Build six Smart Lists that tell you who to contact today

Why it matters

Follow Up Boss's own guidance recommends 5 to 7 core Smart Lists worked daily, and explains why lists beat task backlogs: they are generated from the data, so someone you emailed yesterday disappears from today's 'last contacted more than 3 days ago' list without you touching a task.

Lists also make follow-up visible to a team lead. If list 1 is not empty by noon, speed to lead is broken today, not at the end of the month.

Step by step

1. 01

   Follow Up Boss: build each list from Filters

   1. Go to People > All People and click Filters in the upper right.
   2. Add the filters for one list from the table below.
   3. Click + New List. Name it with its number first (for example 1 New uncontacted <24h), add the 'leaves when' rule as the description, choose who to share it with, and Save List.
   4. Repeat for lists 3 to 6. To change a list later, open it, click Filters, edit, then Update List.

   Follow Up Boss filter definitions (filter names from the Filter Definitions help page).

   List	Filters (all must match)
   1 New, uncontacted, under 24h	Stage includes Lead · Created less than 1 day ago · sort Created oldest first
   3 Hot, no task	Tags include hot OR (make a second list) Stage includes Appointment Set, Met with Customer · My Next Task is empty
   4 Cadence finished, decide	Stage includes Attempted Contact · Created more than 10 days ago
   5 Appointment follow-up	Stage includes Appointment Set, Met with Customer · Last Communication more than 6 days ago
   6 Nurture, 30+ days silent	Stage includes Nurture · Last Communication more than 30 days ago
   Any texting list	Add Tags exclude Do Not Text

   Check: Each list appears under People > Smart Lists with a number prefix, and the counts look plausible against your CRM audit.

2. 02

   Follow Up Boss: copy the default lists you already have

   Follow Up Boss includes defaults that overlap with this set, for example Qualify: Needs Contact (created less than 11 days ago, Last Communication more than 18 hours ago, stage Lead, Attempted Contact or Spoke with Customer) and Met/Appt Set (Last Communication more than 6 days ago). If you already use them, keep them and skip the duplicates above. Do not run two lists that do the same job.

   Check: You have at most one list per job, and each list is numbered in the order you will work it.

3. 03

   HighLevel: build stage-based lists as Opportunity Smart Lists

   Stage-based lists work best on opportunities, because HighLevel lets you filter by pipeline, stage, status, owner, Created On and Last Stage Change Date with presets such as 'In the Last' and 'More Than'. Open your pipeline in List view, set the filters, then save the view as a Smart List (List or Board). Set visibility to selected pipelines and share it with your team.

   HighLevel Opportunity Smart List filters (pipeline: Buyer & Seller Leads, Status: Open).

   List	Filters
   1 New, uncontacted, under 24h	Stage is New Lead · Created On in the last 1 day · sort Created On oldest first
   4 Cadence finished, decide	Stage is Attempting Contact · Last Stage Change Date more than 10 days
   5 Appointment follow-up	Stage is Appointment Set or Appointment Held · Last Stage Change Date more than 6 days
   6 Nurture, 30+ days silent	Stage is Nurture · Last Stage Change Date more than 30 days (see note)

   Check: Each Opportunity Smart List opens with the expected stage and a count, and teammates can see it.

4. 04

   HighLevel: list 2 lives in Conversations

   Open Conversations, use the Unread tab, and add the filter Last Message Direction set to inbound, plus Assigned set to the user (or 'unassigned' for a manager view). That view is 'replied and waiting on us'. Star conversations you must return to later.

   Check: Text your business number from your phone: the thread appears in the filtered view until you reply.

5. 05

   HighLevel: make 'hot, no task' impossible instead of listing it

   HighLevel task filters are not part of contact Smart Lists, so prevent the gap: create a workflow with trigger Contact Tag (tag added: hot) and the action Add Task (Title Call hot lead: {{contact.name}}, Assign To the contact owner, Due In 0 days with a due time 2 hours out, Skip Weekends off). Every hot lead gets a dated task automatically.

   Check: Add the hot tag to a test contact: a task appears under Contacts > Tasks assigned to the owner.

Copyable templates

1 New uncontacted <24h: Call now. Leaves when you log the first attempt and move the stage to Attempting Contact.
2 Replied, waiting on us: Reply now. Leaves when we reply.
3 Hot, no task: Set a dated next step. Leaves when a task exists or the stage moves.
4 Cadence finished: Decide today: Nurture (real timeframe), Lost/Trash (not a lead), or one last call.
5 Appointment follow-up: Touch base. Leaves when a call, text or email is logged.
6 Nurture 30+ days silent: Personal check-in, no pitch. Leaves when a touch is logged.

Try it

How to test it

1. Create a test lead. It must appear on list 1 within a minute.
2. Log a call and move it to Attempting Contact. It must leave list 1.
3. Text your business number from that test phone. It must appear on list 2 until you reply.
4. Tag it hot. In Follow Up Boss it appears on list 3 until you add a dated task; in HighLevel a task is created automatically.
5. Trash or mark Lost when done.

Troubleshooting

Advanced technical details

Optional. You can follow every step above without these.