Repeat calls, texts, forms, and emails

When the same customer calls back, replies by text, submits another form, or sends a follow-up email about the same job, NMC groups those interactions onto a single Lead instead of cluttering your inbox with duplicates.

How NMC recognizes a person

NMC matches every incoming call, text, form submission, and forwarded email to a Contact by checking phone number first, then email address:

• Calls and texts carry only a phone number, so they match strictly by phone number.
• A form or forwarded email with only an email address matches the existing contact with that email, even if that contact already has a phone number on file.
• If a form or forwarded email includes a new phone number alongside an email address belonging to a contact without a phone number, NMC matches that contact and saves the phone number on it.
• Each phone number and email address belongs to at most one contact, and NMC never merges two existing contacts. If a form arrives with a brand-new phone number and an email address that already belongs to a contact with a different phone number, NMC creates a new contact for the new phone number (leaving the email address on the original contact).

The activity grouping window

Users with account access can set Activity grouping window anywhere from 1 to 90 days under Settings → Lead handling (the default is 30 days).

Whenever a recognized contact reaches out again, their new activity joins their most recent open lead (New or Qualified) as long as the lead’s latest activity arrived within that window. Because NMC measures from the latest activity rather than lead creation, each follow-up resets the timer.

For example, with a 30-day grouping window:

• A customer who calls on Monday and texts photos on Wednesday has one lead with two activities.
• A customer who reaches out after 30 quiet days starts a new lead.
• Any activity arriving after a lead is marked Converted or closed (Archived or Not a lead) always starts a new lead.

Changing your grouping window applies only to future activities; it doesn’t merge or split leads already recorded in NMC.

Returning customers with new jobs

One contact can accumulate several leads over time (for example, repairing a water heater in March and quoting a bathroom remodel in October). Judge and update each new lead based on the new work requested rather than closing it just because you recognize the customer’s name.

Anonymous and withheld caller IDs

When a caller blocks their caller ID, or submits a form or forwarded email with neither a phone number nor an email address, NMC cannot tell whether two anonymous interactions came from the same person, so each one creates its own separate contact and lead. A call or text from a caller ID that isn’t a phone number, such as a short code, also gets its own contact and lead. Anonymous contacts also cannot be edited in the dashboard or customer API.