Dashboard - Enquiries widget (and portal leads)

Alto receives leads (portal leads) from prospective purchasers who enquire via the leading web portals which publish their statistics (i.e. Zoopla, Rightmove, OnTheMarket), or your website if it's an Alto website or hosted by TechnicWeb.

Real-time leads (i.e. from Zoopla, Rightmove's Enhanced Lead feature and OnTheMarket) ensure that you can respond to important enquiries quickly. Additionally, this allows you to work with the leads within Alto from the moment they’re sent, so you don’t need to double key information from your emails into Alto.

Enabling leads

First, leads need to be enabled on your Alto account: 

1. Login to Alto
2. Click Tools on the main navigation bar
3. In the dropdown menu, click Templates and admin
4. On the side menu, under System Tools, click System Administration
5. Click Branches
6. Click Edit next to the relevant branch
7. Search for Leads Enabled (on a PC use Ctrl + F and type leads, on a Mac Cmd + F) and tick the Leads Enabled tickbox
8. Scroll down and click Save
   
   

Viewing leads

The Enquiries widget

Once leads are enabled, you can view a summary of your leads primarily from within the Enquiries widget on the Dashboard. Here, it summarises the number of leads received from portals, and valuation and viewing requests from your website.  

Click any of the icons to access Enquiries on the Home screen side menu and view the enquiries in more detail (as detailed in the Portal Leads section below).  

Applicants report

Using Alto's Analytics, you can also use the Enquiries tab on the Applicants dashboard to monitor portal leads from applicants registered within a chosen date range. You're able to see:

• Top 10 properties with the most enquiries
• Enquiries by lead source
• Number of enquiries per property
• Applicant info for each enquiry

It's worth noting however that data on this report only updates every 2 hours.

Portal Leads

If you clicked any of the icons within the Enquiries widget (section above), you'll now be able to view the enquiries in more detail.  

The Portal Leads tab provides a logo indicating which portal the lead came from and an indication as to whether the lead already exists, with a visual indicator of whether a Duplicate is likely, possible or new.  

You can filter by Branch (from the top), filter and/or sort by Intent to separate sales and lettings data (using the Buy, Let, Rent, Sell tickboxes) or sort by Date, Source, Name, Address, Postcode, Phone and Email (by clicking on the relevant column).  

You can inspect each lead if you click on the magnifying glass.  

Duplicate leads

The Duplicate column shows any possible duplicates using colour coded circles:  

• Red indicates a duplicate lead. This lead will have matched on a number of items (phone number, email address, name etc). These can either be merged with the existing applicant, or dismissed to create a new contact
• Orange indicates a possible duplicate, matching on 1 or 2 items (phone number, email address, name etc). These can either be merged with the existing applicant, or dismissed to create a new contact
• Green indicates a new contact.  Click the tickbox at the start of the row and click Accept

Accepting or rejecting applicants 

Applicants can be imported in bulk or individually.  

• To individually import applicants, click the tickbox at the start of the row and click Accept
• To accept in bulk, click the top tickbox above the rows to select all, (tick which applicants you wish to accept) and click Accept
• To reject applicants, click the tickbox at the start of the row and click Reject

Ensure with each of these processes that you are selecting the correct Negotiator to assign the applicants to. 

Following up the imported leads

• Leads that you have imported as non-duplicates will have a new contact record created. These leads can be found if you:

  1. Click Contacts on the main navigation bar
  2. Click Groups in the top left
  3. In Default Groups, click Converted From Leads

  You can go through this group to follow up any new leads. A saved change to a record in this group will remove it from the group as it is assumed you have followed the lead up

• You should make a note of leads that you have merged into an existing record as you merge them, as these don't go into the Converted From Leads group. Use the note you have made of these to follow them up in the existing contact record

Setting an automated email response to portal leads

An automated response can be sent by email to any portal lead that comes into the Enquiries section of Alto. To enable this:

1. Click Tools on the main navigation bar
2. In the dropdown menu, click Templates and admin
3. On the side menu, under System Tools, click System Administration
4. Click Branches
5. Click Edit next to the relevant branch
6. Tick Portal Lead Reply by Email 
7. Scroll down and click Save

If you wish to change the content of the email that is sent:

1. Click Tools on the main navigation bar
2. In the dropdown menu, click Templates and admin
3. On the side menu, under System Tools, click System Administration
4. Click Email Templates
5. Click Page Down until you see the PortalLeadReply template
6. Click Edit and amend the Content as required
7. Click Save

Market Appraisal Enquiries

Once a customer has requested a market appraisal from your website, a request will be displayed in Alto on the Market Appraisal Enquiries tab.  

You can filter by Branch (from the top), or sort by appraisal Type, Address, Name, Phone or email (by clicking on the relevant column).

Booking Market Appraisals

On the Market Appraisal Enquiries tab:

1. Using the dropdown menu, click the relevant Negotiator who will be attending the appointment
2. Click on the appropriate time Slot
3. Details of the customer and the property display on the Add a Market Appraisal or Property form
   1. Alternatively, you can add a new vendor, and property
4. Click Amend if you need to amend the time of the Market Appraisal
   1. Alternatively, select one of the time slots from the left hand side
5. Click Next 
6. On completion, click Finish

Viewing Enquiries

Once you've enabled the PropertyFile Viewings widget on your website, any viewing requests will be displayed on the Viewing Enquiries tab.

You can filter by Branch (from the top), or sort by Date, Market, Name, Email, Phone or Duplicate (by clicking on the relevant column).

Duplicates

There are 4 possible status for duplicates that appear on the right hand side of the Viewing Enquiries section of Enquiries.  

• Known Contact (icon) is when an applicant has logged into their PropertyFile account at the point of requesting the viewing
  1. Click one of the times they have requested
  2. In the Viewing window, click Save Viewing
• New Contact (green circle) is when an applicant has clicked Continue as guest when requesting the viewing and doesn't have a PropertyFile account, a contact record within Alto, and isn't a possible duplicate
  1. Click one of the times they have requested
  2. Alto asks if you are happy to accept the contact. Click Yes to proceed
     1. You can invite the applicant to PropertyFile from here, if required
  3. In the Viewing window, click Save Viewing
• Possible Duplicate (yellow circle) is when an applicant might already have a PropertyFile account or a contact record within Alto
  1. Click the magnifying glass
  2. Check what the applicant has Matched On
  3. If you're happy, click Merge
     1. You can also click Preview to open the contact record on the right hand side (click Open Contact to open the full contact record)
• Likely Duplicate (red circle) is when an applicant will have matched on more than one item.
  1. Click the magnifying glass
  2. Check what the applicant has Matched On
  3. If you're happy, click Merge
     1. You can also click Preview to open the contact record on the right hand side (click Open Contact to open the full contact record)

Actions

The Actions dropdown menu on the far right gives you the option to Decline and Email & Decline the viewing request.  

• Decline will decline the viewing
• Email & Decline will open an email which can be edited. Click Send to send the email and decline the viewing request

• Related Help Centre articles that you may find useful.

  Activating your website widgets

  PropertyFile market appraisals

  PropertyFile Applicant Portal

  Automated Viewing Feedback