Contact Stages: What They Mean
4 minute read
Contact stages
Contact stages are how echo understands your relationships.
When the stage is right, your reminders feel obvious, and useful. When it’s wrong, you will get prompted at the wrong time, or not at all.
Think of stages as a simple way to answer one question:
How close is this person to needing your help right now?
Stage definitions
Here’s what each stage means in plain English.
New Lead
A new contact you have not spoken to or updated in echo yet. echo defaults imported contacts to New Lead so you can review them and assign the right stage over time.
Non responsive
A lead you have tried to contact several times with no response. Use this when you do not want reminders anymore, but still want the contact saved and searchable.
Engaged
Someone you have been in touch with, but they are not showing signs they are in the market right now.
Warm
Someone who has expressed some interest, but is not quite ready to buy or sell yet.
Hot
A buyer or seller actively in the market. These need the most attention.
Client
Someone who has bought or sold with you.
Referring Client
A client who has referred you to others. These are high-value relationships to protect.
Do Not Contact
Someone who has asked not to be contacted. They will not appear in reminders, but they remain searchable.
Fired
In the rare scenario where you've needed to fire a client, you can record that here so that they remain searchable but will not appear in reminders.
Agent / Vendor
People in your professional network (mortgage brokers, inspectors, lawyers, contractors, other agents). echo will often categorize business cards automatically, but you can always change this manually.
When to change a stage
Stages should change as relationships change.
Example: if a contact is Engaged, and you speak with them and they mention they are starting to consider a potential move, change them to Warm. That tells echo to prompt you more often.
Same idea as they move forward:
Warm → Hot when they are actively looking or planning to list soon
Hot → Client after you close
Client → Referring Client when they start sending people your way
Small updates like this keep your daily emails accurate.
Simple rule: If you are unsure which stage to pick, follow your instincts. You know your network, you can feel their needs shift.
If you feel you should reach out soon, move them up a stage. If they have shifted out of the market, move them back a stage.
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