How Do I Manage Contacts?

Contacts are the foundation of Propel's relationship management system. Every person who emails you becomes a contact, and all their conversations are tracked together. This guide explains how contacts work, how they're created, and how to view and manage them.

What Are Contacts?

A contact in Propel represents a person who has communicated with you through your monitored mailboxes. Each contact contains:

• Email address - The primary identifier (required)
• Full name - Extracted from email signatures or messages
• Phone number - If provided in communications
• Custom fields - Additional data you want to track
• Engagement history - All conversations with this person
• Booking history - All tours, showings, or reservations

Contacts are automatically created when Propel processes emails, so you don't need to manually add most contacts. However, understanding how contacts work helps you manage your pipeline effectively.

How Contacts Are Created

Propel automatically creates contacts in two ways:

Automatic Creation from Emails

When Propel processes an incoming email:

1. Extracts email address - Uses the sender's email address as the contact identifier
2. Extracts name - Pulls the sender's name from email headers or signatures
3. Extracts phone - If a phone number appears in the email, Propel captures it
4. Creates or updates contact - If the contact doesn't exist, Propel creates a new one. If it exists, Propel updates it with any new information

Use Case Examples:

• Property Management: A prospect emails about a rental listing → Contact created with their email and name
• Real Estate: A buyer inquires about a property for sale → Contact created and linked to the inquiry
• Short-Term Rentals: A guest sends a booking inquiry → Contact created for future communications

Contact Updates

Propel automatically updates contacts when new information is discovered:

• Name updates - If a contact emails with a different name format, Propel updates the contact
• Phone updates - If a contact provides a phone number in a later email, Propel adds it
• Custom fields - Custom field data is merged when new information is found

Contacts are never duplicated - Propel uses email addresses as unique identifiers, so all emails from the same address are linked to the same contact.

Viewing Contacts

The Contacts page shows all contacts in your organization, organized by most recent activity.

Accessing the Contacts Page

1. Navigate to Contacts from the sidebar
2. You'll see a table of all contacts with their information

Understanding the Contacts View

The Contacts table displays:

• Contact name - Full name if available, or email address if not
• Email address - The contact's email (primary identifier)
• Phone number - If available
• Created date - When the contact was first created

Searching Contacts

Use the search bar at the top of the Contacts page to find specific contacts:

• Search by name - Type any part of a contact's name
• Search by email - Type any part of an email address
• Real-time filtering - Results update as you type

Tip: Search is case-insensitive and matches partial text, so you can find contacts quickly even with partial information.

Viewing Contact Details

Click any contact row to view their complete profile and history.

Contact Detail Page

The contact detail page shows:

Contact Information

• Full name - Display name for the contact
• Email address - Primary contact method
• Phone number - If available
• Custom fields - Any additional data tracked for this contact

Conversation History

All engagements (conversations) with this contact are displayed in chronological order:

• Engagement status - Open, completed, awaiting reply, etc.
• Pipeline stage - Where the contact is in your process
• Message count - Total messages exchanged
• Last activity - When the last message was sent or received
• Channel - Email, chat, SMS, or phone

Click any engagement to view the full conversation thread.

Booking History

All tours, showings, or reservations for this contact:

• Listing - Which property was booked
• Scheduled time - When the booking is scheduled
• Status - Confirmed, cancelled, completed, etc.
• Booking type - Tour, showing, or reservation

Related Data

• Linked listings - Properties the contact has inquired about or viewed
• Tags and notes - Any tags or notes added to engagements

Navigating from Contact Details

From the contact detail page, you can:

• View engagement details - Click any engagement to see the full conversation
• Navigate to listing - Click a linked listing to view property details
• Return to contacts list - Use the back button or breadcrumb navigation

Contact Relationships

Contacts are automatically linked to:

Engagements

Every conversation with a contact creates an engagement. All engagements for a contact are visible on their detail page, giving you a complete view of your relationship history.

