Instant Lead Alerts with Ruby and Rails

Agustin Camino

Published on March 31, 2018

Download the Code

You probably already have landing pages or product detail views which you're using to generate some excellent leads for your business. Would you like to let the sales team know when you've got a new qualified lead?

In this tutorial, we'll use Twilio Programmable SMS in a Ruby on Rails application to send a message when a new lead is found.

In this example, we'll be implementing instant lead alerts for a fictional real estate agency.

We'll create a landing page for a house and notify a real estate agent the moment a potential customer requests information.

Learn how Porch uses Twilio SMS to send home contractors instant alerts when they are selected for a new project.

Landing page template

.row
  .col-sm-8
    %h1= @house[:title]
    %h3= @house[:price]
    %p= image_tag "house.jpg", class: "img-responsive"
    %p= @house[:description]

  .col-sm-4.demo
    %h4 Talk To An Agent
    %p
      A trained real estate professional is standing by to answer any
      questions you might have about this property. Fill out the form below
      with your contact information, and an agent will reach out soon.

    = form_tag notifications_path do
      %input{type: 'hidden', name: 'house_title', value: @house[:title]}
      .form-group
        %label{for: 'name'} Your Name
        %input.form-control{name: 'name', placeholder: 'John Appleseed'}

      .form-group
        %label{for: 'phone'} Your Phone Number
        %input.form-control{name: 'phone', placeholder: '+16512229988'}

      .form-group
        %label{for: 'message'} How can we help?
        %input.form-control{name: 'message'}

      %button.btn.btn-primary{type: 'submit'} Request Info

app/views/home/index.haml

Landing page template

app/views/home/index.haml

Let's see how it works! Click the button below to continue.

Let's Hop on Some Leads

Landing Page Data

To display a landing page for our fictional house we need some data to display to web surfers.

For demonstration purposes we've created a hard-coded hash containing the information we need.

The landing page data to expose

class HomeController < ApplicationController
  def index
    @house = {
      title: '555 Sunnybrook Lane',
      price: '$349,999',
      description: 'You and your family will love this charming home. ' +
      'Featuring granite appliances, stainless steel windows, and ' +
      'high efficiency dual mud rooms, this joint is loaded to the max. ' +
      'Motivated sellers have priced for a quick sale, act now!'
    }
  end
end

app/controllers/home_controller.rb

The landing page data to expose

app/controllers/home_controller.rb

Now that our route is ready, let's see how to render the Landing Page.

Render the Landing Page

In our HAML template we insert our hard coded data about the fictional house. We also add a form in the sidebar so the user can request more information and send in their contact info.

Landing page template

.row
  .col-sm-8
    %h1= @house[:title]
    %h3= @house[:price]
    %p= image_tag "house.jpg", class: "img-responsive"
    %p= @house[:description]

  .col-sm-4.demo
    %h4 Talk To An Agent
    %p
      A trained real estate professional is standing by to answer any
      questions you might have about this property. Fill out the form below
      with your contact information, and an agent will reach out soon.

    = form_tag notifications_path do
      %input{type: 'hidden', name: 'house_title', value: @house[:title]}
      .form-group
        %label{for: 'name'} Your Name
        %input.form-control{name: 'name', placeholder: 'John Appleseed'}

      .form-group
        %label{for: 'phone'} Your Phone Number
        %input.form-control{name: 'phone', placeholder: '+16512229988'}

      .form-group
        %label{for: 'message'} How can we help?
        %input.form-control{name: 'message'}

      %button.btn.btn-primary{type: 'submit'} Request Info

app/views/home/index.haml

Landing page template

app/views/home/index.haml

Now that our landing page is ready, let's see how to set up the Twilio REST Client.

Creating a Twilio REST API Client

Now we need to create a helper class with an authenticated Twilio REST API client that we can use anytime we need to send a text message.

We initialize it with our Twilio Account Credentials stored as environment variables. You can find the Auth Token and Account SID in the console:

console credentials

Twilio Client wrapper to facilitate sending messages

class MessageSender
  def self.send_message(message)
    new.send_message(message)
  end

  def initialize
    # To find TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID, TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN visit
    # https://www.twilio.com/user/account
    account_sid = ENV['TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID']
    auth_token  = ENV['TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN']
    @client = Twilio::REST::Client.new(account_sid, auth_token)
  end

  def send_message(message)
    @client.messages.create(
      from:  twilio_number,
      to:    agent_number,
      body:  message
    )
  end

  private

  def twilio_number
    # A Twilio number you control - choose one from:
    # https://www.twilio.com/user/account/phone-numbers/incoming
    # Specify in E.164 format, e.g. "+16519998877"
    twilio_number = ENV['TWILIO_NUMBER']
  end

  def agent_number
    # The sales rep / agent's phone number
    agent_number = ENV['AGENT_NUMBER']
  end
end

lib/message_sender.rb

Twilio Client wrapper to facilitate sending messages

lib/message_sender.rb

Now that our Twilio Client is ready, let's have a look at how to handle an incoming lead.

Handle the Leads

Handle the Lead POST Request

This code handles the HTTP POST request issued by a user's form on our landing page. It uses our MessageSender class to send an SMS message to the real estate agent's phone number, which is stored in an environment variable.

We include the lead's name, phone number, and inquiry directly in the body of the text message sent to the agent.

Now the agent has all the information they need to follow up on the lead.

Notify sales about incoming leads

class NotificationsController < ApplicationController
  def create
    MessageSender.send_message(message)
    redirect_to root_url,
      success: 'Thanks! An agent will be contacting you shortly.'
  rescue Twilio::REST::TwilioError => error
    p error.message
    redirect_to root_url,
      error: 'Oops! There was an error. Please try again.'
  end

  private

  def message
    "New lead received for #{params[:house_title]}. " \
    "Call #{params[:name]} at #{params[:phone]}. " \
    "Message: #{params[:message]}"
  end
end