The big picture#
When you email a customer from Gmail on your own, nobody else at your company ever sees it. In Hubtoll CRM, the email is kept on the customer's page. A teammate can open the contact and read the whole story.
Here is how it works:
- You connect your own mailbox once. Hubtoll sends email as you, from your own address.
- Email you send from Hubtoll is saved on the contact and on the deal it belongs to.
- Email that people send you is saved on the matching contact too. Hubtoll checks for new mail about every five minutes.
- You can save common emails as templates and reuse them.
Where everything lives#
Open Customer Relationship Management from the left menu. These pages matter for email:
| Page | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Communications | Your own inbox: the email you sent and received through CRM. It has All and Unread tabs and a search box. |
| Team Inbox | Shared chat conversations (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, SMS). Open it with the Team Inbox button at the top of Communications. |
| Email Templates | Reusable emails with merge fields. |
| CRM Settings | Four pages: Email & Mailboxes, Pipelines & Stages, Connected Channels and WhatsApp Templates. |
Connect your mailbox#
Every person connects their own mailbox. Nobody can send from your address except you.
- Open Customer Relationship ManagementCRM SettingsEmail & Mailboxes.
- Click Connect Gmail or Connect Outlook.
- Your email provider opens. Sign in and choose to allow Hubtoll.
- Hubtoll brings you back to the same page.
What you are allowing#
Hubtoll asks your provider for two things: read your mail and send mail for you.
- Gmail: read access to your mailbox and permission to send.
- Outlook: permission to read your mail, send mail and see your basic profile.
Hubtoll uses this to log conversations on the right contact and to send what you write. Emails stay private to your company. The page links to the Privacy Policy for the full detail.
Check, sync and disconnect#
Each connected mailbox has two icon buttons:
- Sync email now pulls new mail right away. You do not have to wait five minutes.
- Disconnect mailbox removes the connection.
When you click Disconnect mailbox, Hubtoll asks Disconnect mailbox? and warns that new email will not sync and you cannot send from it until you reconnect. Emails already logged are kept. Any sequence that was sending from that mailbox stops. See Sequences and automations.
If the connection breaks (for example you changed your Google password, or took Hubtoll's access away in your Google or Microsoft settings), the row shows an amber Needs reconnecting chip. Click it. Hubtoll says This mailbox needs attention and offers Reconnect.
Send an email to a contact or a deal#
- Open a contact, or open a deal that has a primary contact.
- Click Email at the top of the page. The Send Email window opens.
- Check From. If you connected more than one mailbox, pick the one to send from.
- Check To, type a Subject, and write your Message.
- Click Send.
The Email button only shows if the contact has an email address and you are allowed to send (see Who can do what).
If you have not connected a mailbox yet, the window says so and offers Connect a mailbox. It also offers Use your email app, which opens your normal email program instead.
Use a template while writing#
At the top of Send Email there is Use a template (optional). Pick one and Hubtoll fills in the subject and message, with the merge fields already swapped for this contact's details. This is also your preview: you see the real words before you click Send. Change anything you like first.
If the template has attachments, a line tells you how many will be sent and their total size.
What you see after sending#
Open the Emails card on the contact. Each conversation shows who it was with, Sent or Received, and the date. Click one to read it.
- On a message you sent, you see Opened 2× or Not opened yet. Hubtoll adds a tiny hidden picture to emails it sends. When the person's email program loads it, Hubtoll counts an open. Some email programs block the picture, so the number can be lower than the truth.
- On a message you received, you see a preview of the message. Open it in your mailbox for the full content and attachments.
- Reply answers a received message. Mark unread puts it back as unread.
Things that stop an email#
- This contact has opted out of email (do not email). The contact is marked Do not email. Hubtoll will not send. See Opt-outs.
- A valid recipient email address is required. The To box is empty or not an address.
- Connect your mailbox first (CRM settings) to send email from Hubtoll. You have no connected mailbox.
- This mailbox is not connected. The mailbox needs reconnecting. See above.
- The attachments (N MB) exceed the N MB limit for Gmail (or Outlook). Gmail allows up to 25 MB in total and Outlook up to 20 MB.
- The email may have been sent but the provider did not confirm in time. Check the recipient before resending. The provider was slow. Look in your Sent folder before you send again, so the customer does not get two.
The Communications inbox#
Communications is your personal inbox inside CRM. It lists the conversations you have had through CRM mail.
- All shows everything. Unread shows only what you have not opened, with a count.
- Type in Search conversations to look by sender, subject or a few words from the message.
- Refresh reloads the list.
- A grey arrow shows direction: sent (out) or received (in).
If it is empty, the page says: No messages yet. Connect a mailbox in CRM Settings to sync your email, or send one from a contact.
Hubtoll saves a received email on a contact when the sender (or a recipient) has the same email address as that contact. Mail from someone who is not in your CRM does not become a contact by itself.
Email templates#
A template is an email you write once and use many times. Open Email Templates from the left menu.
The list shows each Template, its Category, its Status, how many times it was Used, and who created it.
Create a template#
- Open Email Templates and click New template.
- Type a Template name (for example Intro outreach). Add a Category (optional) such as Outbound if you want to group them.
- Type the Subject.
- Write the Body. You can format it like a normal email.
- Under Insert merge field, click a chip to drop a placeholder where your cursor is.
- Add files under Attachments if every email should carry them.
- Click Save.
Merge fields#
Type a placeholder anywhere in the subject or body. Hubtoll replaces it when the email is sent.
| Placeholder | Becomes |
|---|---|
{{contact.firstName}}, {{contact.lastName}}, {{contact.fullName}} |
The contact's name |
{{contact.email}}, {{contact.phone}}, {{contact.title}} |
Their email, phone and job title |
{{company.name}} |
Their company |
{{deal.name}}, {{deal.amount}}, {{deal.currency}} |
The deal, when the email is about one |
{{owner.name}} |
The person who owns the contact |
{{user.name}} |
You, the sender |
The chips in the editor cover most of these. A few, like {{deal.currency}}, are listed in the help text under the chips and work if you type them.
