How to Share a File Securely in LeadLocate

An email attachment is a copy you never hear about again. A share from the file library stays yours, can carry a password, goes out from the conversation the customer is already in, and tells you when it was opened.

1. Get the document into the library

   Open Files in the main menu. If the document is already a store document, it is in a folder. If it is new, drop it on the area labeled Upload files to your File Library and pick the folder it belongs in. Sharing works from the library, so this step is not optional, and it is the step that keeps one copy instead of five.

2. Put a password on it

   Open the password control on the file and the Set File Password panel appears. Type a password of at least three characters and press Lock File. The panel says it plainly: anyone opening the file will need this password. Use a password you can say out loud without repeating yourself, because you are about to.

3. Send the link from the conversation

   Go to the customer's thread rather than to your email. In the texting composer the control is Attach from File Library, and the link rides out with your message, so the send is logged on the lead next to every other call, text and email for that customer. That is what makes it a record instead of a favor you did on a Tuesday.

4. Or hand it over in person with a code

   When the customer is standing at your desk, asking for an email address and spelling it back is a strange ritual to perform in front of someone holding a phone. Create the code for the file instead, turn your screen, and let them scan it with the camera. The document opens on their phone before they have stood up, and the share is recorded the same way.

5. Give the password by a different route

   Say the password out loud at the desk, or call and say it. Do not type it in the same text as the link, which defeats the point of locking the file. This one habit is the difference between a document that is protected and a document that looks protected.

6. Watch whether it was opened, then follow up

   The share record tells you the document was opened. A customer who has read the trade appraisal is ready for a different conversation than one who has not, so check before you call. If nothing has been opened by the next morning, the follow up is about whether they got it, not about the numbers.

7. Change or remove the password when the deal moves on

   Open the same password panel on the file later to set a new password or take the protection off. Do it when a document stops being sensitive, and do it when a customer calls back a month later and cannot remember anything you told them.

There is nothing to buy or enable. Secure file sharing is part of the Files menu in LeadLocate CRM on every plan, for every user, at the desk and in the phone app. The library page opens under the File Sharing heading, which is a fair description of what it is for.

What you need is the right document in front of you and a decision about the password. Lock anything with a person's information on it: a trade appraisal with a name and a VIN, a worksheet with a payment on it, a stipulation checklist that names a customer. Leave the brochures, the service menu and the what to bring list unlocked, because a password on a brochure only teaches customers to ignore passwords. The file library guide covers building the folders these documents live in.

On your side: the file still in your library, marked as locked, with the share controls next to it. On the customer's side: a page asking for the password, then the document. Nothing was attached to anything, so nothing is sitting in an inbox waiting to be forwarded, and there is no attachment size to worry about because the file never left your library.

You should also see the send where the rest of the customer's history is. A share sent from a lead's thread belongs to that lead, so the communications log for that customer shows the calls, the texts, the emails and the document, in order, for whoever opens the record next. A manager reviewing a deal does not have to ask which salesperson emailed what.

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The customer says the password does not work. Passwords are exact. Read it back a character at a time, and if it was set weeks ago just open the panel and set a new one rather than guessing. Then tell them the new one by phone.

The customer opened the link and got a file they cannot read. Phones preview some file types and not others. Save the document as a PDF and share that; a PDF opens on every phone at the desk and every phone at home.

A document from a deal shows a card instead of the file. On a phone, deal paperwork that the browser will not preview shows a Secure File Stored card with a Download Secure File button under it. That is the file, waiting; tap the button.

You wanted to send the deal, not a document. Those are two different controls. The Share button on a deal sends the customer deal page itself, with its PIN and its e-signature, and the send a deal page for e-signature guide walks through it. The file library is for documents around the deal.

Sharing from the library is right for the store's own documents. Three kinds of paperwork have a better home. A credit application and the documents that support it belong in SecureWebX, where the consent, the stipulations and the notices sit together and where the finance office already works. The paperwork that belongs to one deal, the license copy, the insurance card, the signed buyer's order, belongs in the deal jacket on that deal, which has its own intake from a phone camera. And the account paperwork between your store and us lives in the My LeadLocate portal.

Putting each document where it belongs is not filing for the sake of filing. It decides who can reach it, which record it shows up on, and how few copies of a customer's information exist at your store. Fewer copies is the whole game: a document that lives in one library, shared by link, with a password on it, is a document nobody has a stray copy of in a personal inbox.

Most shares leave the building from a text thread, so the LeadLocate Help Center guides on texting a customer and sending a picture message are the natural neighbors, along with uploading deal documents by QR and printing a deal packet for the customer who wants paper.

If your store wants a document workflow that is not here today, a retention rule, an approval before a certain form goes out, a folder only the finance office can reach, it is available on request, and our team puts it in production for your dealership. The file library and secure sharing page covers the wider case for keeping every document in one place.

How do I password protect a file in LeadLocate?

Open the password control on the file in the Files menu, type a password of at least three characters in the Set File Password panel, and press Lock File. Anyone opening the file then needs that password.

Can I send a document without asking for the customer's email?

Yes. Send the link in the text thread you are already in, or show the code on your screen and let the customer scan it with a phone camera at the desk.

Will I know if the customer opened it?

Yes. The share is recorded and shows that the document was opened, which is a better reason to call back than guessing.

Can I take the password off later?

Yes. The same panel on the file sets a new password or removes the protection, so a document that stops being sensitive stops being locked.

Password protected shares, a code the customer scans at the desk, and a record of what was opened are part of LeadLocate CRM on every plan. See it in the pre-recorded demo, or start month to month.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.