Set Up Buyer Email in CloseMagnet

Start with Mailgun's Free plan if keeping the provider subscription at $0 is your priority. Use this guide to prepare sending, replies and delivery tracking in the CloseMagnet Inbox, with SendGrid as the alternative.

Written for client owners setting up their own email account. Pricing checked October 20, 2026. Provider plans and dashboard labels can change.

Resend receiving in the CloseMagnet Inbox is deferred. This does not change existing Resend sending or GoHighLevel conversations, and CloseMagnet will not automatically switch you to IMAP.

Contents

• Choose the Starter Plan
• Complete Your Setup Worksheet
• Assign the Setup Tasks
• Connect Mailgun
• Connect SendGrid Instead
• Verify and Activate Your Sender
• Test a Complete Conversation
• Set Your Sending Limits
• Use Your Inbox
• Understand the Status Messages
• Troubleshoot the Connection
• Keep These Official References

Choose the Starter Plan

Sources: Mailgun Pricing, SendGrid Pricing, and SendGrid Free-Plan Retirement.

Do not promise free two-way service yet. An advertised inbound route does not prove the account permits every original-message retrieval, signature and API read that CloseMagnet requires. Verify those permissions on the actual free account. If something is unavailable, identify that exact restriction before discussing an upgrade. SendGrid's signed receiving configuration also needs account-level verification.

The provider subscription is separate from your domain registration and any existing CloseMagnet plan or usage charges. Do not assume every provider feature or every application action is free.

Complete Your Setup Worksheet

Fill in this non-secret worksheet before opening either setup form. Leave passwords, API keys and signing secrets out of this document.

All addresses and domains above are examples. Replace them with addresses you control.

To fit a one-domain starter plan, consider one dedicated subdomain for both sending and replies, as the example shows. Confirm the provider supports that configuration. Do not assume the plan also includes a separately registered root domain and another receiving domain.

Do not replace the mail records for your normal business inbox. Your domain administrator should add only the provider's required records for the agreed domain or subdomain.

Assign the Setup Tasks

Three terms used below:

• SMTP is the connection CloseMagnet uses to submit outgoing email to your provider.
• Receiving Endpoint is the exact address on CloseMagnet's receiving service where the provider reports incoming replies. It is not an email address or SMTP server.
• Receipt Endpoint is a different address where the provider reports delivery, bounce and other outgoing-email events. A working reply connection does not automatically prove delivery tracking.

Connect Mailgun

1. Open Your Client-Owned Account

Create or sign in to the client's Mailgun account. Confirm the selected subscription, any account review and the limits displayed there. Enable the account's available sign-in protections.

Use the client's account, not a shared CloseMagnet platform email account. Keep login credentials private.

2. Add and Verify the Agreed Domain

Add the domain from your worksheet. Choose the intended US or EU region and use that region consistently throughout setup.

Give your domain administrator the exact records Mailgun displays. These can include sending authentication, receiving and tracking records. DNS records tell other systems which service is allowed to handle email for that domain. MX records control incoming mail; changing the wrong MX records can interrupt an existing inbox.

Wait for Mailgun to report the required records as verified. Do not invent record values or replace an existing business-email configuration without approval.

3. Obtain the Sending and Integration Credentials

In Mailgun, open Sending -> Domain Settings, select the domain, then open SMTP Credentials. Obtain the domain's SMTP username and password. These are not your dashboard login. Mailgun SMTP Instructions.

Prepare these settings for the protected CloseMagnet fields:

A signature is a provider-generated proof used to reject forged notifications. Let the operator confirm which signing credential applies to each field. A domain sending-only key is not enough for the required setup and receiving reads.

4. Prepare One Receiving Route

Have the operator create a Mailgun route for only the reply addresses in your worksheet. A route is a rule telling Mailgun what to do with mail arriving at those addresses.

Start with the store() action and no notification URL. Record the actual Route ID. Do not use a broad catch-all, a normal mailbox-forwarding rule or a guessed callback URL as a substitute.

Mailgun's stored-message flow lets CloseMagnet retrieve the original email. Provider storage is temporary, not a permanent message backup. Mailgun Route Actions, Stored-Message Retrieval.

5. Save a Draft in CloseMagnet

Open the correct client, then Deal Blasts -> Settings (gear) -> Email Sending -> Add Client Email.

