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Clients and contacts

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Clients are the companies the agency recruits for. They are records inside the agency's own workspace, never separate accounts: candidates always belong to the agency, and a client only ever sees what the agency chooses to send them. Every job in Lovelio belongs to a client, so the client book is the spine of the whole system. The client book lives at /clients, which has two tabs: "Clients" (the book, with the one search box for companies) and "Placements" (the wins and fees). The Placements tab only shows for roles with permission to view placements.

Adding a client

Click "Add client" on the Clients tab, use Quick Create ("New client"), ask the AI, or create one over the API. All doors go through the same write path. A client needs either a name or just a website. You can also supply the company's own phone, one or more locations, street address, description, and contacts in the same request. The company phone is separate from every contact's personal phone. When a website is given, background enrichment reads the company's site and fills only missing details: the real company name, industry, a short description of what they do, office locations, their office address (read off their contact page, when it shows one) and a logo. It never replaces locations a consultant supplied. At the same time Lovelio looks the company up in its company database, which reads LinkedIn company pages, and adds the facts to the Overview: staff numbers, the year it was founded, head office, ownership (private, public and so on), industry and its specialties. When that database has no answer, or only a company with another name, Lovelio asks up to two more company databases in turn, so smaller local companies get their facts too; a few of those facts (ownership, specialties) can be missing when they come from there. It only saves them when the company's name matches the client, so a domain that now belongs to someone else never fills the record with the wrong company, and it never overwrites anything already on the record. The LinkedIn industry is kept separately from the industry read off their website. This lookup is included and never uses credits. A client with no website takes its domain from its contacts' work emails, and when they have none either, from its name: Lovelio finds the company's website and logo by its exact name, and only when the name matches the same company. The website field stays empty for you to fill; entering a website later replaces the guess and looks the company up again. Imported clients go through the same two steps. A client with no logo shows a building icon. A "Filling in details" chip shows on the row and in the slideout header while this runs, and the list updates live when it lands.

Searching for companies

The top of the Clients tab is one search box: "Which companies are you looking for?". Describe them in plain words and press Search or Enter. Under the box two ticks say where to look: "My clients" (your own client book, with how many you have) and "The web" (new companies you could win). Tick one or both; one always stays ticked. My clients is the default, and an agency with no clients yet starts on The web. Before you search, three "Try" examples sit under the box. The results come in sections: "Your clients" (your clients that fit, each with why it fits, staff, where, last placement, open jobs, last contact and owner; click one to open it), "Companies you know" (companies your candidates work at that fit but are not clients yet, with a link to your people there and "Add as client") and "New companies" (from the web). Clear the box to get the full client table back. The ticks stay in the page address, so a search is a link you can share. The old Find new clients tab is now The web tick, and links to it still land here.

New companies (The web)

