How Can I Link Emails to Deals Automatically or Manually in Pipedrive?
Pipedrive offers flexible options for linking emails to deals—it can be done automatically, based on certain settings, or manually through features like Smart BCC. Below is a comprehensive guide explaining these features.
Overview of Email Linking in Pipedrive
Email linking in Pipedrive ensures your communications with clients related to specific deals are captured and organized efficiently. Emails can be linked:
Automatically, using settings within Pipedrive (e.g., Email Sync).
Manually, when required (e.g., Smart BCC for certain plans or scenarios).
If a contact has multiple open items (deals, leads, or projects), emails must be manually linked to the correct item.
How to Set Up Automatic Email Linking
To enable automatic email linking, follow these steps:
Navigate to Personal Preferences > Email sync > General settings.
Enable the option "Automatically link emails with deals".
Important considerations: - Automatic linking works if the recipient or sender is linked to exactly one open item (deal, lead, or project). - Emails won’t auto-link to closed items (Won/Lost/Deleted). - Threads created before enabling the feature must be linked manually.
Automatic linking does not work retroactively. Emails exchanged before enabling the feature or before creating a deal/lead must be linked manually.
In addition, when creating automation steps in Pipedrive workflows, you can add an option like "Email template deal" to ensure emails automatically link to a specific deal. This is especially helpful for pre-configured communication workflows. For more details, refer to the official Pipedrive guide on Automatic email linking.
Automatic Linking with Email Sync (Plan-Specific Features)
The Email Sync feature, available on the Growth and higher plans, ensures emails auto-link if:
The contact person is linked to only one open deal.
Gmail or another compatible email provider is integrated via Email Sync.
On the Essential plan, where Email Sync is unavailable, you can still forward emails manually using the Smart BCC feature.
Troubleshooting Automatic Email Linking Issues
If emails fail to link automatically, it could be due to:
Email address inconsistency: Ensure the sender/recipient’s email matches exactly the one saved in Pipedrive. Even slight variations can cause linking to fail (e.g., john@company.com vs john.smith@company.com).
Multiple deals for the same contact: If a contact is associated with several open deals, Pipedrive might not link the email automatically. Manual selection is needed in these cases.
Pre-existing threads: Emails sent before creating a deal won’t be linked automatically.
Incorrect contact association: Ensure the contact person is properly linked to the deal as either the primary contact or an associated participant.
Forwarded emails: These often require manual linking as Pipedrive does not automatically recognize forwarded emails from external accounts. Ensure the email is manually linked to the correct deal or project.
Solutions:
Verify email address consistency.
Manually link emails from the Pipedrive inbox by opening the email thread and selecting "Add new deal" or "Link to existing".
Use the deal-specific Smart BCC address to ensure correct manual linking.
From the Sales Inbox, open the email conversation and use the "Link to an existing item" option in the right panel to attach it to the correct deal, contact, or project.
Using Manual Linking Options Like Smart BCC
For manual email linking:
Use deal-specific Smart BCC addresses. You can find this address in the detail view of the deal (scroll down the left panel). Send an email with the specific BCC address to attach it directly to the related deal.
From the inbox, you can also manually link emails to a deal, lead, or project.
Does Automatic Linking Apply to New Emails in a Linked Thread?
Yes. Once an email thread is linked to a specific deal, all subsequent emails within that thread are also automatically linked, ensuring continuity of communication tracking.
This behavior applies to the entire thread, ensuring that all replies and follow-ups are consistently linked to the same deal.
By setting up automatic linking, utilizing Email Sync or Smart BCC, and following troubleshooting steps, you can efficiently ensure that your emails are correctly associated with the appropriate deals, leads, or projects in Pipedrive.