Chapter 02

Getting Started

Total time: ~15 minutes.

Last updated 27 May 2026

First-time setup checklist

  1. Sign up at www.leadmeister.ai via email, Microsoft, or Google.
  2. Open Connections in the left sidebar.
  3. Connect your CRM (Zoho, Pipedrive, or HubSpot), Microsoft 365, and LinkedIn (each is a single "Connect" button).
  4. (Optional but recommended — Zoho users only) Wire the same M365 mailbox into Zoho's Email Channel via Graph API — see "Connecting Microsoft 365" below. This puts sent emails and replies on the lead's Zoho timeline.
  5. Open Email → fill in Sender Identity, Reference URLs, Email Signature.
  6. Open Run Setup on the Email page → pick at least one CRM view.
  7. Click Run once with a small view (5–10 leads) to smoke-test. Review the lead list in the confirmation dialog before clicking Continue.
  8. If happy, go to Schedule and enable scheduled runs.

Total time: ~15 minutes.

Connecting your CRM

Leadmeister supports Zoho CRM, Pipedrive, and HubSpot. Connect whichever one your team uses — you only need one. The connected CRM is used for both outreach targeting (reading lead lists) and prospecting pushes (creating new records from Prospecting).

Zoho CRM

  • Click Connect Zoho on the Connections page.
  • You'll be redirected to Zoho's login. Approve the permissions (read leads, update fields, create tasks).
  • You're redirected back — the Zoho card should show "Connected" in green with your user name.

Pipedrive

  • Click Connect Pipedrive on the Connections page.
  • You'll be redirected to Pipedrive's OAuth consent screen. Approve the permissions.
  • You're redirected back — the Pipedrive card shows "Connected" with your account email.

HubSpot

  • Click Connect HubSpot on the Connections page.
  • You'll be redirected to HubSpot's OAuth screen. Select the correct portal if you have access to more than one.
  • Approve the permissions (contacts read/write, companies read/write, lists read).
  • You're redirected back — the HubSpot card shows "Connected" with your HubSpot email.

Connecting Microsoft 365

  • Click Connect Email on the Connections page.
  • Sign in with the Microsoft 365 account that will send outreach emails.
  • Approve the permissions (Mail.Send, Mail.ReadWrite).
  • You're redirected back. The Email card shows your email address.

Important: Use a dedicated outreach mailbox (e.g. firstname@company.com) rather than a personal inbox. Replies go to wherever you send from — a dedicated mailbox keeps your personal inbox clean.

Optional but recommended — connect Microsoft 365 to Zoho's Email Channel

Wire the same M365 mailbox into Zoho CRM as an Email Channel (powered by Microsoft Graph). Once connected, every email Leadmeister sends shows up against the lead's record in Zoho, and any replies the lead writes are auto-attached to the same lead — visible in your Zoho timeline alongside calls, notes and tasks.

Without this step Leadmeister still sends and tracks emails, but the conversation lives only in your Outlook inbox. With it you get the full thread inside Zoho where the rest of your sales context lives.

How to set it up (Zoho-side, ~3 minutes):

  1. In Zoho CRM, go to Setup → Channels → Email → Email Configuration.
  2. Choose Microsoft 365 / Outlook and click Add Email Account.
  3. Sign in with the same M365 account you connected to Leadmeister.
  4. Approve the Graph API permissions Zoho requests.
  5. Set the channel as Default (or pick an inbox preference) and save.

That's it — sent items and replies will start flowing into Zoho on the next outreach run.

Connecting LinkedIn

  • Click Connect LinkedIn on the Connections page.
  • The flow uses a secure background session (no password is stored in Leadmeister).
  • Once connected, Leadmeister auto-detects the plan tier (Free / Premium / Sales Navigator / Recruiter) and adjusts weekly connection-request limits accordingly.

Configuring Sender Identity

On the Email page:

  • Sender Name — the name the AI writes emails as (e.g. "Jane Smith"). Appears near the signature.
  • Company Name — used in greeting lines and the default signature template.

Both auto-save on blur. No "Save" button anywhere.

Reference URLs

Up to 10 URLs describing the business. The AI reads these before every email so emails sound like the company, not generic marketing.

Good picks: homepage, services/products page, a case study, an "About" or "How we help" page. Skip blog archives.

Email Signature

Paste your existing HTML signature (from Outlook's "Edit Source" or Gmail via a signature-export extension). Rich HTML is supported — logos, multi-column layouts, disclaimers, tracking pixels all work.

Plain text also works: just type it in, line breaks become email line breaks.

Click Preview signature → on the card header to see how it renders.

AI Prompt

Leadmeister ships a tested default prompt. Leave it empty to use the default — click Show default to see the exact wording.

To customise, open the AI Prompt card and describe tone, structure, and anti-patterns. Use word count limits (Min/Max) to cap email length.

Preview message → on the card header generates a sample email for a real lead without spending quota — test changes here before saving.