❓ FAQs & Troubleshooting
🔐 Account, Roles & Access Hierarchy
Q: What is the difference between an Individual Account and an Organization Account?
- Individual Account: Created for solo founders, freelancers, or independent consultants. It provides full access to leads, deals, contacts, and personal follow-up tracking without multi-user team hierarchies or administrative approval workflows.
- Organization Account: Built for sales teams and enterprise companies. It provides a multi-tenant corporate workspace, role-based access control for administrators and sales business developers, custom SMTP configuration, multi-pipeline builders, reporting-manager hierarchies, and team-wide revenue forecasting.
Q: How does the Reporting Manager hierarchy affect what a sales representative or manager can see?
When an Admin adds an employee and assigns a Reporting Manager, the manager gains visibility into the leads, deals, follow-up queues, and conversion metrics owned by that employee. Individual sales representatives see only their assigned records and personal performance charts, keeping their workspace focused on their immediate targets.
Q: How do I invite or add new team members to my organization?
Navigation: Header → Users or Header → Profile Avatar → Personal Settings → + Add User
Enter the user's First Name, Last Name, Official Email, Initial Password, Job Designation, Role (Admin or Employee), and Reporting Manager. The new team member can immediately log in to the organization workspace using those credentials.
Q: What happens if I forget my password or my reset link expires?
On the login page, select Forgot Password?, enter your registered email address, and select Send Reset Link. Password reset tokens expire after 24 hours. If the link has expired, submit the form again to receive a new verification link.
Q: What are the password requirements?
A password must contain at least 8 characters, including one uppercase letter (A–Z), one lowercase letter (a–z), one number (0–9), and one special character (!@#$%^&*). Avoid personal information and common words.
Q: How are passwords protected?
Passwords are immediately converted to an encrypted hash when created. They are never stored as plain text or transmitted unencrypted.
👥 Leads Management & AI Intelligence
Q: Why does the system block me when adding a lead with the error “Email already exists”?
To enforce strict contact email uniqueness and prevent duplicate outreach, the CRM does not allow two active contact profiles to use the same email address.
Solution: Search for the email in the top search bar. If the contact already exists under another lead or company, reassign the lead, add internal notes, or create a new deal under the existing company account.
Q: What is AI Company URL Auto-Fill and how does it work?
When creating a lead, entering a valid company website, such as https://stripe.com, triggers an automatic background lookup. The AI retrieves and populates the Company Name, LinkedIn Profile URL, Address and Description when the information is available.
Q: What is the Disposable Email Shield?
The system screens lead emails against a database of temporary or throwaway email domains, such as tempmail.com and mailinator.com. This helps prevent marketing and sales effort from being spent on unverified addresses.
Q: What is the difference between Aging Leads (<60 Days) and Inactive Leads (90+ Days)?
- Aging Leads (<60 Days): Leads with no recent status update or interaction within approximately 30–60 days. They are surfaced in orange alerts to encourage re-engagement.
- Inactive Leads (90+ Days): Dormant leads with no activity for more than three months. They are separated for re-marketing campaigns.
Q: How does the AI Lead Conversation Summary Engine work?
The AI engine (/lead/analyze-summary) parses call logs, meeting notes, uploaded files, and email streams to provide:
- Overall Executive Summary: A high-level overview of requirements, budget, and scope.
- Last Recap Summary: Immediate bullet points covering what was agreed during the latest call.
- Pain Points & Obstacles: Identified technical blockers, budget constraints, or competitor mentions.
- LinkedIn AI Intelligence: Career background and conversation icebreakers delivered through Server-Sent Events (SSE).
Q: Can I convert a lead directly into a Deal if no Company record exists yet?
Yes. Select Convert to Deal from the Lead Details page. You do not need to create a company first. The deal automatically inherits contact information, project type, currency, notes, and AI conversation history.
Q: What happens when I add a lead with a company name?
iSales CRM automatically creates a Company profile and a Contact record at the same time. No separate entry is required in the Companies or Contacts modules.
Q: Can I import leads from an event or external database?
Yes. Use the CSV Import workflow in Section 9. Each imported row automatically creates both a Contact and a Lead and places the lead in the follow-up queue.
Q: What should I do if my import fails?
- Verify that the file is CSV or Excel format.
- Check that required fields, including Name, Email, and Phone, are present.
- Download the Error Report to identify the affected rows.
- Fix the errors and re-upload, or use the Fix Industry and Fix Source modals in Import History.