Attachments#
A template can carry files. They are sent with every email that uses it. Allowed types are PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, CSV, text, pictures (PNG, JPG, GIF, WEBP) and ZIP. The window shows how much of the limit you have used. The limit is the smaller of Gmail and Outlook, so a template works from either.
Edit, switch off or delete#
Each row has icon buttons: Edit, Deactivate (or Activate) and Delete.
- Deactivate hides the template from pickers. A sequence that uses it pauses that step until you turn it back on.
- Delete asks Delete template? If a sequence uses it, you must remove it there first. Deleting cannot be undone.
Chat channels: WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger and SMS#
Besides email, CRM can receive and answer chat messages from customers. All of them land in one shared place, the Team Inbox, so the whole team can help.
Connect a channel#
Only an administrator can do this. One connection serves the whole company.
- Open Customer Relationship ManagementCRM SettingsConnected Channels.
- Find the card for WhatsApp Business, Instagram, Facebook Messenger or SMS (Termii).
- Click Connect with Meta (for the first three) or Connect Termii (for SMS).
- For Meta, follow the pop-up and pick the accounts to share.
- For SMS, fill in the Termii API key, Sender ID (what recipients see as "from"), API base URL (it varies per Termii account) and an optional Display name. Then save.
SMS uses your company's own Termii account and key. You pay Termii directly. Hubtoll does not sell text messages.
To remove a channel, click Disconnect on its card. Hubtoll asks Disconnect WhatsApp Business? (or the channel's name). New messages stop arriving and sequence steps on that channel stop. Past conversations stay as history. You can reconnect any time.
Answer in the Team Inbox#
Open Team Inbox (from the top of Communications). It has three tabs: Open, Closed and Mine. The Open tab shows a count of unread messages.
Click a conversation to read it. At the top you can:
- Link contact to attach it to an existing contact, or Create contact to make a new one.
- Assign, then Assign to me or pick a teammate. The person's initials show on the row.
- Close conversation when it is done, and Reopen conversation later.
Type your answer at the bottom and click Send.
If the list is empty, it says to connect a company channel first, with a Connect a channel button.
WhatsApp's 24-hour rule#
WhatsApp only lets you write freely for 24 hours after the customer last messaged you. The composer shows Window closes with the time.
After that, a notice says the 24-hour window has closed. You can only send an approved template until they reply again. Pick one under Approved template and click Send template.
WhatsApp templates are managed in CRM SettingsWhatsApp Templates. You write the Template name (lowercase with underscores, no spaces), choose the Language and Category, and write the body. Then use Submit to Meta for review. The Meta status column shows where it is (such as Draft, Pending, Approved or Rejected). Only approved templates can be sent. A sequence or automation can fill only one placeholder, {{1}}, which is the contact's name.
Opt-outs: do not email#
Every contact has a Do not email switch. When it is on:
- Send Email refuses with This contact has opted out of email (do not email).
- A sequence will not enrol them, and stops if they were already enrolled. This stops all steps in that sequence, including WhatsApp ones.
- An automation that sends a template email or enrols in a sequence skips them. The run records contact opted out.
Replying to a customer in the Team Inbox is not blocked. If someone writes to you first, you can always answer them. That is a conversation they started.
Who can do what#
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Connect, sync and disconnect your own mailbox | Any CRM member |
| Read email on contacts and deals you can see | Any CRM member. A person sees the records they own or created. A person with wider read access sees the whole company's. |
| Send an email from a contact or deal | CRM_MANAGEMENT_EDITOR or CRM_MANAGEMENT_INITIATOR |
| Create, edit, switch off and delete email templates | CRM_MANAGEMENT_EDITOR or CRM_SETTINGS_ADMIN |
| Connect or disconnect a chat channel, manage WhatsApp templates | CRM_MANAGEMENT_EDITOR or CRM_SETTINGS_ADMIN |
| Answer, assign and close in the Team Inbox | CRM_MANAGEMENT_EDITOR or CRM_MANAGEMENT_INITIATOR. Other members can read but not reply. |
| Everything above | CRM_FULL_ADMIN |
If your company's CRM seat has lapsed, CRM becomes read-only: you can look, but not send or change. Everything also needs an active CRM seat. See Seats, plans and subscriptions and the permission reference. To give people the right access, see Roles.
Common questions#
Can my teammates read my private email?
No. Only email that Hubtoll sent, or that matched a contact in your CRM, is saved on the contact. It is visible to people who are allowed to see that contact. Your other email is not copied.
I sent an email from Outlook itself, and it is not on the contact.
Hubtoll reads the Outlook Inbox only. To get the copy on the contact, send the email from the Email button in Hubtoll.
I changed my email password. Why can I not send any more?
The connection broke. Open Email & Mailboxes, click Needs reconnecting, then Reconnect.
A received email did not show on the contact.
The sender's address must match the contact's email address exactly. Check the address on the contact, then click Sync email now on the mailbox.
Why is there no Email button on a deal?
The deal needs a primary contact with an email address, and you need permission to send.
Can I send from a shared address like sales@yourcompany?
Each mailbox is one person's own account. Connect the address as a mailbox from a person who can sign in to it. Hubtoll does not offer a shared sending address.
Why can I see conversations but not reply in the Team Inbox?
Replying needs the editor or initiator CRM permission. Ask your administrator.
For setting up emails that go out on a schedule, see Sequences and automations. To manage the contacts themselves, see Contacts, companies and leads.