Key Concepts

Before you dive into using NZ Leads, let’s get familiar with the main terms we use. Think of this as your dictionary for understanding how everything works together.

🏢 Business

Think of a “Business” like a folder on your computer - it’s just a way to organize your stuff.

In NZ Leads, a Business is basically a collection of your different locations that you group together however makes sense to you. Maybe you run plumbing services AND house cleaning services. You’d probably want to keep those separate, right?

Here’s a real example:

Let’s say you have:

2 Yelp profiles for plumbing work
1 Thumbtack profile for plumbing
5 Yelp profiles for cleaning services

You could create two Businesses:

“Mike’s Plumbing” (contains your 3 plumbing locations)
“Mike’s Cleaning Co” (contains your 5 cleaning locations)

This way, when you’re looking at leads, managing settings, or checking your stats, you can focus on just one type of work at a time. Much cleaner than having everything mixed together.

The key thing: You decide how to group your locations. By service type, by city, by whatever makes sense for your operation.

🎯 Source

This one trips people up sometimes, so pay attention.

When we say “Source” in NZ Leads, we’re talking about individual business locations - not the platform they’re on.

Don’t confuse this with:

Source Type (like Yelp, Thumbtack, Google)
The platform itself

Think of it this way:

If you have 3 different Yelp business profiles, that’s 3 Sources
If you have 1 Thumbtack profile, that’s 1 Source
Total: 4 Sources (not 2 platforms)

This matters for billing because you pay per Source, not per platform. So 3 Yelp locations = 3 Sources = $297/month (at $99 per source).

🤖 Bot Status

Every lead in your system has a status that tells you exactly what’s happening with them. Here’s what each one means:

● Bot Follow-up

What it means: Our bot is actively working this lead for you.

The bot is sending your follow-up messages automatically based on the schedule you set up in your Messaging Settings. This is where the magic happens - while you’re sleeping or working other jobs, we’re nurturing these leads for you.

You cannot enable this status manually!

● Follow-up

What it means: You (or someone on your team) jumped into the conversation.

Once a real person starts messaging a lead, our bot steps back and lets you handle it. The lead hasn’t responded to your personal message yet, but they know a human is now involved. Any remaining bot messages get cancelled - no point in the bot sending automated stuff when you’re already talking to them.

● Scheduled Messages

What it means: You’ve scheduled a message to be sent later.

This is your way to delay sending messages to a more convenient time. Here’s a common scenario: A new lead comes in, the bot sends the welcome message and follow-ups, then you jump in and start chatting with them personally. But then your working hours end and you’re not ready to respond right away.

Instead of leaving them hanging, you can type your message and schedule it to be sent later - maybe first thing tomorrow morning, or after lunch, whenever works for you. Just write what you want to say and pick how long to delay it from now.

Learn more about Scheduled Message here

● No Answer

What it means: We tried everything, but they’re not responding.

Our bot sent all your follow-up messages according to your schedule, but the lead never wrote back. And you never sent any personal messages either. Sometimes people just aren’t ready or interested - that’s normal.

● Answered

What it means: Success! The lead responded.

They wrote back to one of your messages (either bot or personal). If this happens before all the follow-ups were sent, we automatically cancel the remaining ones. No need to keep messaging someone who’s already engaged.

● Meeting

What it means: You’ve got something scheduled with this lead.

This is an optional status you can use to mark leads when you’ve set up a call, site visit, or any kind of meeting. It’s just for your own organization - helps you keep track of who you need to follow up with about confirmed appointments.

📝 Template Variables

When you’re using NZ Leads, you might see placeholder text in different places that looks like this:

“Insert Customer First Name Placeholder”
“#customer_first_name#”
“#customer_display_name#”

These are placeholders that automatically get replaced with the actual customer’s name when the message is sent.

How It Works

What you might see in the interface: Text that mentions inserting customer name or shows #customer_display_name#

What you should type: #customer_display_name#

What the customer actually receives: Their real name

Example:

You write: “Hi #customer_display_name#, thanks for reaching out about your plumbing project!”

Customer sees: “Hi Sarah, thanks for reaching out about your plumbing project!”

Where You’ll See This

Bot message templates: When setting up automated follow-ups
Quick reply templates: In your saved message templates
Scheduled messages: When writing messages to send later
Interface hints: Anywhere you see “Insert Customer First Name” or similar text

Just remember: whenever you see anything about inserting customer names or see #customer_display_name# in a message, that’s your cue to use the placeholder. Type #customer_display_name# anywhere in your message and we’ll automatically swap it for the real name.

Why This Matters

Understanding these concepts helps you:

Organize better: Group locations in ways that make sense for your business
Track costs: Know exactly what you’re paying for (Sources, not platforms)
Monitor progress: See where each lead stands in your sales process
Take action: Know when to step in personally vs. let the bot handle it
Personalize messages: Use templates that feel custom to each customer

The whole system is designed around these core ideas, so once you get them, everything else makes a lot more sense.

Still confused about something? Just email us at support@nzleads.com - we’re happy to explain anything that’s not clear.