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Email-to-Lead: connect Gmail, Outlook, or your website

Available on Pro and Business plans.

The Email-to-Lead AI parser turns any incoming enquiry email into a structured lead in your pipeline — automatically. It pulls out the name, phone, email, budget, and a one-line summary using AI, then drops the lead into your /leads page. Spam and replies to existing threads are filtered out.

Step 1 — Get your unique inbound address

  1. Go to Leads in the sidebar.
  2. At the top you'll see the Email → Lead AI parser card.
  3. Your inbound address is shown there (or click Generate inbound address if it's not generated yet).

    4. It will look like: yourbusiness-x7k2p9@tradeflowmanagement.com.au

    This address is unique to you. Anything sent to it lands in YOUR pipeline.

    Step 2 — Test it once

    Send yourself a test email FROM your phone (Gmail / Outlook) TO your alias address. Subject and body don't matter — just send something. Within 30 seconds, refresh the Leads page. You should see a new lead.

    If you don't see anything, double-check you copied the full address correctly (it ends in @tradeflowmanagement.com.au, not @yourbusinessdomain).

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    Connect Gmail (auto-forward incoming emails)

    If customers email you at your existing Gmail address, you can auto-forward enquiries to your TradeFlow alias.

    A. Add the alias as a forwarding address

    1. Open Gmail → click the gear icon (top right) → See all settings.
    2. Click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab.
    3. Click Add a forwarding address.
    4. Paste your TradeFlow alias (e.g. yourbusiness-x7k2p9@tradeflowmanagement.com.au) → Next → Proceed.
    5. Gmail sends a verification code to the alias. Within ~30 seconds it shows up as a new lead in TradeFlow with the verification code in the body. Copy the code.
    6. Back in Gmail, paste the verification code → Verify.

      7. B. Set up the forwarding rule (so only NEW enquiries forward, not every email)

      You probably don't want every email forwarded — just new customer enquiries. Use a Gmail filter:

      1. In Gmail, click the search box → click the small filter icon on the right.
      2. Set up the filter however suits — common options:
      3. From: -@yourdomain.com (forward everything NOT from your own domain — i.e. external emails)
      4. Subject contains: quote, enquiry, looking for, need a, after a, want a
      5. Has the words: quote, estimate, job, repair
      6. Click Create filter.
      7. Tick Forward it to → choose your TradeFlow alias.
      8. Optional: tick Skip the Inbox so forwarded emails don't clutter Gmail.
      9. Click Create filter.

        10. Now any email matching the filter auto-forwards to TradeFlow → becomes a lead instantly.

        Common Gmail forwarding setups

        For sole traders:

        ```

        Filter: From: NOT (yourname@yourdomain.com OR yourpartner@email.com)

        Action: Forward to TradeFlow alias

        ```

        For businesses with a dedicated quotes inbox:

        ```

        Filter: To: quotes@yourbusiness.com.au

        Action: Forward to TradeFlow alias, Skip the Inbox

        ```

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        Connect Outlook / Office 365

        1. Open Outlook on the web (outlook.office.com).
        2. Click the gear icon → View all Outlook settings.
        3. Go to Mail → Rules → + Add new rule.
        4. Name: "Forward enquiries to TradeFlow".
        5. Add a condition: From contains *(use a domain pattern or leave blank for all)*.
        6. Add an action: *Forward to* → paste your TradeFlow alias.
        7. Save.

          8. Microsoft will require you to verify the forwarding address by sending a confirmation email. Check your TradeFlow leads, copy the code, paste it back in Outlook to verify.

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          Connect your website's contact form

          Most website builders let you change where contact form submissions are sent. Set the destination email to your TradeFlow alias.

          Squarespace

          1. Open your site editor → click the contact form.
          2. Storage → Email → enter your TradeFlow alias.
          3. Save.

            4. Wix

            1. Edit your site → click the form.
            2. Form Settings → Submissions tab.
            3. Add your TradeFlow alias under Send to.
            4. Publish.

              5. WordPress (Contact Form 7 / WPForms)

              • Contact Form 7: edit the form → Mail tab → change the To: field to your TradeFlow alias.
              • WPForms: Settings → Notifications → change Send To Email Address to your alias.

              Webflow

              • Project Settings → Forms → Form Notifications.
              • Set the recipient email to your TradeFlow alias.

              Shopify

              • Shopify form widgets typically email the store owner. Use Form Builder by Globo or similar app to set a custom recipient → your TradeFlow alias.

              Custom HTML form / no form builder

              Forward your domain's "leads@" or "contact@" email to your TradeFlow alias by setting up an email forwarding rule on the domain's mail provider (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, your hosting cPanel).

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              What gets created

              When an email arrives, AI extracts:

              • Name — best guess from the body / signature / "from" address
              • Email — the sender's email
              • Phone — any phone number found in the body
              • Estimated value — only if a budget or price is explicitly mentioned in AUD
              • Source — website, referral, google, social media, or other
              • Summary — 1-2 sentence AI summary of what they want

              Filtered out automatically:

              • Spam — marketing, cold outreach, newsletters, automated notifications
              • Replies — emails that look like a reply to an existing thread (so a "thanks" reply doesn't create a duplicate lead)
              • Duplicates within 30 days — same email address adds to the existing lead's notes instead of creating a new one

              ---

              Tips for best results

              • Use the alias on business cards / quote forms / Google Business — anywhere a new customer might email you.
              • Don't forward your own outgoing emails — set Gmail filters to exclude emails from your own domain.
              • Check the Leads page daily — push notifications also fire on new leads if you have the PWA installed on your phone.
              • One alias per business — each TradeFlow account has one unique alias. Team members share the same one.

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              Troubleshooting

              Emails to my alias never appear as leads

              • Confirm you're on the Pro or Business plan (check the Billing page).
              • Send a fresh test email and watch the Leads page for ~60 seconds.
              • Make sure the address ends in @tradeflowmanagement.com.au exactly — no typos.

              Some emails are creating leads but not all

              • Check if AI is filtering them as spam — look in your Settings → Inbound email log (if available) for filtered messages.
              • Reply-style emails (re: subject lines, "thanks", short responses) get auto-filtered as duplicates by design.
              • Marketing emails get auto-filtered as spam.

              The lead is missing the phone number / value

              • AI only extracts what's explicitly stated. If the customer didn't write a phone number, it won't appear.
              • Encourage customers to include the info in their initial message — your form prompts can help.

              I want to disable Email-to-Lead

              • Currently you can't disable it once enabled, but if you don't share your alias anywhere, no emails will arrive.
              • If you downgrade to Free/Starter, the feature stops working automatically.

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