Use Case Examples:

• Property Management: A prospect emails about multiple listings → All inquiries appear as separate engagements linked to the same contact
• Real Estate: A buyer inquires about several properties → Each inquiry is tracked as a separate engagement
• Follow-ups: When Propel follows up with a contact, the follow-up creates a new engagement or updates an existing one

Listings

Contacts are linked to listings when they:

• Inquire about a specific property
• Book a tour or showing
• Request information about a listing

You can see which listings a contact has interacted with on their detail page.

Bookings

All bookings (tours, showings, reservations) are linked to contacts. The contact detail page shows their complete booking history, making it easy to see their journey from inquiry to booking.

Understanding Contact Data

Email Address as Primary Identifier

Propel uses email addresses to identify contacts. This means:

• One contact per email - All emails from the same address are linked to one contact
• Automatic deduplication - Propel prevents duplicate contacts automatically
• Cross-mailbox linking - If the same person emails different mailboxes, they're still one contact

Contact Information

Propel automatically captures contact information from emails:

• Name - Extracted from email messages and signatures
• Phone number - Captured when provided in communications
• Email address - Always available (the primary identifier)

If a contact's name isn't available, Propel displays their email address instead. Phone numbers are optional - contacts can exist without phone numbers.

Custom Fields

Custom fields let you track additional information about contacts:

• Property Management: Income level, credit score, move-in date preferences
• Real Estate: Budget range, pre-approval status, timeline
• Short-Term Rentals: Guest preferences, special requests

Custom fields are automatically populated when Propel extracts information from conversations, or you can add them manually.

Contact Management Best Practices

Let Propel Create Contacts Automatically

In most cases, you don't need to manually create contacts. Propel automatically creates them when processing emails, which ensures:

• No duplicates - Email addresses prevent duplicate contacts
• Complete history - All conversations are automatically linked
• Accurate data - Information is extracted from actual communications

Use Search to Find Contacts

The search feature is the fastest way to find contacts. Use it to:

• Find contacts by partial name or email
• Locate contacts quickly when responding to inquiries
• Verify if a contact already exists before creating a new one

Review Contact Details Regularly

Check contact detail pages to:

• Understand relationship history - See all past conversations and interactions
• Track pipeline progress - View where contacts are in your process
• Identify repeat inquiries - See if someone has inquired before
• Review booking history - Understand their journey from inquiry to booking

Use Custom Fields Strategically

Custom fields help you track important information:

• Qualification data - Income, budget, timeline
• Preferences - Property type, location, amenities
• Status indicators - Pre-approved, qualified, etc.

Propel automatically populates custom fields when it extracts information from conversations, so you get valuable data without manual entry.

Troubleshooting

Contact Not Appearing

If you expect a contact but don't see them:

1. Check search - Try searching by email address to find them
2. Verify email processing - Ensure the email was processed by Propel
3. Check mailbox settings - Verify the mailbox is enabled and processing emails
4. Review response rules - Rules might be preventing email processing

Duplicate Contacts

Propel prevents duplicates automatically, but if you see duplicates:

1. Check email addresses - Duplicates might have slightly different email addresses (e.g., with/without dots in Gmail)
2. Contact support - If you see true duplicates, contact support for assistance

Missing Contact Information

If a contact is missing name or phone:

• This is normal - Propel only extracts information that's available in emails
• Information updates automatically - When the contact emails again with more information, Propel updates the contact
• You can't manually edit - Contact information is automatically managed by Propel

Next Steps

Now that you understand contacts:

• Understand engagements to learn about conversation threads
• Manage listings to ensure Propel has accurate property information
• Monitor conversations to see contacts in action

Related Articles

• Understanding Engagements - Learn how conversations are tracked
• Managing Listings - Add and manage property listings
• Monitoring and Reviewing Conversations - See how Propel processes contacts
• Setting Up Your First Mailbox - Configure mailboxes to process contacts