How to Use Deal Chat in LeadLocate

Read the customer question on the deal, answer it next to the numbers, and keep the whole thread on the record.

1. Open the thread on the desktop

   From the main menu choose Desking, open the deal, and find the Customer Chat panel in the right hand column next to the offer cards the customer is looking at. New customer messages appear here as they arrive.

2. Or open it on your phone

   In the LeadLocate mobile app open Deal Chats. Use Search deal chats to find a customer, tap the conversation, and read the deal summary above the messages before you answer.

3. Write the reply

   On the phone tap Reply to customer. Type the answer, pick a Message template for a standard explanation, or dictate it with the microphone. On the desktop the composer is the same one you use for texting, with the AI writing assistant available for a draft you can edit.

4. Attach what the customer needs

   Tap Add photo or file from device to send photos of the unit, a walk around or a document. Paste a listing link and it unfurls as a card with the vehicle image and title. From the desktop composer you can drop a vehicle in from inventory with its photos and price.

5. Send it

   Click Send message on the desktop or send from the phone. The customer is texted that there is a reply on the deal page, so the answer does not sit unread.

6. Act on what the customer sent

   If the customer sent a document or a trade photo, open the lead with View Lead Details and file it where it belongs. Use Back to Deal Chats to return to the inbox and work the next conversation.

You need a deal that has been sent to the customer as a deal page, because the customer reaches the thread only from that page. Any user who can open the deal can read and answer the chat; there is nothing to turn on. On the phone you need the LeadLocate mobile app signed in to the same account, and it helps to set your notification preferences so a new customer message reaches you as a toast, a sound, a text or an email. Turn on Play Deal Tracker sound in your settings if you want to hear a new deal message land while you are at the desk.

On the customer side there is nothing to install. The customer opens the deal page with the texted passcode, and the Online Chat card is on the page, stacked under the deal details on a phone and beside them on a desktop. The how to send a deal page guide covers getting the page to the customer.

On the desktop, the Customer Chat panel shows both sides of the conversation in order, with the customer's messages, your replies, the photos and the link preview cards. The panel sits next to the offer cards that mirror the customer's page, so you answer while looking at the same presentation the customer is looking at. On the phone, Deal Chats lists every open thread with the newest message first, and each thread opens with a read only summary of the deal above the conversation.

On the customer's page, the customer types into Type your message and taps Send Message; your reply appears in the same card, and the customer gets a text that a reply is waiting. Every message on the thread is stored against the deal and its customer, and the CRM's communications log keeps it with every call, text, email and voicemail on the same person. The deal chat feature page describes what travels on the thread in full.

Leave your number and a lead specialist calls you back to answer your questions about pricing, coverage, and setup. Mon - Sat, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM Pacific.

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

The customer says there is no chat on the page. The customer is looking at a shared pencil recap sheet, not the deal page. A recap sheet is a single worksheet with a signature; the chat lives on the deal page. Send the customer link from Share on the deal and the Online Chat card is on it.

You did not get notified. Check your per user notification preferences for deal messages and confirm the phone app is signed in to the right account. A message you did not hear about is still in the Customer Chat panel on the deal and in Deal Chats on the phone; nothing is lost.

A photo did not send. Very large files take longer on a slow connection; wait for the upload to finish before leaving the thread. If it still fails, send the photo as a text from the lead instead and note it on the deal.

Most deal chat conversations end in one of three tasks. When the customer asks for a number in writing, send a revised sheet or a signed snapshot rather than typing a figure into the chat; the pencil recap sheets page covers the shareable worksheet. When the customer sends the payoff letter or the title, put it in the deal jacket, covered on deal jacket and QR intake. When the customer is ready, the Road to Sale checklist on the deal tells you which step comes next.

For everything that is not about one deal, the two way texting inbox is the right place, and the LeadLocate mobile app carries both inboxes side by side. The Help Center lists every task, and the LeadLocate CRM page shows where deal chat sits in the platform.

Answer from the deal, not from your own phone, even when texting feels faster. The thread on the deal is what the manager reads when the customer comes back Saturday and what the store keeps after you take a day off. Read the deal summary above the conversation before you reply on the phone; the customer is asking about a specific payment, and the summary tells you which one. Use a Message template for the warranty and payoff explanations your store repeats a dozen times a week, and keep the chat for explaining a number, never for agreeing one. When the customer wants it in writing, that is a sheet, and the chat is where you say so and send the link.

How does the customer start a deal chat?

From the Online Chat card on their deal page. The page opens from the link you sent, unlocked with a one time passcode texted to the number on the deal. The customer never installs anything.

Is deal chat the same as the texting inbox?

No. The texting inbox is organized by phone number and covers every conversation. Deal chat is attached to one deal, so the thread about that vehicle, trade and payment stays with that transaction and the manager reviewing the deal can read it.

Can the customer send photos and documents?

Yes, in both directions. The customer can send trade photos and documents from the phone, you can send unit photos, a walk around or a file, and links unfurl as preview cards.

Does the customer know when I reply?

Yes. The customer is texted that there is a reply on the deal page. On your side, per user notification preferences decide whether a new customer message arrives as a toast, sound, text or email.

Deal chat is part of every LeadLocate CRM plan, month to month. Send a deal page today and answer the first question from your phone.

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