Lead Capture Integration

Table of Contents

1. What is Lead Capture?

2. Understanding Lead Routing

3. Account Structure in Rechat

4. Lead Channels: Your Routing Foundation

5. Assignment Methods: Website vs. Rechat Control

6. Implementation Examples

What is Lead Capture?

Lead capture is the process of collecting potential customer information from your website and automatically sending it to the right people in your real estate organization.

Think of it as a digital receptionist that:

• Collects visitor information from forms on your website

• Determines who should handle each inquiry

• Routes the lead to the appropriate agent or team

• Triggers follow-up activities automatically

Common Lead Capture Scenarios

Let's use an imaginary brokerage called Adler & Associates to illustrate typical scenarios:

1. Listing Inquiry: A customer inquires about a specific property listing

2. General Contact: Someone fills out a "Contact Us" form

3. Newsletter Signup: A visitor subscribes to your newsletter

4. Agent Profile: Someone contacts a specific agent from their profile page

Each scenario might need different handling - and that's where lead routing becomes crucial.

Understanding Lead Routing

The most important question in lead capture is: "Who should receive this lead?"

The answer isn't always simple. Consider these questions:

• Should listing inquiries go to the listing agent or a lead qualification team?

• What happens if the listing agent isn't available?

• Should high-value leads be handled differently than newsletter signups?

• How do you balance lead distribution across your team?

Different brokerages have different answers to these questions. Some prefer simple routing (everything goes to one person), while others need complex rules based on lead source, property value, location, and more.

This is why Rechat provides flexible lead routing capabilities rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.

Account Structure in Rechat

Before diving into routing, you need to understand how Rechat organizes real estate businesses.

Hierarchical Account Structure

Rechat uses a three-level hierarchy:

Adler & Associates (Brokerage Account)
├── Downtown Office (Office Account)
│   ├── Agent Smith (Agent Account)
│   ├── Agent Johnson (Agent Account)
│   ├── Agent Williams (Agent Account)
│   ├── Agent Brown (Agent Account)
│   └── Agent Davis (Agent Account)
└── Uptown Office (Office Account)
    ├── Agent Miller (Agent Account)
    ├── Agent Wilson (Agent Account)
    ├── Agent Moore (Agent Account)
    ├── Agent Taylor (Agent Account)
    └── Agent Anderson (Agent Account)

Account Math

For a brokerage with 200 agents across 10 offices, you'd have:

• 1 Brokerage Account

• 10 Office Accounts

• 200 Agent Accounts

• Total: 211 accounts

Important Consideration

You don't need to map every Rechat account to your website's database. The system is designed to work with whatever level of detail you choose to maintain.

Lead Channels: Your Routing Foundation

A Lead Channel (also called "Lead Route" in some API documentation) is like a routing rulebook that tells Rechat how to handle leads.

Key Concepts

1. Every lead must specify a Lead Channel ID when sent to Rechat

2. Each account gets 1 default lead channel to start

3. Accounts can create multiple lead channels for different routing needs

4. Each lead channel contains routing rules and policies

When to Use Multiple Lead Channels

Single Channel Works For:

• Small teams with simple routing needs

• All leads should be handled the same way

• One person handles all inquiries

Multiple Channels Needed For:

• Different lead sources need different handling

• Listing inquiries vs. general inquiries vs. newsletter signups

• Different offices or agent groups

• High-value vs. standard lead routing

Best Practice Recommendation

Allow each lead capture form on your website to connect to a different Lead Channel ID. For example:

• Listing page forms → Listing Lead Channel

• Newsletter forms → Marketing Lead Channel

• Contact page forms → General Inquiry Channel

Obtaining Lead Channel IDs

How to get your Lead Channel ID

Navigate to the People Center from anywhere in Rechat by clicking on People in the sidebar.

Click on Lead Routing in the upper right-hand corner.

For a given route, click Connect Source located in the Actions column.

The Connect Sources panel will open. Click "Other sources (website, etc.) to expand.

Click to copy your Lead Channel ID. This will serve as both an endpoint identifier and an authentication key for lead capture.

Note: Each Route you define will have a unique Lead Channel ID. You can learn more about Lead Routing in our Lead Routing help documentation.

Assignment Methods: Website vs. Rechat Control

Once a lead reaches a Lead Channel, there are two ways it can be assigned to specific agents:

Method 1: Website-Controlled Assignment

When to Use: Your website knows exactly who should receive the lead

How it Works: Include an "assignees" list with the lead data

Example Scenarios:

• Lead from an agent's profile page

• Lead from a listing where you know the listing agent

• Forms where users select their preferred agent

Assignee Matching Process:

                                                                    ┌─────────────────┐ ◄──────────────┐
                                                                    │ Get Next        │                │
                                                                    │ Assignee        │                │
                                                                    └─────┬───────────┘                │
                                                                          │                            │
                                                                          ▼                            │
Email defined? ──Yes──► Find Agent by Email ──Found──► Assign Lead ──────┐                            │
      │                                                                  │                            │
     No                                                                  │                            │
      │                                                                  │                            │
      ▼                                                                  │                            │
Phone defined? ──Yes──► Find Agent by Phone ──Found──► Assign Lead ──────┤                            │
      │                                                                  │                            │
     No                                                                  │                            │
      │                                                                  │                            │
      ▼                                                                  │                            │
Name defined? ──Yes──► Find Agent by Name ──Found──► Assign Lead ────────┤                            │
      │                                                                  │                            │
     No                                                                  │                            │
      │                                                                  │                            │
      ▼                                                                  │                            │
MLSID defined? ──Yes──► Find Agent by MLSID ──Found──► Assign Lead ──────┤                            │
      │                                                                  │                            │
     No                                                                  │                            │
      │                                                                  │                            │
      ▼                                                                  │                            │
Next Assignee ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
      │
      ▼
No More Assignees
      │
      ▼
Fall back to Route Rules

Method 2: Rechat-Controlled Assignment

When to Use: Let Rechat's rules determine the assignment

How it Works: The Lead Channel's configured rules automatically assign the lead

Example Scenarios:

• General contact forms

• Newsletter signups

• Anonymous listing inquiries

• When assignee matching fails

Rule Processing Flow:

Start Rules Processing
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────────┐ ◄─────────────────────┐
│   Get Next Rule     │                       │
└─────────┬───────────┘                       │
          │                                   │
          ▼                                   │
Does rule match lead data?                    │
(price, zip, tag, etc)                        │
          │                                   │
     ┌────┴────┐                              │
    Yes        No ──────────────────────────────┘
     │         (Continue Loop)
     ▼
Execute Rule Type:
     │
┌────┴────┬───────────┬─────────────┬───────────────┬─────────┐
│         │           │             │               │         │
▼         ▼           ▼             ▼               ▼         ▼
Specific  Round Robin Round Robin  First to Claim     Other    Default
Agent   (All Agents) (Agent Pool)  (Agent Pool)     Rules   Fallback
│         │           │             │               │         │
└─────────┼───────────┼─────────────┼───────────────┼─────────┘
          │           │             │               │
          └───────────┼─────────────┼───────────────┘
                      │             │
                      └─────────────┘
                            │
                            ▼
                     Lead Assigned

Rule Types Explained

• Specific Agent: Always assign to a particular agent

• Round Robin (All Agents): Rotate among all agents in the account

• Round Robin (Agent Pool): Rotate among a selected group of agents

• First to Claim: Notify a group of agents; first to respond gets the lead

• Other Rules: Custom business logic based on lead properties

Implementation Options

Now that you understand the concepts, let's explore how to actually send leads to Rechat. There are two ways to integrate with Rechat's lead capture system:

Option 1: Rechat SDK (Recommended for Frontend)

The Rechat SDK is a JavaScript library that simplifies lead capture integration for frontend applications.

Best For:

• Client-side JavaScript applications

• Quick implementation and prototyping

• Teams familiar with JavaScript/TypeScript

• Websites that don't require server-side processing

Advantages:

• Easy to implement with pre-built functions

• Built-in validation and error handling

• TypeScript support with defined interfaces

• Form binding capabilities

• Automatic retry logic

Documentation & Resources:

• SDK Documentation: sdk.rechat.com

• Installation: Available via npm or CDN

• Browser Support: Modern browsers with JavaScript enabled

Example Use Cases:

• Contact forms on property listing pages

• Newsletter signup forms

• Agent profile inquiry forms

• Simple lead capture scenarios

Option 2: Rechat REST API (Maximum Flexibility)

The Rechat REST API provides direct HTTP endpoints for lead submission, offering maximum flexibility and control.

Best For:

• Server-side implementations

• Backend processing requirements

• Non-JavaScript environments

• Custom data processing workflows

• Enterprise integrations

Advantages:

• Platform agnostic (any programming language)

• Server-side security and data handling

• Custom validation and processing logic

• Integration with existing backend systems

• Advanced error handling and logging

Documentation & Resources:

• API Documentation: GitHub - Lead Capture API

• HTTP Methods: Standard REST endpoints

• Authentication: API key-based authentication

• Response Formats: JSON responses with detailed status information

Example Use Cases:

• Complex lead processing workflows

• Integration with existing CRM systems

• Multi-platform applications (mobile, web, desktop)

• Scenarios requiring server-side validation or data transformation

Choosing Between SDK and REST API

Getting Started

1. Review the concepts in this guide to understand lead routing

2. Obtain your Lead Channel IDs from your Rechat account

3. Choose your implementation approach (SDK or REST API)

4. Follow the specific documentation for your chosen method:

   • Rechat SDK Documentation

   • REST API Documentation

Next Steps

This guide provides the foundational knowledge needed to implement lead capture with Rechat. Choose your preferred implementation method and dive into the specific technical documentation to start capturing leads effectively.