💼 Deals, Multi-Pipelines & Sales Forecasting
Q: What is the difference between the Lead/Dedicated and Prospect/Fixed Cost default pipelines?
- Lead/Dedicated Pipeline: Designed for local sales cycles with shorter velocity: Discovery → Proposal → Negotiation → Closed Won.
- Prospect/Fixed Cost Pipeline: Designed for international or cross-border sales requiring deeper scoping, NDA execution, milestone contracts, and multi-currency
Q: What are Deal Risk Chips on the Pipeline Board?
The CRM continuously evaluates deal health using time spent in the current stage, days since the last representative interaction, and proximity to the target close date. For example, a deal that remains in Negotiation for 30 or more days without a logged follow-up can automatically become 🔴 High Risk and appear in the manager's Radar view. Risk levels are 🟢 Low, 🟡 Medium, and 🔴 High.
Q: Why am I asked for a Loss Reason when moving a deal to Closed Lost?
When a deal is moved to a terminal lost stage, a mandatory dialog captures the primary loss factor, such as Pricing, Competitor, Feature Gap, Budget Frozen, or Timing. This information feeds the Win/Loss Analytics chart and helps leadership understand where deals are being lost.
Q: Can I edit deal details without opening each deal page?
Yes. Switch to Table View through Header → Deals → Table View or /deal-table. The spreadsheet-style grid supports inline editing for deal values, target close dates, assigned owners, and priority. Hover over the AI icon to view an instant summary tooltip.
⏰ Follow-Up Hub & Overdue Alerts
Q: What is the difference between Lead Follow-Ups and Deal Follow-Ups?
- Lead Follow-Ups (Top of Funnel): Cover discovery calls, qualification questionnaires, and initial outreach. Selecting a card opens Lead Details.
- Deal Follow-Ups (Middle and Bottom of Funnel): Cover proposal walkthroughs, commercial negotiations, and contract signatures for opportunities with defined revenue values. Selecting a card opens Deal Details.
Q: Why is logging an outcome mandatory when completing a follow-up?
This enforces an unbreakable follow-up chain. Selecting an outcome, such as Interested, Rescheduled, or Not Reachable, prompts the representative to book the next touchpoint or convert the record. This ensures that no lead or deal falls through the cracks.
Q: How do I clear an Overdue Follow-Up alert from Your Radar?
Open the follow-up card or Radar alert and either:
- Select Add Outcome to record conversation notes and close or advance the task.
- Select Reschedule to choose a new date and time and enter the required reason.
Q: How do I track overdue follow-ups?
Overdue follow-ups appear as red alerts in the notification panel and are highlighted in red in the Follow-Up Hub.
Q: Can I reschedule a follow-up?
Yes. Open the follow-up → select Reschedule → choose a new date and time → add the reason → select Save.
🏢 Companies, Contacts & Relational Mapping
Q: What is the relationship between Companies, Contacts, and Leads?
- Company = Master Corporate Account: Stores domain information, headquarters, and cumulative contract value, for example Acme Corporation.
- Contact = Human Stakeholder: Represents a person, such as Jane Doe, VP of Engineering. Multiple contacts can belong to one company.
- Lead = Active Prospect Opportunity: When created with a new company name, the CRM automatically generates the Company profile, creates the Contact record, and links all three records.
Q: What happens if two sales representatives try to reach out to the same company?
When a lead is added with a matching company website, the CRM flags the existing company account and its assigned owner. Associated contacts, deals, and communication history roll up into Company Details, helping prevent duplicate or conflicting outreach.
Q: What is Company-First Lead View?
It is a display preference in Admin Settings → Lead List Preferences that places the Company Name in the first column of the Leads table and opens records in new browser tabs. It is useful for enterprise B2B teams managing account-based territories.
📥 CSV Import, Column Mapping & Data Hygiene
Q: What file formats are supported for bulk data import?
The CRM supports standard .csv (Comma-Separated Values) and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel) files.
Q: What if my CSV column headers do not match the CRM field names?
In Step 2: Field Mapping, match any external header, such as Client Cell or Mobile Phone, to the corresponding CRM field, such as contact_no. You do not need to edit the original spreadsheet first.
Q: What should I do if my import contains unrecognized Industries or Lead Sources?
You do not need to clean and re-upload the entire CSV. Go to Header → Profile Dropdown → Import History, then select the Fix Industry or Fix Source modal on the batch record to map unrecognized spreadsheet values to valid CRM categories.
