Research and score every new Podio lead automatically

When a new item is created in my Podio Leads app, kick this workflow off with a Podio webhook registered against that app's item create event. Note that Podio hooks need a verification handshake before they go live: once the hook is registered Podio POSTs a hook.verify payload containing a code, and that code has to be validated against Podio before the hook starts firing. Handle that handshake on the webhook endpoint, then treat every later call as a real new lead.

The webhook payload only carries identifiers, so the first step is Podio Get item to pull the full record. Read out the company name, the website, the contact name, the contact email or phone, the lead source, and anything the rep typed into the notes fields. If the record has no company name and no website, fall back to whatever the contact details imply and note the thin input in the summary later.

Then research the company and the contact on the web. Work out what the company actually does, roughly how big it is (headcount band, number of locations, or revenue signals, whatever the public web supports), and whether it matches our ideal customer profile. Use the company website plus a couple of independent sources rather than relying on a single page. Do not guess or pad. If the web turns up nothing usable, say so explicitly instead of inventing detail.

Write the result back onto the Podio item with Update item field values: a short research summary of three or four sentences, and a fit score from 1 to 5, where 5 is a textbook match for our ideal customer profile and 1 is clearly out of profile. Keep the summary tight enough that a rep can read it in the item view without expanding anything.

Post the reasoning separately as a comment on the same item using Add comment to object, so the rep can see the evidence behind the score. The comment should list what was found, the sources or URLs it came from, and one line explaining why the score is what it is rather than a point higher or lower. Keep the score and summary in the fields and the argument in the comment. Do not repeat the whole summary in the comment.

Next, create a follow up task in Podio with Create task, referenced against the lead item, and hand it to the right owner with Assign task. Route on lead source or territory if the record carries one, otherwise assign it to the default inbound rep. Set the due date from the score: 24 hours for leads scoring 4 or above, and 3 days for everything else. Title the task so the owner can see the company and the score without opening the lead first.

Finally send an alert to our sales channel with the Slack Bot Send a Message action. Include the company name, the fit score, a one line summary, the assigned owner, the due date and a link back to the Podio item. Only ping the channel for scores of 4 or 5. For scores of 1 to 3, post the same message with no channel mention at all, so the team does not get spammed by low quality inbound.