Docs / Lead sources

Connect the places your leads come from

Step-by-step help for each source: why you would connect it, where to click, and what to do if leads don't arrive. No technical knowledge needed.

How it works, in short

A lead source is a place where people ask about your business: an ad, a listing, your website. You connect it once. After that, every new enquiry appears in FollowThroo on its own.

  1. You connect a source. Mostly you copy a link from Settings, then Lead sources, and paste it into the other service. For Facebook you click a button and sign in. Adding by hand, spreadsheets and LinkedIn happen inside FollowThroo.
  2. A new enquiry arrives. FollowThroo picks out the name, email, phone, company and message. It needs an email address or a phone number to make a lead. Without one, nothing is created.
  3. FollowThroo checks if you already know them. If the person is already in your contacts, the enquiry is added to their history instead of making a second copy. Someone who asked not to be contacted is recorded but never put into your pipeline or your follow-up steps.
  4. Someone is given the lead. Each source has a rule for who gets it: nobody yet, taking turns, whoever has the fewest, or always one person. You choose it on the source's box in Settings.
  5. You can see it is working. Each source's box shows the time of the last enquiry received, or the last problem and why.

Connect a source

Choose where your leads come from. Each guide has the steps and the fixes for what can go wrong.

Connect Facebook and Instagram lead adsWhen someone fills in the form on your Facebook or Instagram ad, they appear in FollowThroo within seconds, so your reply can go out while they still remember asking.Read the guide →Connect IndiaMARTBuyer enquiries from IndiaMART arrive in FollowThroo the moment they are sent, with the buyer's name, company, phone, email and message, so nobody has to copy them over by hand.Read the guide →Connect JustDialEnquiries from your JustDial listing arrive in FollowThroo with the caller's name, mobile number and what they asked about.Read the guide →Connect SulekhaEnquiries from your Sulekha listing come into FollowThroo as leads, with whatever contact details Sulekha sends.Read the guide →Connect TradeIndiaBuyer enquiries from TradeIndia arrive in FollowThroo as leads, with whatever contact details TradeIndia sends.Read the guide →Send leads from forms on your websiteWhen a visitor fills in a contact or demo form on your website, they become a lead straight away, and get the same follow-up as every other lead. There are two ways to set this up, depending on how your form is built.Read the guide →
LinkedInThe people you want to reach on LinkedIn go into FollowThroo without copying and pasting, and FollowThroo checks them against the contacts you already have.Steps are in the LinkedIn guide.
Import leads from a spreadsheetBring in a list you already have: from an event, from another tool, or from a spreadsheet your team keeps.Read the guide →
Adding a lead yourselfFor the person someone mentions on a call or at a meeting.Go to Leads, then Add Lead, and fill in the form. The lead is marked as added by hand.

Leads aren't arriving: what to check

Go through these in order. Most problems are solved in the first three.

  1. Look at the source's box in Settings, then Lead sources. If it says Last failed delivery, read the time and the reason beside it. If it says Awaiting provider test delivery, nothing has reached FollowThroo yet, so the problem is on the other service's side or with the link.
  2. Copy the link again, all of it. The long code at the end is part of the link. A link that stops early, or one copied before it was reset, is refused.
  3. Send a practice lead. Use the other service's own test: Send test data in Google Ads, the Lead Ads Testing Tool for Facebook, or fill in your form yourself. Then refresh the Lead sources page.
  4. Make sure the practice lead has an email address or a phone number. Without one, FollowThroo accepts it but creates no lead.
  5. Search Leads for the person. If they were already in your contacts, the enquiry was added to their history and no new lead was made. Open the contact and look at its timeline.
  6. Facebook only: check the Page is listed in the box, and that FollowThroo is allowed under Leads access if you changed that setting.
  7. Still stuck? Write to us using the next section.

Getting help

Email support@followthroo.com or use the contact page. To get an answer quickly, tell us:

  • Which source, and your workspace name.
  • What the source's box in Settings shows: the status, and the last failed delivery with its reason. A screenshot is ideal.
  • What you did and when, for example "I pressed Send test data at 3:10 pm".
  • For JustDial, Sulekha, TradeIndia, or a form tool that isn't working: one real example of what the other service sent, with personal details removed. It lets us match its layout.

Never put your private link or your Google key in an email or chat. If you think one has leaked, tell us and we will reset it.

What the status words mean

  • Ready: a source you use inside FollowThroo (adding by hand, spreadsheets, LinkedIn). Nothing to connect.
  • Configured: FollowThroo has received a real enquiry from this source, so it works.
  • Awaiting provider test delivery: it is set up, but nothing has arrived yet. Send a practice lead.
  • Awaiting provider credentials: this source isn't switched on for FollowThroo yet. Contact us.
  • Last failed delivery: the time, and a short reason, for the most recent enquiry that was refused. FollowThroo never keeps the contents of a refused enquiry.

Good to know for every source

An enquiry arrived but no lead was created.
A lead needs an email address or a phone number. The other service is told all is well, so it doesn't keep sending the same enquiry again, but nothing is created.
The same person appears twice.
They shouldn't. FollowThroo matches new enquiries to your existing contacts by email and phone, and a repeat enquiry is added to the existing contact's history.
A lot of enquiries arrive at the same moment.
FollowThroo takes up to 300 a minute from each source. Above that it asks the other service to try again shortly, which they do automatically.
Don't assume a source works until a real enquiry has arrived.
Pasting a link proves nothing by itself. Send a practice lead, or wait for a real enquiry, and check it appears in Leads and the box says Configured.
Who gets each new lead.
Each source has its own rule in Settings, then Lead sources: Leave unassigned, Round-robin (taking turns), Whoever has fewest, or Always one person.

Words used in this guide

Lead
A person who might become a customer.
Link (also called a URL)
A web address. Each source that sends leads to FollowThroo has its own link in Settings, then Lead sources. It contains a secret code that proves the leads belong to your workspace.
Webhook
The way one program sends a message to another the instant something happens, such as a new enquiry. In practice it is just a link you paste into the other program.
Workspace
Your company's own space inside FollowThroo. Its leads, links and keys are private to it.
Key
A secret code that proves a message really comes from you. Keep it private.
Source
Where a lead came from, such as IndiaMART or a website form. FollowThroo records it on every lead.