Q: Does importing contacts create leads automatically?
Yes. Each newly imported stakeholder creates a Contact profile and a Lead that is placed directly into the team's follow-up queue.
💵 Business Forecasting, Milestone Invoicing & Quotas
Q: Who has access to the Business Forecast module?
Organization Admins and Super Admins. Standard sales representatives cannot access this module because it contains sensitive revenue projections, quota allocations, and contract margins.
Q: What is the Milestone Invoicing Tracker?
The tracker is available at business-forecast. It supports phased billing schedules, such as 50% Upfront, 25% Alpha Release, and 25% Final Delivery, and flags overdue client payments with red alerts for finance and accounts-receivable teams.
⚙️ Admin Settings, Custom SMTP & Pipeline Safeguards
Q: Why should our organization configure Custom SMTP settings?
Admin Settings → Organization Email (SMTP) Configuration connects the corporate email server, such as Office 365, Google Workspace, or AWS SES. Once configured, automated lead-assignment alerts, deal-stage notifications, and client emails can be sent from the organization's official domain instead of a generic third-party address.
Q: What is the Stage Migration Safeguard?
If an administrator attempts to retire or disable a deal stage that contains active deals, the CRM blocks the deletion and opens the Stage Migration Dialog. The administrator must select a destination stage, using the migrateFrom → migrateTo flow, before the old stage can be retired. This prevents orphaned deals and lost pipeline revenue.
Q: How do I safely deactivate or delete a sales representative who has left the company?
When Deactivate or Delete is selected on a user card:
- The CRM performs a real-time ownership audit for open leads, active deals, and scheduled follow-ups owned by that user.
- Deactivation or deletion is blocked until a replacement team member is selected in the mandatory reassignment dialog.
- After reassignment is confirmed, the user can be safely deactivated or removed.
📊 Dashboards, AI Suggestions & Reports
Q: Why does the Admin Dashboard look different from the Sales Representative Dashboard?
- Admin View: Aggregates company-wide revenue metrics, sales-representative leaderboards, team-wide Radar alerts, multi-currency revenue gauges, and channel ROI breakdowns.
- Sales Representative View: Shows only the representative’s assigned leads, active deal pipeline, personal follow-up tasks, and personal target-attainment progress.
Q: What is the difference between Your Radar and Suggested Next Actions?
- Your Radar: A proactive risk-alert feed for items requiring immediate attention, such as overdue calls, high-risk deals stalled in Negotiation, and aging leads.
- Suggested Next Actions: An AI-driven task generator that reviews call transcripts and interaction notes and recommends a specific next step, such as Send updated NDA with revised IP clause.
Q: Can I export charts and performance reports to PDF or Excel?
Yes. The Lead Report bar chart, Deal Report progression chart, and Sales Rep Leaderboard provide one-click PDF Export (📥) and spreadsheet export options.
🛠️ Error Messages & Troubleshooting Playbook
Issue / Error Message
Root Cause
Step-by-Step Resolution
“Email already exists! Please use another email.”
A contact with this email address already exists in the workspace.
Search for the email in the top search bar. Add the new project as a Deal under the existing Company account instead of creating a duplicate lead.
“Temporary / Disposable email addresses are not permitted.”
The domain is flagged as a disposable or throwaway inbox.
Request an official corporate or personal email domain from the prospect.
“Cannot delete/deactivate user: Active records found.”
The employee still owns open leads, deals, or follow-ups.
In the Deactivate/Delete dialog, select a replacement sales representative to reassign all records, then confirm.
“SMTP Test Failed: Authentication error (535 / 587).”
Incorrect SMTP credentials, an incorrect port, or a missing app-specific password.
Verify the SMTP host and port: 587 for TLS or 465 for SSL. For Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, generate a dedicated App Password with 2FA enabled.
Overdue Follow-Up badge does not clear after a call.
The call was made but no outcome was saved in the drawer.
Open the overdue card, select Log Outcome, choose an outcome such as Meeting Done or Rescheduled, and select Save.
CSV Import fails at Step 3: Preview.
Required columns, such as Name, Email, or Phone, are missing, or the file contains invalid characters.
Verify that the columns are correctly mapped in Step 2. Download the Error CSV report from Import History to identify problematic rows.
Deal is not reflected on the Executive Dashboard quota chart.
The deal is still in an active pipeline stage that has not been flagged as Won.
Move the deal to a terminal stage configured with is_won = true in Admin Settings → Pipelines.
