Understanding your inbox (gig leads & messages)
All of your leads, messages, and bookings are located in the inbox in your control panel. This is where you'll manage your gigs and respond to clients.
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Leads & messages
The default page of your inbox will contain all your leads and messages, sorted by the ones with the most recent activity. This means if you send a message to a client from 3 days ago, that lead will jump to the top of your main inbox list.
If you have unread leads or messages, you'll see several indicators throughout your control panel: a notification bubble on the message envelope in the header, a number in parentheses beside Inbox in the main control panel menu, a number within a bubble beside the appropriate folders in the inbox menu, and a note at the top of your Dashboard. So no matter where you are, it'll be easy to see when there's something new that needs your attention.
When viewing your inbox, anything that has not been opened yet will be in bold with a red dot beside the client's name. If you'd like to see only unread items, you can click "Unread" from the inbox menu.
Mark as unread
You can choose to mark a lead as unread after you've read it. This can be helpful if you open a lead but are not ready to respond, so you don't forget it still needs your attention. Or you can mark any lead or message as unread as a reminder to follow up.
Note: Leads manually marked as unread will not affect your response rate when we are calculating Top Performer eligibility.
Replied indicator
Leads and messages that you’ve replied to will display a replied-to arrow beside the client’s profile image or initial icon. This arrow indicates that you were the last one to respond in that thread. Whether you sent a quote, message, or just declined the lead, it will be considered a reply. If a client responds back or takes any other action, the arrow will go away until you've replied again.
Lead status
A status message will appear at the end of the row on each gig lead which will let you know the action that needs to be taken, or that has already been taken for that particular lead. Here are the various statuses you might see:
- Waiting on quote: This is the default status each lead starts with, and it indicates no action has been taken and the client is still waiting for a response from you.
- Message sent/seen: You sent the client a message, rather than a quote. If it says seen, that means the client has opened the message.
- Quote sent/seen: There is a quote currently active on that lead. This means you've sent a quote and the client has not yet booked it, but they still have the ability to book it. If they've opened the quote, it will say it has been seen.
Note: Even if you send a message after the quote, the lead will continue to show the quote status. - Quote declined: You sent a quote, but the client chose to decline it. The event is still available, so you can send a follow-up message or try sending a new quote.
- Quote expired: You sent a quote, but it has expired and the client can no longer book it. If you are still available and interested in the event, you can follow up to see if the client has booked anyone yet and if they'd like a new quote.
- Booked: The client accepted your quote and you are booked for their event! Or, you marked this lead as booked.
- Declined lead: You chose to decline this event. If you change your mind, you can still send a message or quote.
- Event date passed: The event date has passed, so you can no longer quote or book this gig. However, you can open the lead and send a message if you want to follow up with the client about a possible future event.
- No longer available: The client has already booked someone or no longer wishes to receive communication regarding the event. No further action can be taken on these leads.
Folders & filters
The primary page of your inbox is where you'll see all the newest activity, including all leads, messages, and booked gigs. But sometimes you might find it helpful to see these things separately and sort them in a different way. This is where the various folders & filters come in. You can access the filters through the menu on the left (or in the dropdown on mobile).
Gig Leads
All gig leads you've ever received will appear in this folder. By default, they'll be sorted by Newest, but you can also choose to filter them by Upcoming Dates and Past Dates.
Booked Gigs
This folder is a great way to only look at the leads you've booked. By default, they'll be sorted by Newest, but you can also choose to filter them by Upcoming Gigs and Past Gigs.
Archiving
Leads cannot be deleted, but you can archive them so that they no longer appear in the main inbox list. To do this, check the box on the left side of all the messages you wish to archive. Then, click Archive at the top of the page. You can also archive a lead while you have it open.
All of your archived messages can still be accessed by choosing Archived from the menu. They will also still appear with all other items in their appropriate folder. (For example, if you archive a lead from the main inbox, it will no longer appear in that list, but it'll still be included with the complete list of leads found in the Gig Leads folder.)
Pro tip: Use the archive feature to better manage your inbox. Archive the messages you are no longer working on or need to reference so that your inbox will only include the leads you need to respond to or are waiting for a response on.
Payouts
Clients will pay both the deposit and balance in one payment through GigSalad when they accept your quote and book you. GigSalad will then process their payment and send you the deposit prior to the event and the balance after. The Payouts section of your inbox will show a list of these payouts, sorted by month. On each booking, you'll see the payout amount and status (pending or sent) for both the deposit and the balance.