Email parsing is a feature included in the Franchise Sales Engine subscription. If you are not a Franchise Sales Engine subscriber and you receive franchise sales leads by email, contact support to learn more about upgrading.
What This Does
Email parsing automatically converts incoming lead emails into contacts in VipeCloud and can trigger follow-up automations. It is designed for franchise sales workflows and uses turnkey parsing rules for nearly 40 common franchise lead sources.
Important: Email parsing requires Inbox Sync. If your inbox is not synced, parsing will not run.
How to Access Email Parsing
Open the left sidebar.
Click Automations.
Select Email Parsing.
If your inbox is not yet synced, click Sync Inbox in the upper right corner.
When you visit this page for the first time, the Rules section will be empty until you add a rule.
How to Add a Parsing Rule
In the Rules card, click the + button.
Browse the list of available turnkey rules.
Select the lead source you want to parse.
Click Add Rule to open its configuration.
If your lead source is not listed, contact support to request it be added.
How to Configure a Parsing Rule
After clicking Add Rule, the rule editor opens. Work through each section from top to bottom.
Criteria
This section defines how VipeCloud identifies matching emails.
Most rules use Subject Includes: [text] as the matching condition.
Some rules also check sender address or body content.
You can add additional criteria using From, Subject Includes, or Body Includes.
In most cases, the default criteria do not need to be changed.
Contact Field Mapping
This section controls how lead data from the email maps into the contact record.
Do Not Map - ignores that field and does not write any data to the contact.
Choose Field - maps the parsed value to an existing system or custom field.
Key Note: If you plan to text these leads, map the phone field to Mobile Phone. Mobile Phone is the only phone field used for texting in VipeCloud.
If a field you need does not appear in the dropdown, you will need to create a custom field first before it can be mapped here.
Replace vs. Add To
This setting controls what happens when a lead is parsed a second time with the same email address.
Replace - overwrites the existing field value with the newest data. Recommended for most fields so the contact record reflects the latest information.
Add To - appends the new value to the existing one. Recommended for Notes fields so previous notes are preserved.
Mapping Additional Data
Use this section to hard code values onto every contact parsed by this rule.
Common use: set Lead Source = [Lead Source Name] so every contact from this rule is consistently tagged, even if the lead email itself does not include source information.
If the field you want to map to does not exist, create the custom field first.
Actions
Assign To and Add to Contact List
Assign To User - routes parsed leads to a specific user on your team. Automations that are set will process on behalf of the assigned user.
Add to Contact List - adds parsed contacts to a list. Commonly used to maintain a separate list per lead source for reporting and organization.
Automations
Use this section to trigger follow-up actions automatically when a lead is parsed.
Commonly-used actions:
Trigger Booking Agent
Launch Series
Add Opportunity
How to Save and Manage Rules
Click Add Rule to confirm the rule configuration.
Click Save Parsing to save all active rules.
To manage existing rules:
Click Manage Rule to edit a rule's criteria, mappings, or automations.
Click the trash can icon to remove a rule.
Key Note: Once a rule is saved and active, automations will fire for any new matching email that comes in. Only save and activate a rule when you are ready for it to run.
How to Use the Parsing Log
The section below the Rules card shows a log of all parsing activity in your account.
Each entry includes:
Lead source name
Subject line of the parsed email (click to view the original email)
Timestamp
Parsed data showing how fields were extracted
Created [Contact Name] or Updated [Contact Name] with a link to open the contact record
Use the parsing log to confirm a rule worked as expected after a lead comes in. Be sure to check "Show updated contacts (audit)" to display contacts who were parsed, but whose contacts were already-existing in your system and therefore were only updated, not newly-created.
How to Troubleshoot a Parsing Issue
There are two distinct scenarios: a lead parsed but the data looks wrong, or a lead arrived but no contact was created at all. Start by identifying which situation you're in.
If a contact was created but data looks incorrect:
Open Automations and select Email Parsing.
Scroll to the Parsing Log and locate the entry for the lead.
Review the parsed data to confirm which fields were extracted and how.
Click Debug Parse to have the system re-evaluate the email.
If the issue persists, copy the Action ID from the log entry and report an issue with support including the Action ID and a description of what was incorrect.
If no contact was created at all:
The most common cause is that the incoming email did not match the criteria of your active parsing rule. Work through the following before contacting support:
Check the Parsing Log to confirm no match was recorded. Click Show Updated Contacts (Audit) to also surface any matches that updated an existing contact rather than creating a new one.
Verify the lead email arrived at your connected inbox. Parsing only runs on emails received by the inbox you have synced with VipeCloud.
Check the rule criteria for that lead source. Open the FSE Lead Parsing - Supported Lead Sources article, find the source, and compare the rule logic exactly to the subject line, sender address, or body of the incoming email. Even minor differences in the subject line logic will cause a lead to be skipped.
If the email format looks different from the sample lead in that article, the lead source may have changed how they format their emails. Forward the full email to support@vipecloud.com and we'll update the rule.
If the source is not listed in that article at all, contact support with a complete sample lead email including the subject line, sender address, and body.
Note: Franchise Sales Engine subscribers have their parsing rules actively maintained. If a lead source changes its format and breaks a rule, contact support and we'll fix it.
Key Notes
Email parsing requires Inbox Sync to function. Parsing will not run without it.
If a contact with the same email address already exists, VipeCloud will update that contact rather than create a duplicate.
Custom fields must be created before they can be used as mapping targets.
Series templates must be created before they can be added to a parsing rule automation.