The web tick finds companies you could win, from the company database. Describe them in plain words, like "piling contractors in Queensland with over 100 staff". Lovelio turns that into filters shown under the box as chips (industry, location, size); remove a chip to widen the search. Lovelio then checks every company it finds against what you described, reading what the company does from its whole record rather than matching your words, so "SaaS companies in Sydney" finds software companies that never write "SaaS" about themselves. It reads the companies that use your words first, because most of them fit, then the rest of that industry and place. Companies that do not fit are left out, and so are companies with a head office outside the place you named. When you ask for a size, a company with no staff count on record sits behind maybe. A narrow industry also brings in its broad one (Specialty Trade Contractors adds Construction), because many companies list themselves under the broad industry; remove it to search only the narrow one. Your own clients that fit are named above the cards as "Already your clients", each linking to the client, so you never add the same one twice. Results keep arriving on their own until 100 fit or there are no more to check. While they do, the section says "Still searching" with a bar counting the companies found so far toward the 100 it stops at, a "Checking more companies" row sits under the list, and each new company lights up as it lands; it says "Finished" when the search stops. It counts the companies it found, never how many it checked. When the company database runs out and your search names a kind of company and a place, Lovelio searches the open web for that kind of company in that place, reads each one's website, and adds the real companies based there, for the smaller local firms the database does not list; directories and listing sites are left out. That last round costs credits only when it finds a company. A search anyone has run in the last seven days answers straight away and costs no credits, and a company already checked against the same search is not checked again. The first 10 fits show; "Show all N" shows the rest. Companies Lovelio was not sure about sit behind an "N maybe" link under the fits. Every card starts closed, showing the company name, one line on why it fits and how many people are on record; click a card to open it, and click its header again to close it. The open card shows the company's facts (staff, founded, head office, ownership, specialties) and the people there worth calling, grouped by Lovelio's own role map into Leadership, Hiring managers and People and talent, most senior first. People based in the company's head office country come first; when nobody there is on record, the card shows whoever is. Nobody is ticked when a card opens; tick the people you want, or use "Tick all" and "Untick all" to change a whole group. "Add <company> and N contacts" adds the client straight away; those people land on it as contacts within about a minute, through the same write paths as every other door, and each contact's work email is looked up in the background. You can open the client and work on it while they arrive; they appear on the open record as they land, with no reload. "Not now" marks the card skipped and closes it; adding one closes it too, so you pick the next card yourself. Once a company is added (or turns out to be a client already), its name on the card links to the client record. "More like <company>" starts a new search for companies in the same industry, city and size. Every row has three buttons: "Add as client" adds the company straight away without opening the card (with no contacts; open the card to tick people first) and then reads "Added"; "Watch careers" puts it on your careers watch, so Lovelio reads its careers page every night and new jobs show in Opportunities, and then reads "Watching careers"; "People to call" opens the card on the people worth calling. On any client, the ellipsis menu has "Find more like this", which opens the Clients tab with The web ticked, already searching for companies like that client: same industry, city and size. When the client's industry is in your own words ("Technology"), Lovelio reads those words the way it reads the search box. When it knows nothing about the client, it says so and you describe them instead. Consultants and admins can use it; it is also available to agents and the API as the actions find_new_clients, find_client_people and add_found_client.

Creating a client with a website also builds Client DNA automatically: an AI read of what great looks like at that company, used by assessments, phone screens and job ads from day one with zero setup. The Client DNA rung on the client record says "Building" while it runs and "Ready" when done. The DNA is refined over time by adding notes or meeting notes on the client's Client DNA part.

If agreed commercial terms are known at create time (permanent fee percent, contract margin, payment terms, guarantee days), entering them becomes the client's first fee schedule directly. After that, an admin edits the terms straight on the client's Terms tab. Client terms are the one source of truth, and every job for that client inherits them live. Permanent jobs use the salary fee, taken of the fee basis the terms name: base salary, or the total salary package (base plus super, OTE uplift and bonus). Contract jobs use the separate contract margin. Consultants see the terms read-only; there is no approval workflow. The Terms tab shows "Custom terms" with a version number once the client is off the agency standard, and "Back to standard terms" returns them to it. The default permanent terms shape is one flat percent; "Add salary bands" expands a band editor for agencies that price by salary level.

When a client is created through the AI, the receipt offers an Undo that deletes it again. The "Add client" popup on the grid does not offer an undo.

The client list

The Clients tab is a full-width table under the search box. Searching My clients finds a client by name the way search finds a person by name: every word you type starts a word of the name, in any order ("sydney pwc" finds PwC Sydney), or it is a close spelling ("Delloite" finds Deloitte). A client whose name is what you typed always comes first, even when the words could also describe a kind of company: "ing" finds ING before any engineering firm, with no quotes needed. Typing a client's whole name searches names only: "sell" finds the client SELL, not every company that sells things.Every client picker (on a job, a float, a meeting, a placement) finds clients the same way, and so do Cmd+K and Ask Lovelio. The same box, and Ask Lovelio, also take plain words, like "construction clients in Melbourne with open jobs", "clients we placed with this year" or "my clients we have not spoken to in 6 months". It reads what each client does (from the company facts, not just the name), where they are, their size and ownership, and your history with them, puts the best fits first and says why each one fits. It also lists companies you know: companies your candidates work at that fit but are not clients yet, with how many of your people are there. Clients whose name matches show at once; the plain-words results follow a moment later and take their place. Searching your own clients never uses credits. Agents and the API use the same search through the search_clients action, the list_clients tool with q, and GET /api/v1/clients?q=. The search stays in the page address, so a filtered list is a link you can share. Clicking a row opens the client's full record on the right. The heart icon on a row opens the slideout straight onto the Ask tab. Every row also carries a "..." actions menu built from the same single menu definition the slideout uses, so anything doable from the record is doable from the grid.

