Section 7 · Next Best Action for Every Lead
7.4Escalate neglected hot leads
Built in the POC- No.
- 7.4
- DMA's reference
- Decision Book p.19
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Autonomy
- L2 · Prepare, then wait for approval
- DMA's decision
- Yes
What DMA asked for · Decision Book p.19
Alert a rep or manager before a valuable lead that nobody has touched goes cold.
Why it matters to DMA: It stops revenue from leaking out of the pipeline without anyone noticing.
In our words, from DMA's Product Decision Book v3, page 19.
How we do it
- A watchdog checks every Tier A account that is hot: a live why-now (timing is now, a contract ending, a lost-on-timing reason that has reopened) or a "call today" action.
- It looks for a person's touch since the account became hot: a note, a logged call or meeting, an outbound email or a completed task in Nutshell. Anything the AI itself did doesn't count.
- If nobody has touched it for 24 working hours (DMA's working hours; the number lives in DMA's approved scoring settings, not in the code), it opens one case, addressed to the account's owner, with the reason in plain words.
- If the owner doesn't respond in time, the case moves along the roster for hot leads: Josh, then the backup, using the same response timers as every other case. There is never more than one case per account at a time, and the escalation kill switch stops it like any other case.
The flow
It plays on its own while it's on screen; hover or use the controls to pause or step through.
An account becomes hot
Tier A, and its contract with another agency ends soon.
- Rule in code
- Nutshell
- Stored data
- Person
Where the data goes
The same six stages on every page. Nothing reaches Nutshell except through the write gate.
- 1Nutshell activity
Source
Notes, calls, emails and tasks on the account.
- 2Sync
Copies Nutshell changes into the bridge database
Brings each touch into the mirror within minutes.
- 3Bridge database
A copy of the CRM data, plus what the AI works out
Scores show when the account became hot; the case is stored with its reason and timers.
- 4AI
Claude models, only through DMA's own gateway
Not used: the watchdog is rules in code, with DMA's settings.
- 5Write gate
The only way back into Nutshell: checked, approved when needed, sent once
Not involved: a case changes nothing in Nutshell.
- 6Nutshell
The system of record
The rep acts in Nutshell; the next touch keeps the account off the list.
The tables behind it
Drawn from the POC's database catalogue: structure only, no data.
PK primary keyFK reference the database enforces (solid line)ID reference kept by id (dashed line)
| Table | What it holds | Columns |
|---|---|---|
| ctrl.escalations | One case per account: the trigger, the reason, who has it and the response deadline. | 33 |
| ai.scores | The tier, the why-now and "call today" that make an account hot, with when each score was computed. | 20 |
| ctrl.roster | Who gets hot-lead cases after the owner, and the response time. | 10 |
How the tables connect (4)
| Column | Points to | Kept by |
|---|---|---|
| ctrl.escalations.conversation_id | conv.conversations | The application (by id) |
| ctrl.escalations.run_id | agent.runs | The application (by id) |
| ctrl.escalations.decision_id | ctrl.decision_log | The application (by id) |
| ai.scores.prompt_id | agent.prompts | The application (by id) |
Worked example
Synthetic demo data: every name, business and number is made up.
The case on screen, the rule behind it
What you see
1.The case in Escalations
It reads in plain words: the account, how long it has been hot, why, and that nobody has contacted them.
What happens in the system
- Rule engine
hot-lead watchdogTier A with a live why-now or "call today", and no person's touch for 24 working hours since it became hot.
- Bridge database
ctrl.escalationsOne case per account (trigger hot_lead), addressed to the owner; never a second while one is open.
The watchdog's check on the synthetic demo data (one run).
Hot Tier A accounts and what the watchdog decided
| Account | Why it's hot | Last person's touch | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northside Dental Group | Contract ends March 2027 | 15 Jun 2026 (before it became hot) | Case to the owner after 24 working hours |
| Fontaine & Associates | Call today | 30 Apr 2026 (before it became hot) | Case to the owner after 24 working hours |
| An account with a call logged today | Timing is now | Today | No case: someone is on it |
The case, as the owner reads it
- Reason
- Northside Dental Group has been hot for 2 days (contract ends March 2027) and nobody has contacted them.
- Brief
- Tier A · score 85 · est. $144,000/yr · why now · owner · no note, call, email or completed task since it became hot
- Response time
- 4 hours (the hot-lead roster), then Josh, then the backup
In the running POC
1 / 2Sample: a hot lead nobody picked up, as a case in Escalations.sample data
- 1The reason in plain words.
- 2The brief: tier, value, why now, owner and the rule that fired.
Dashboard · Escalations, a hot lead nobody picked up (sample). Captured from the running POC on September 25, 2026; synthetic data.
See it live
Opens the exact screen in the running POC, in a new tab.
| Open | Where | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Escalations | DMA AI dashboard | Hot-lead cases appear here with the reason in words. |
| Escalation roster | DMA AI dashboard | The hot-lead row: who gets the case after the owner. |
Status
Built in the POC. This capability runs in the POC today, on synthetic data, end to end.