Gmail Forwarding Rules for Lead Capture

Prerequisites

Before setting up Gmail forwarding rules, you need:

• Your unique A.X.E.L forwarding address (see Email Lead Capture Setup)
• Gmail account where your lead platform notifications are received
• Admin access to your Gmail account settings

Step 1: Add A.X.E.L as a Forwarding Address

1. Open Gmail and click the Settings gear icon (top right)
2. Select See all settings
3. Go to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab
4. Click Add a forwarding address
5. Enter your A.X.E.L forwarding address: [email protected]
6. Click Next then Proceed
7. Click OK in the confirmation popup

Step 2: Confirm the Forwarding Address

1. Gmail sends a confirmation email to your A.X.E.L forwarding address
2. A.X.E.L automatically handles this confirmation — no action needed
3. You'll receive an email confirmation that forwarding is now enabled
4. Back in Gmail settings, the status will show as Verified

Step 3: Create Filter for Bark

1. In Gmail, click the search box at the top
2. Click the filter icon (on the right side of the search box)
3. In the From field, enter: [email protected]
4. Click Create filter
5. Check Forward it to and select your A.X.E.L address
6. Optionally check Apply the label and create a "Lead Platforms" label
7. Check Also apply filter to matching conversations for existing emails
8. Click Create filter

Step 4: Repeat for Other Platforms

Create similar filters for each platform. Common sender addresses:

• Bark: [email protected]
• Checkatrade: [email protected]
• MyBuilder: [email protected]
• Rated People: [email protected]
• Yell: [email protected]

Filter Settings for Each Platform

For best results, use these criteria:

Checkatrade filter:

• From: [email protected]
• Subject contains: "New lead" OR "enquiry"

MyBuilder filter:

• From: [email protected]
• Subject contains: "New job" OR "interested in your services"

Rated People filter:

• From: [email protected]
• Subject contains: "New lead"

Backfill Tip

When creating filters, check "Also apply filter to matching conversations" to forward existing emails. This means historical lead emails will be processed and added to A.X.E.L automatically.

Testing Your Setup

1. Find an existing lead notification email
2. Forward it manually to your A.X.E.L address to test parsing
3. Check your A.X.E.L pipeline for the new lead
4. Verify all expected information was extracted correctly

Troubleshooting

Forwarding not working:

• Check the A.X.E.L forwarding address is verified in Gmail settings
• Verify filter criteria match the actual sender addresses
• Test by forwarding an email manually first
• Check Gmail's spam folder — some forwards might get caught

Platform emails changed format:

• Update your filter criteria if platforms change sender addresses
• Check A.X.E.L's Activity Log for parsing errors
• Contact support if a platform stops being recognised

Missing emails:

• Gmail filters process in order — ensure lead platform filters run early
• Don't have conflicting filters that archive or delete lead emails
• Check filter conditions aren't too restrictive

Outlook Alternative

Using Outlook instead of Gmail? The process is similar:

1. Go to Settings → Mail → Rules
2. Create rules based on sender address
3. Set action to Forward to your A.X.E.L address
4. Apply to existing messages if needed

See Microsoft's documentation for detailed Outlook rule setup instructions.