Select Mailgun and Direct Provider Receiving. Read Mailgun Setup Steps beside the form. On a narrow screen, open Setup Steps for This Provider.

Fill in the fields using this mapping:

Choose Save Draft Connection. Saving a draft does not activate sending or send a test email.

6. Copy the Actual Receiving and Receipt Addresses

Expand the saved connection's Provider Setup Endpoints.

Have the operator update the same Mailgun route using the exact displayed Mailgun Route Expression and Receiving Endpoint. The route action must store the message and notify that displayed endpoint. Copy the complete value; do not substitute the application homepage, SMTP host or an example URL.

Configure outgoing event notifications separately using the displayed Receipt Endpoint and the matching signing credential. Required coverage includes delivery, failure/bounce, complaint and unsubscribe handling. Configure supported open/click events for engagement testing as well.

7. Stop at Any Unfinished Platform Check

If CloseMagnet reports Receiving Check Required or says an operator must finish verification, hand the connection to the operator. You do not need another mailbox or an IMAP account for this native Mailgun path.

Continue to Verify and Activate Your Sender only after the operator confirms the platform check is complete.

Connect SendGrid Instead

Use this section only when SendGrid is the chosen provider. Do not activate a second provider to avoid fixing a failed check. CloseMagnet supports one active provider for new outgoing client email in this release.

1. Confirm the plan and trial end date. Use the Email API product for this connection. Do not buy Marketing Campaigns solely to connect the CloseMagnet Inbox. Record the actual account allowance and trial expiry in the worksheet.
2. Authenticate the sending domain. Open SendGrid's sender authentication settings and add the exact records supplied for the intended domain. Have your domain administrator verify receiving records for the chosen receiving hostname as well.
3. Create the sending credentials. For SMTP, use smtp.sendgrid.net, username literally apikey, and the sending API key as the password. Select 587 - STARTTLS or 465 - TLS. SendGrid SMTP Instructions.
4. Have the operator prepare signed receiving. SendGrid calls this Inbound Parse. It sends incoming mail to the application. The operator creates a receiving security policy, saves its policy ID and verification public key, and attaches that policy to the receiving configuration. This is separate from outgoing delivery tracking. Signed Inbound Parse Setup.
5. Open the CloseMagnet form. Use Deal Blasts -> Settings (gear) -> Email Sending -> Add Client Email. Select SendGrid and Direct Provider Receiving.
6. Enter the actual account details. Fill in Connection Label, Provider Account Key, receiving addresses/domain, SendGrid Parse Security Policy ID, SendGrid API Region, SMTP settings, Provider API Key, Receiving Verification Public Key, Event Webhook Verification Public Key and Declared Daily Provider Limit. The account key must match the identity returned by the API credentials, not a guessed friendly name.
7. Save the draft and copy its endpoints. Open Provider Setup Endpoints. Have the operator configure the receiving hostname with the displayed Receiving Endpoint, the signed policy and full original MIME. MIME means the original email, including headers, content and attachments. Inbound Parse Configuration.
8. Configure the separate signed Event Webhook. Use the displayed Receipt Endpoint and its corresponding verification key for required delivery/failure, bounce, complaint and unsubscribe coverage, plus supported open/click events. Event Webhook Overview.
9. Check account access before paying. Confirm signed receiving, original-message handling and the required configuration reads are available to this account. A pricing page or an ordinary unsigned test does not prove those checks pass.
10. Wait for the operator's platform verification. Then complete the sender and conversation checks below. Record the actual results; do not treat the trial signup as successful integration.

Verify and Activate Your Sender

Complete these steps after CloseMagnet support confirms that the receiving check has passed. Do not use an existing CRM sender test as proof that a custom provider is ready.

1. Open the saved connection and choose Add Sender Identity.
2. Enter Sender Name, From Address and Reply-To Address, then choose Save Sender for Verification. Reply-To must be covered by the connection's receiving addresses.
3. Select Sender to Verify and confirm Receiving Address (Sender Reply-To).
4. Choose Create Setup Challenge. This creates specific test instructions, not an automatic email send.
5. Have the operator arrange the authorized probe using the exact displayed Probe From, Probe To and Exact Subject, before Expires. Do not send a guessed test or use a real buyer.
6. Complete Verify Opt-Out Handling when shown, then choose Check Probe Evidence. This setup check must not unsubscribe a real buyer.
7. Review Sending, Receiving and Delivery Tracking, including their check times. Expand Tracking Coverage and Connection Details if a check has not passed.
8. Review the sender and actual provider allowance, then choose Activate for New Email only when the saved connection reports Ready.

