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The Messages tab

Read every email with a couple, see when it was delivered and opened, and reply from a template with the partner on CC.

Updated September 2, 2026

The Messages tab is the couple's whole email history in one place, with a composer at the bottom. It is the first tab on every lead and client. Hailo has no separate inbox: correspondence lives on the record it belongs to.

Note

Hailo sends through your connected mailbox and shows what it sent. Replies from the couple appear here only after you set up reply capture. Until then, they land in your normal inbox. See Replies inside Hailo.

The thread list

Threads sit on the left, one per subject, showing the subject, date and a snippet. A Needs reply chip marks a thread where the couple wrote last. Click a thread to read it on the right. Each thread has its own address, so the back button and deep links from notifications land on the right one.

An empty thread pane reads "No email yet."

Message cards

Each message shows who sent it, who received it, any attachments (opened straight from your mailbox) and, on messages you sent, a tracking line:

Row Meaning Tooltip
Delivered Your mailbox accepted and sent it. "Sent from your connected mailbox. A read receipt appears if the recipient's mail app loads images."
Opened The couple's mail app loaded the tracking image. "Opened N times, last . Some mail apps load images automatically, which can register as an open."
Clicked The couple clicked a link. Hover for the link and the click count. " · N clicks"

Opens are a strong hint, not proof. See Email tracking.

The reply-capture banners

One of two banners can sit above the composer:

Banner Meaning
"Replies land in your inbox. Hailo can't show them here yet." You have not set up an inbound domain, so replies cannot be captured.
"Replies land in your inbox. Set up reply capture to see them here too." The domain is set but forwarding is not active. Click Set up reply capture to finish in Settings > Integrations.

Write a reply

  1. Optionally pick a template under Start from a template. The first option is Write from scratch. Templates are listed by name with "default" and their category; only pre-booking and custom templates are offered here.
  2. If the template has more than one mood, a Mood row appears with pills such as Baseline, Warm, Professional, Fun and Joking. Click one to swap the wording.
  3. Check Subject. It defaults to "Re: your inquiry" (on a client, "A note from the studio").
  4. Open CC ↓ to add addresses, comma-separated. If the lead has a partner email on file, it is already in the CC field and the panel is open. Delete it for a one-to-one message.
  5. Write in the body. The placeholder reads "Reply to …" (on a client, "Message …").
  6. Click Send.

Merge tags such as the couple's name are filled in at the moment you send, so a tag you typed by hand never reaches the couple as raw text. See Merge fields. Duplicate CC addresses are removed.

When a confirmed send goes out to a lead with status New, the status moves to Contacted. See The lead pipeline.

Open in Gmail instead

Open in Gmail → opens a browser window with a Gmail compose addressed to the couple. Whatever you send there is not logged in Hailo and does not change the lead's status.

When you click Email to client on the Booking tab while the booking is still a draft, Hailo brings you here with the link written into the body. Pressing Send shows one more question: "Sending this makes the booking link live for the couple. Send it now?" Confirming publishes the booking and sends the email in one step. Cancelling leaves the booking as a draft and the email unsent. See Book a lead.

When you cannot send

You see Why What to do
"No email on file for this lead. Add an email address to reply, or log a note from the Activity rail." The lead has no email address. Click ⋯ > Edit lead and add one.
"No email account is connected" followed by directions to the mail-client link or Settings > Integrations No Gmail or custom mailbox is connected, so Hailo has nothing to send from. Connect one under Settings > Integrations, or use Open in Gmail → for this one message.

Troubleshooting

The couple replied and I cannot see it here. Look at the banner above the composer. Replies only appear once reply capture is active. Check your real inbox in the meantime.

A message says Delivered but the couple says nothing arrived. Delivered means your mailbox sent it. Ask them to check spam, and confirm the address on the lead is right.

Opened shows a time when I know they had not read it. Some mail apps load images in the background, which registers as an open. Treat opens as a hint.

  • The lead recordEverything on a lead's page, from the header card and countersign banner to the six tabs and the Activity rail.
  • The lead pipelineWhat New, Contacted, Booked and Lost mean, what the pipeline strip and milestones show, and what changes a status on its own.
  • Send an email from HailoWrite 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Book a leadBuild the one link that rolls up the proposal, contract, questionnaire and deposit, send it, and watch the couple book.
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.
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