ReferralExchange Leads Into Lofty: Email Parsing Setup and Follow-Up

ReferralExchange leads get into Lofty through email parsing. Lofty’s Help Center documents it: you copy a Lofty auto-import address and enter it in ReferralExchange as the place lead notifications go, and Lofty creates a lead from each notice. The setup takes minutes. What matters afterward is tagging, tracking the referral percentage and contacting the lead quickly.

Everything below about Lofty’s behavior is according to Lofty’s Help Center article “Lead Capture: Referral Exchange,” as of October 2026. Check it before you build, because email formats change.

How does Lofty capture a ReferralExchange lead?

Lofty reads the notification email, not an API feed. Per the Help Center, Lofty creates a new lead from a Referral Exchange alert sent to your Lofty-integrated address, and it looks for mail from support@referralexchange.com with a subject like “ReferralExchange Referral Agreement Acceptance Confirmation – [lead name] – [xx]%”.

That subject line carries the referral percentage. It is the one piece of deal-relevant data you can see before you open anything, so make a habit of using it. The article does not say which lead source label Lofty assigns, and it has no troubleshooting section, which is why you should test and look at the result yourself.

Step by step: connecting ReferralExchange to Lofty

1. Find the address. In Lofty, go to Settings > Integration > Lead Capture. Under “Auto-import Lead via third-party providers,” copy the email address.
2. Enter it in ReferralExchange. In your ReferralExchange settings, enter that Lofty address as the one that receives lead notifications. If you cannot find the field, ask ReferralExchange support, since their documentation is not public.
3. Keep your own copy too. If you also want the notices in your normal inbox, ask whether ReferralExchange can notify more than one address, or set a rule in your mail system. We have not verified that a forwarded copy still matches Lofty’s sender check, so do not assume it does.
4. Wait for a real notice and watch. We are not aware of a documented test button. When the next notice goes out, check Lofty within minutes. Confirm a lead exists, the name is right, and the phone and email filled in.
5. Tag and tag again. Add a tag you can search, such as ReferralExchange, and make sure the same tag is applied every time. Tag it by hand on the first one, then set up the automation so it happens on its own.
6. Record the percentage. Put the percentage from the subject line into a note or a custom field on the lead the same day.
7. Enroll the lead in follow-up. Attach the right smart plan or task so the lead gets contact right away. More on that below.

What to track so referral fees are not lost

A referral lead comes with an obligation. The subject line implies the percentage travels with the notice, which is our inference from the pattern, not a statement from Lofty or ReferralExchange. You still owe it a place to live where someone will see it at closing.

We would record these on every referral lead:

• The referral percentage, copied from the notice
• The date the notice arrived
• The ReferralExchange tag, so you can pull a list of every referral file
• A note on who is the contact at the sending side, if the notice names one
• A link or reference to the agreement, kept wherever your brokerage requires

A single tagged view of open referral leads is the cheapest insurance. Review it monthly, and again when a file goes under contract.

Speed to contact: the first hour matters most

A referral that came through a network is often a person who asked to be matched, so they expect to hear from someone. Treat the first contact as urgent anyway. According to the MIT and InsideSales.com lead response study of 1.25 million leads, contacting a lead within five minutes made a company roughly 21 times more likely to qualify them than waiting 30 minutes. NAR’s Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report says 78% of buyers work with the first agent that responds.

Those are general lead figures, not ReferralExchange-specific, and we are not claiming a number for your results. The practical point is that a notice parsed at 9 p.m. is no use if nobody sees the lead until Monday.

Handing the lead to a smart plan

Parsing only creates the lead. The follow-up has to be assigned. Make sure the new-lead path in your account puts referral leads into a plan written for them, not your generic web-lead drip. A referral lead already knows an agent is coming and should hear a personal, specific first message.

Check how your account enrolls new leads into plans, because Lofty’s public feature page lists triggers such as email opens, replies and listing views and we have not confirmed a named “new lead” trigger there. Then test it. For the design, see our posts on Lofty smart plans vs manual follow-up and building a nurture sequence in Lofty.

What this looked like for a client

For Tammy Theis, an agent with Realty ONE Group Visionaries in Augusta, Georgia, we set up the same idea: ReferralExchange leads flow into her Lofty account and start the email campaign, the workflow and the follow-ups. Her Lofty account also carries a 30-email nurture sequence built around smart plans. That is as much as we can share, and we have no result figures for the referral flow to give you. Her case study page covers the wider Lofty work.

Common failures

• Notices still go to the old mailbox. The most common one. You changed the address in one place and not another.
• Sender or subject changed. If ReferralExchange changes its notice wording, a parser looking for the old pattern can miss it. Compare the next real notice with the Help Center pattern.
• Duplicates. If the person is already in Lofty, check what happens to the new lead and make sure the referral tag and percentage still land on the right record.
• Nobody owns the inbox. If parsing fails silently, you find out when a client signs with someone else. Assign one person to check the day after each new referral.
• Lead created, no plan attached. The lead sits in the list with no task. Look at new referral leads daily until you trust the setup.

A note on referral fees and compliance

This is general information, not legal advice. Referral fees between brokers are normal in the industry and are typically paid at closing, per ReferralExchange’s own 2019 Referral Report. Federal RESPA rules restrict paying for referrals in some settlement-service situations while allowing certain broker-to-broker payments, and states differ on licensing and disclosure. The percentage is set by your agreement, so we do not assume a standard number. Check with your managing broker and your state real estate commission, and keep the agreement in writing.

If you would rather not babysit this yourself, our Lofty virtual assistant service includes lead-source setup, tagging and daily follow-up, and the ReferralExchange explainer covers how the network itself works. A free consult is the easiest way to scope it.