
Lead Filtering and Smart Views | Close Help Center Explains Smart Views as saved searches over leads, contacts and activities that teams use as calling and emailing lists.
Meet Chloe, Your AI Sales Teammate | Close CRM Chloe calls leads, runs discovery against the team's qualification criteria, books meetings and logs the conversation in Close; it is included on all Close plans with usage-based pricing.
Roles & Permissions | Close Help Admin, Super User, User and Restricted User roles exist on every plan; creating custom roles, including lead visibility limits, is only on the Scale plan.