DealForge - Help Center

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The Forge (Dashboard)

Your home base. Everything starts here.

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Scoreboard shows your daily meaningful conversations and how you're tracking against yesterday
NextPlay tells you exactly who to contact next, ranked by heat score and engagement timing
Pipeline shows all your active leads organized by heat (Hot, Warm, Cool, Dead)
Beat Yesterday is your daily goal tracker. The speedometer shows your pace vs. your previous day

Pro Tip: The Forge auto-refreshes your pipeline. Focus on the NextPlay recommendations first each morning.

👤

Adding & Managing Leads

Your pipeline is only as good as the leads in it.

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Adding a Lead

Click "+ Quick Capture" at the top of the Forge
Enter the customer's name (required) and phone
Set the Timeline (Now, 1-2 weeks, 30 days, Just looking)
Optionally add Source, Vehicle Interest, and Notes
Hit Save Lead

Managing Leads

Click any lead card to expand its details
1-Tap Log an interaction: Text, Call, Appointment, or Reply
Edit a lead to update notes, vehicle interest, or qualification
Snooze a lead to hide it temporarily (it comes back automatically)
Heat scores update automatically based on timeline, engagement, and qualification

Heat Scoring

Hot = Ready to buy, strong engagement
Warm = Interested, needs follow-up
Cool = Early stage, nurturing
Dead = No engagement, needs revival or removal

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Track Mode & Engagement

Tunnel vision for closing. One lead at a time.

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Track Mode opens a focused overlay for one lead at a time
The Engagement Engine analyzes each lead's state and suggests your next best move
Engagement states: Fresh (new), Active (two-way contact), Stale (gone quiet), Ghosted (no response)
The engine recommends specific scripts from Escape Velocity based on the lead's state

Pro Tip: Use Track Mode during your dedicated follow-up blocks. It keeps you focused on one customer at a time instead of bouncing around.

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Escape Velocity Scripts

Proven word tracks for every situation.

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Find scripts in the Scripts tab
Scripts are organized by category: Opener, Follow-Up, Objection, Ghosted, Appointment, Price, Trade, Close, Control
Search by keyword to find the right script quickly
Copy any script with one tap to paste into your text/email
LOT MODE lets you pin your favorite scripts for quick access on the lot
Admins can add, edit, and delete scripts for the whole team

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Credit Applications

Secure credit app links you can text to customers.

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Generating a Link

Go to the Credit App tab
Enter the customer's name and phone number
Choose the portal (RouteOne, Dealertrack, or CUDL) based on your dealership's DMS
Set the expiration time (default 72 hours)
Click "Generate Link & Copy Text"
The link and a ready-to-send text message are automatically copied to your clipboard

How It Works for the Customer

Customer opens the link on their phone or computer
They fill out their info: personal details, address, employment, vehicle interest
SSN is encrypted (AES-256) before storage
Fields are marked as required or recommended based on the portal you selected
They can upload documents: driver's license, income proof, residence proof
Once submitted, the link can't be used again

Managing Applications (Admin)

Revoke a link to prevent the customer from using it
View the full application in the Packet view (includes decrypted SSN for admins)
Download a PDF of the application
Email to lender with the PDF attached (requires SMTP setup)
Validate the application against portal requirements

Security Note: The full application link (with the secret token) is only shown once when you generate it. If a customer loses it, generate a new link rather than trying to recover the old one.

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Portal & Marketing

Create content, build campaigns, capture leads.

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Post Studio

Go to the Portal tab to create social media posts
Write your post, add an image, and set a call-to-action
Generate a trackable link for each post
Share the post on Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Trackable Links & Landing Pages

Each link gets its own landing page where customers can submit their info
Submissions become Opportunities in your dashboard
Track clicks, views, and submissions in the Results tab

Marketing Engine

Go to the Marketing tab
Enter your name and dealership
Click Generate to get a full week of content: Facebook posts, DM scripts, Loom video script, and owner pitch
Save runs and export them as CSV

🛡

Admin Panel

Team management, lead transfers, and oversight. Admin-only.

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Users: View all team members, change roles (rep/manager/admin), delete users
Leads: See all leads across all reps, transfer leads between reps, bulk transfer
Credit Apps: View all submitted applications, download PDFs, email to lenders, delete
Credit Links: See all generated links, create new ones, revoke access

Note: The Admin tab only appears if your account has the admin role. Contact your manager or super admin to request access.

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Settings

Personalize your experience.

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Click Settings in the top-right corner
Rep Name: Your display name used in messages and scripts
Signature: Your sign-off line for text messages
Phone: Your contact number included in generated messages

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Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the most common questions.

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What does "Beat Yesterday" mean? ▼

It tracks your meaningful conversations today vs. yesterday. The goal is simple: do more than you did the day before. Small daily improvements compound into big results.

How does heat scoring work? ▼

Heat is calculated automatically based on the lead's timeline (how soon they want to buy), engagement (how recently you've interacted), qualification percentage, and activity volume. You don't need to set it manually.

What's the difference between RouteOne, Dealertrack, and CUDL? ▼

These are the three major dealer management system (DMS) portals for submitting credit applications to lenders. Your dealership uses one (or more) of them. Choose the one your F&I department uses when generating a credit app link. Each portal has slightly different required fields.

Is customer data secure? ▼

Yes. Social Security Numbers are encrypted using AES-256-GCM (military-grade encryption) before storage. Credit app links use two-part tokens verified with timing-safe comparison to prevent attacks. Links expire automatically and can only be used once.

Can I use DealForge on my phone? ▼

Yes! DealForge is fully responsive and works on any phone browser. Just go to your DealForge URL and log in. You can add it to your home screen for quick access.

What happens when I snooze a lead? ▼

Snoozing hides the lead from your active pipeline temporarily. It will automatically reappear after the snooze period ends. Use it for leads who said "call me next week" or similar.

How do I become an admin? ▼

An existing admin needs to promote your account. Ask your manager or the person who set up DealForge. They can change your role in the Admin Panel under Users.

Can the customer re-open a credit app link after submitting? ▼

No. Each link is one-time use. Once the customer submits their application, the link is marked as used and cannot be accessed again. If they need to make changes, generate a new link.

What's LOT MODE in Scripts? ▼

LOT MODE shows only your pinned/favorite scripts for quick access when you're on the lot with a customer. Pin the scripts you use most by clicking the star icon. Toggle LOT MODE on to see just those.