Manage

Send an email from Hailo

Write and send an email to a couple from their lead or client record, pick a template and a mood, add a CC, and know which mailbox it goes through.

Updated September 2, 2026

Every email you send to a couple goes out from the record it belongs to. There is no separate inbox or outbox in Hailo: you write on the lead or client, the message leaves through your own connected mailbox, and the sent copy stays on that record where you can see whether it was opened.

Note

Connect a mailbox first. Open Settings > Integrations and connect Gmail or a custom mailbox. Until one is connected, Send stops and tells you so.

Where you can send from

Place What it sends
Messages tab on a lead Replies and any email to the couple, from a template or from scratch
Messages tab on a client The same composer. The subject starts as "A note from the studio"
Booking tab on a lead, Email to client Writes the booking link into the Messages composer for you to review and send
Proposal builder, Send Emails the proposal link and marks the proposal sent
Invoice, Send → Emails the pay link
Client Forms tab, Send Emails a questionnaire link
Deliver gallery, Email the couple Emails the gallery link once the gallery is published
Automations, Send email step Sends a template on a trigger, with nobody watching

All of these use the same mailbox and the same rules below.

Which mailbox the email goes through

Hailo sends as you, from your own address, so replies land in your real inbox.

Connected What Hailo uses
Gmail only Gmail
Custom Email only Your custom mailbox
Both Gmail. Gmail takes priority when both are connected. Disconnect Gmail to send through the custom mailbox instead
Neither Nothing sends. Send stops with a message (see the end of this article)

Read a couple's email on their record

  1. Open the lead (or client) and click the Messages tab.
  2. The left column lists each conversation with its subject, date and a snippet. A conversation that is waiting on you shows a Needs reply chip.
  3. Click a conversation to read it on the right. The newest message is open; older ones collapse to a single line (sender, opening words, time, and a file count if something was attached). Click a collapsed line to expand it. A day label separates days.
  4. Each message shows who sent it, who it went to, any CC, and the time. Attachments are listed under the message with their name and size. Click one to open it.

If nothing has been sent or received yet, the right side reads "No email yet."

Sent messages also carry a Delivered, Opened or Clicked line. See Email tracking.

Write and send an email

The composer sits under the conversation on the Messages tab.

  1. Under Start from a template, leave "Write from scratch" selected, or pick a template. Templates are listed by name with their category. Only pre-booking and custom templates appear here. A template with several mood versions appears once; the moods come next.
  2. If the template has more than one mood, a Mood row of pills appears: baseline, warm, professional, fun, joking. Click one to swap the wording in place.
  3. Check the Subject. On a lead it starts as "Re: your inquiry". On a client it starts as "A note from the studio".
  4. To copy someone in, click CC to open the CC field and type addresses separated by commas. When the lead has a partner email on file, the CC field opens on its own with that address already in it.
  5. Write or edit the body. Merge tags such as {{first_name}} are fine to leave in: they are filled in when you press Send. See Merge fields.
  6. Click Send.

You see "Reply sent." and the message appears in the conversation.

What happens when you press Send

  • Merge tags in the subject and body are filled in from the record at the moment of sending, so a tag never reaches the couple as raw text.
  • Duplicate CC addresses are dropped (the same address in different capitalisation counts as a duplicate).
  • On a lead whose status is still new, the status moves to contacted. The activity rail logs "Status changed: new → contacted (auto, reply sent)". A lead that is already further along (booked, lost) is left alone.
  • Open and click tracking is switched on for the message.
  • The sent message is logged on the record.

When you arrive at the composer from the Booking tab's Email to client button and the booking is still a draft, the link is written into the body for you. Pressing Send asks: "Sending this makes the booking link live for the couple. Send it now?" Confirming publishes the booking link first and then sends. The link is not live until you send. If Hailo cannot publish the link, nothing is sent and you see "Could not make the booking link live, so nothing was sent."

Open in Gmail instead

Click Open in Gmail → in the composer footer. A browser window opens Gmail's compose screen addressed to the couple, with your subject and body carried across. You finish and send in Gmail. Use this when you need to attach a file, because the Hailo composer sends text only.

Note

An email sent from Gmail this way is not logged on the record in Hailo and has no open or click tracking.

If it didn't work

  • "No email account is connected" followed by a pointer to the Open in mail client link and Settings. Nothing was sent. Connect Gmail or a custom mailbox under Settings > Integrations, or use Open in Gmail → to finish there.
  • "No email on file for this lead. Add an email address to reply, or log a note from the Activity rail." The composer is hidden until the lead has an email. Click Edit lead and add one.
  • "This lead has no email address" or "This client has no email address". Same fix as above.
  • "Subject and body are both required." Fill in both and send again.
  • "Gmail send failed:" followed by the reason. Google refused the send. Open Settings > Integrations; if the Gmail tile says Needs reconnecting, click Reconnect and leave the box about sending email on your behalf ticked on Google's screen. See Email not sending.
  • The couple replied but their reply is not on the record. Replies only show in Hailo once reply capture is set up. See Replies inside Hailo.
  • Connect GmailSend proposals, invoices, questionnaire links and auto-replies from your own Gmail address, test the connection, and fix a connection that stopped sending.
  • Connect another mailbox (Outlook, Fastmail, iCloud, your own domain)Send from a non-Google mailbox using an app password, test it, change the settings later, and understand which mailbox wins when Gmail is also connected.
  • Email templatesBrowse the starter library, make your own copies, and use the builder to write a template with a lifecycle phase, mood, recipient, merge tags and a live preview.
  • Merge fieldsEvery merge tag Hailo can fill in for you, what each one resolves to, the ones you must fill in yourself at send time, and the tags that are easy to mix up.
  • Email trackingWhat the Delivered, Opened and Clicked lines on a sent email mean, how opens are counted, why an open can be wrong, and how clicks are tracked.
  • Replies inside HailoWhere a couple's reply shows up in Hailo, what the two banners on the Messages tab mean, how the Needs reply chip works, and how new replies are picked up.
  • The lead recordEverything on a lead's page, from the header card and countersign banner to the six tabs and the Activity rail.
  • The client recordThe page for a client you added directly, with its tabs, automation controls and Activity rail, and why a converted lead looks different.
  • Send a proposalReview and email a proposal, know what changes the moment it goes out, resend it, preview it and delete it.
  • Create and edit an invoiceBuild an invoice by hand, edit it on the document itself, split it into instalments, choose who covers the card fee, send it, and see how booking invoices are raised for you.
  • Email the couple their linkSend the gallery link from Hailo, with a subject and message you can check before it goes.
  • Email isn't sendingFind out why a proposal, invoice, gallery link, automation or notification never arrived, and fix the mailbox or the setting behind it.
Still stuck? Send a note from the contact page and a real person at Hailo answers. Include the studio name you signed up with and, if it is about a specific screen, what you clicked.
Contact support