Test a Complete Conversation

Use only the external inbox you control. Approve the exact recipient and bounded test-message count before sending. Normal provider or application usage charges can apply.

1. Send an ordinary email from CloseMagnet. Choose the reviewed buyer/test contact and verified sender. Confirm the name, From address and Reply-To in the received email, not just in the compose screen.
2. Confirm a real delivery receipt. Wait for provider evidence tied to that exact message and recipient. Queued means waiting; Sent means submitted; Delivered requires a recorded receipt. A provider's simulated test event is not proof of actual delivery.
3. Reply from the external inbox. Confirm that the reply appears against the correct buyer and conversation in CloseMagnet.
4. Answer inside CloseMagnet. Open that message and choose Review Reply. Review the draft and choose Queue Reviewed Email after the required human confirmation. Do not choose New Email when continuing a conversation.
5. Reply again from the external inbox. Confirm the second incoming reply continues the same conversation rather than creating unrelated threads.
6. Test one small permitted attachment. Check the received file and its authorized readback. Do not start with a maximum-size file. Large-message capacity is a separate operator check.
7. Test blast attribution separately. An ordinary New Email conversation is not automatically a blast. For blast statistics, have the operator approve a controlled email-only test blast to the test buyer. Open it, click its actual deal link and reply. Check the matching recipient's recorded activity and the blast totals. Include any normal AI usage in that approval.
8. Record the result. Complete the checklist below. Do not count an operator preview as a buyer open or click.

Do not deliberately generate spam complaints against a real address. Use the provider's approved test facilities for applicable negative cases and label simulated events as simulated. A delivery event does not prove inbox placement, and automated privacy tools or scanners can affect opens and clicks.

Set Your Sending Limits

Open Deal Blasts -> Settings (gear) -> Email Sending -> Sending Limits.

Read the current saved values first. Do not reset an established client's settings just because examples in a guide differ.

• Hourly Target: Your requested ceiling before other restrictions. It does not override the provider's allowance.
• Current Warm-Up Cap: The present hourly limit while a sender builds verified healthy history.
• Daily Cap: The application's current daily ceiling. Keep it within the actual provider allowance and leave room for human replies and test mail.
• Batch Size: How many recipient slots can be released together. It is not a promise that a batch can send immediately.
• Local Send Window: The hours and timezone in which sending is permitted.
• Recipients Waiting: People currently waiting in the queue, not a failed-message count.

For the initial test, use one recipient and keep the existing new-sender safeguards. Do not switch to Established Sender to avoid a hold. Tell the operator if the provider has a lower remaining allowance than the saved policy; do not repeatedly press Send to force the queue.

Use Your Inbox

Open Deal Blasts -> Inbox. Use Unread for new activity or All for conversations you have already read. Use buyer, property, blast and source filters to narrow the list.

Reply within the existing conversation using Review Reply. Use New Email only to start a new conversation. Keep replies human-reviewed; this release does not provide automatic AI replies.

Client-email conversations stay in CloseMagnet. Existing LeadAttractor CRM conversations keep their original CRM route and history. Choosing a custom provider does not move old conversations or copy custom-provider messages into the CRM.

Folders and Trash are shared by the client's team. Unread status is personal. Owners/admins control folder management and confirmed Delete Forever. Local Inbox deletion does not delete provider copies or recorded blast evidence.

Understand the Status Messages

Troubleshoot the Connection

Keep These Official References

These links explain current provider screens and policies. Application setup is source-reviewed, not proof of a successful test on your account.

• Mailgun Pricing
• Mailgun SMTP Setup
• Mailgun Route Actions
• Mailgun Stored-Message Retrieval
• SendGrid Pricing
• SendGrid Free-Plan Retirement
• SendGrid SMTP Setup
• SendGrid Receiving Configuration
• SendGrid Signed Receiving
• SendGrid Delivery Event Webhook