How to start a Brevo automation when an inquiry joins a list

Starting a Brevo automation from a website form takes two parts. Qualiform adds each lead who says yes to emails to a Brevo list for their priority. In Brevo, you build a workflow that starts on that list and sends your email.

What do you need before you start?#

You need three things:

1. A Brevo account. Brevo's Free plan includes automations. As of Brevo's Free plan limits page, read 2026-10-29, the Free plan sends 300 emails a day. Up to 2,000 unique contacts can enter active automations. After that, no more can enter. To let more contacts in, Brevo points to its Standard, Professional, or Enterprise plans. Its pricing help page lists Standard from $18 a month.
2. An Admin in Qualiform. Only Admins can connect an email tool.
3. Your lists in Brevo. Make one list for each priority you want to email, for example "Hot leads" and "Warm leads." You need them before you pick lists in Qualiform.

If you are still choosing an email tool, the post on Brevo or Mailchimp for following up on inquiries compares the two.

How do you ask leads if you may email them?#

Add OK to email them to your form. Only leads who say yes are added to Brevo. A form without this question sends nobody.

1. Open the form and go to its Questions tab.
2. Press Add a question to open the library.
3. Pick OK to email them. It sits beside Email and Phone.
4. Press Save at the top of the page to keep your changes.

The AI asks it once, near the end, after the visitor's email address: "Can we email you now and then?" It takes a yes or a no and moves on. It never asks twice, and it never pushes after a no.

The answer is never scored, so a no does not lower a lead's score. On the lead page and in the CSV, it shows as OK to email: Yes or OK to email: No. It is blank when the AI did not ask.

The form also needs the Email question. If a form has OK to email them but no Email question, the app says: "Add the Email question too. Without an email address, nobody can be added."

How do you connect Brevo to Qualiform?#

First make an API key in Brevo. A key is a code that lets Qualiform add contacts to your Brevo account. Here is where Brevo's help puts it today:

1. In Brevo, click your account dropdown and select Settings.
2. Go to SMTP & API, then API Keys & MCP.
3. Click Generate API key.
4. Brevo sends a code to your device. Enter it and click Verify.
5. Type a name in Key name, such as "Qualiform."
6. Under Access, choose Full, or Restricted (Brevo's recommended choice) if it still lets Qualiform read your lists, add and update contacts, and make one contact attribute.
7. Copy the key. Brevo shows it only during this step, so keep it somewhere safe.

Then, in Qualiform:

1. Open the Integrations page and find Brevo under Email marketing.
2. Press Brevo and paste the key into API key. It is stored encrypted, and never shown again.
3. If Brevo refuses the key, you see: "Brevo did not accept that key. Copy it again and paste the whole thing." Nothing is saved until Brevo accepts it.

When you connect, Qualiform adds a contact attribute named QUALIFORM_FORM to your Brevo account if it is not there yet. Each lead's form name goes into it.

What does each priority get under By priority?#

Each priority gets one of your Brevo lists, or nothing. The line under By priority reads: "Each lead joins the list for their priority. Start your automation on that list."

There is one row for each priority:

Pick a list only for the priorities you want to email. For example, send Hot to "Hot leads" and Warm to "Warm leads," and leave the rest on Not sent.

A lead's priority comes from the rule it lands in on the form's Routing tab. That is why one connection serves every form, even when each form has its own score ranges. A Hot lead from one form and a Hot lead from another both join the same Hot list. To send only some forms, use Choose forms on the connection. A form without the question shows "Does not ask OK to email them" there.

If you just made a list in Brevo and it is not in the menu, press Check connection. It reads your lists again and answers "Connected to Brevo. Nothing was added."

Each lead brings Brevo their email, first and last name, phone number when the form asks for it, and the form's name in QUALIFORM_FORM. The guide to lead routing rules helps you set the cut-offs that decide each priority.

How do you build the automation in Brevo?#

Build one workflow for each list. These are the clicks Brevo's help gives for its current editor, starting from a blank canvas:

1. Go to Automations, then Workflows.
2. Click Create an automation. Start from a blank canvas, not a pre-built automation.
3. From the Triggers tab, drag Contact added to list onto the canvas. The tab lists it under Contacts, as Contact added to a list.
4. From the List dropdown, select your list, such as "Hot leads." Then click Save.
5. From the Actions tab, drag Send an email, under Messaging, onto the canvas. Set up the email, then click Save.
6. In the top bar, click Activate automation.

Brevo also has a pre-built route. After Create an automation, pick Welcome message. It starts when a contact is added to the lists you choose. You write the email in Brevo's drag-and-drop editor, then click Activate automation.

Three Brevo settings matter here:

1. Keeping one form's leads (Optional). Brevo's contact filters decide which contacts can enter a workflow, and they can filter on an attribute. To let in only one form's leads, filter on QUALIFORM_FORM with that form's name. Brevo's help does not name this attribute, so check it with the test below.
2. Re-entry. A contact enters a workflow only once, unless Allow contact re-entry after exit is on. Turn it on if the same person may send a second inquiry and should get the email again.
3. Timing. Only contacts added after you activate the workflow enter it. People already on the list do not.

How do you test it with one real lead?#

Send one real lead through your own live form, then find it in Brevo. This is the only test that shows the whole path.

• Check connection adds nobody, because a test contact could set off your real automation and email someone.
• Preview in the form editor sends nothing to any connection. Nothing is saved, and no lead is made.

So test like a visitor:

1. Activate the Brevo workflow first. Leads added before that do not enter it.
2. Make sure the form's status pill says active.
3. Open the form on your own website, or through its direct link.
4. Answer as a lead who should land on a priority you send, such as Hot.
5. Give an email address you can read that is not already in that workflow. Say yes when the AI asks if it may email you.
6. In Brevo, find that email address. Check that it is on the list for its priority, and that QUALIFORM_FORM holds the form's name.
7. Check that the workflow's email arrived in that inbox.

Brevo's help for its current editor does not say outright that a contact added by another app starts the workflow. If the contact is on the list but no email came, this test shows it now, before your first real inquiry.

What does Recent sends tell you?#

Under Recent sends, each lead gets one line saying what happened. A lead that was added reads like this, with your list's name:

• Added to Brevo, list Hot leads.

A lead that was not added says why:

A lead whose priority is left on Not sent is not added either, and Recent sends reads Not sent: Hot is switched off., with that priority's name.

If none of the chosen forms asks the question, the connection says: "None of these forms asks OK to email them yet, so nobody is sent. Add it on a form's Questions tab."

Which of Brevo's own rules still apply?#

Brevo's rules apply to every lead Qualiform adds:

1. The Free plan's caps. As of 2026-10-29, the Free plan sends 300 emails a day. Once 2,000 unique contacts have entered active automations, no more can enter.
2. One entry per workflow. A contact already in a workflow is not added again. Neither is one who left it while re-entry is off.
3. Moving lists. Moving a contact from one list to another does not start the workflow.
4. Double confirmation. Brevo's double confirmation email is a setting on Brevo's own sign-up forms. Look at your test contact to see what happens in your account.

Qualiform also checks each contact first, so nobody who unsubscribed in Brevo is added back. The entry on hot, warm, and cold leads explains what each priority usually means, which helps when you write a different email for each one.

To check the setup, read Recent sends after your next few real inquiries. Compare each line with what you see in Brevo.