The client score is 0 to 100, computed from facts already recorded (billing, delivery, feedback speed, momentum, relationship), never by AI. Bands: 80 and above is "Key account", 60 to 79 "Solid", 40 to 59 "Watch", under 40 "Going cold". A client with no closed jobs, no placements and under 90 days of history shows as "New client" with no number.

The client slideout

Ask Lovelio can open a named client or contact directly. "Open Acme's contacts" opens that client's Contacts tab. A named contact opens inside the parent client record. When names are ambiguous, choose the intended record from the compact picker. "Email James Brown" opens the existing compose form for the resolved person; it does not send an email.

The client opens as a file. A list down the left shows every part of the client: Overview, Opportunities, Jobs, Floats (called Specs outside AU/NZ), Placements, Contacts, Terms, Client DNA, Documents, Timeline, and Ask Lovelio under its own heading. Each rung carries a coloured dot and a short second line, so the state of the relationship reads at a glance: how many jobs are open and how many still need candidates, a float that is waiting on an answer, a start that is overdue, whether anyone is marked as the main contact, whether Client DNA is ready. Click a rung to open that part. Every part opens with one sentence saying where things stand ("Acme Health is a solid client. Tom is interested in Priya Shah.", "Nobody to talk to at Acme Health yet.") and the buttons for what to do next, such as "Create the job" on an interested float, "Find candidates" on a job with nobody in it, "Open Priya's placement" on an overdue start, "Add a contact", "Add a note" on Client DNA or "Upload a document". Opportunities only shows on an active Lovelio plan. On a phone the list becomes a row of chips across the top. The header carries the logo, the client name, the health pill (the relationship band and score), previous and next arrows for moving through the list, and two buttons, "Create a job" and "Email" (named for the main contact), plus the "..." menu with the rest of the shared client actions: Log call, Add contact, Add note, Add DNA note, Find more like this, Edit details and Delete client. Delete never shows on the agency's own client. The grid row menu carries all of them, including Create a job and Email client. "Create a job" starts the job writer already pointed at this client so it skips the "which client is this for" question. Logging a call requires picking which contact was spoken to - calls are logged against a person, not a company. Emailing a client also goes to a chosen contact, in the same compose window as every other email: describe it and click Draft now, or write your own and click Preview, then send from the preview. Replies land back on the client timeline, and Reply on one of them drafts the answer to the contact who sent it. The header logo box is also its own control: click to upload or replace a logo, hover to reveal remove.

  • Overview: name, website, company phone, industry, locations, address, "What they do", and notes, editable via Edit / Save changes / Cancel. Locations can hold several cities. The address is an address search - start typing and pick the real street address. It is where client interviews happen (the booking wizard pre-fills it) and the address on their terms document. It also lists the recruiters working this client.

  • Jobs: every role at the client, split into Current and Past, with active application counts. Rows open the job page, and a "Create a job" button starts a new one already pointed at this client.

  • Contacts: name, job title and email are required; phone is optional. Each contact can have a "reports to" pointing at another contact, which builds the org chart. The first contact added becomes the primary contact automatically; any other can be made primary from its row menu. The row menu also carries "Email contact", which opens the client email form with that person already chosen; it is locked, with the reason, on a contact with no email address or one who has moved on. Contacts can be edited or removed. Clicking a contact's name opens their People record - one record for the human, whatever roles they hold, with a Timeline of everything you have done with them - and a back link to the client. The contact row holds the relationship (role, work email and phone at this client); the name lives on the person, so editing a contact's name renames them everywhere that person appears. Wherever else a contact is named (a job's Contact row, for instance) clicking the name opens the same record; hover it to see their email and phone. When the person is also a candidate, the contact record's header carries a role switch instead of the plain "Contact" label: click "Candidate" and their candidate record opens over the client, one click each way; the same switch sits on their candidate record. A contact record has two buttons, "Log a call" and "Email", and a "..." menu. The menu carries the same actions as the candidate record, aimed at the person behind the contact: Add to job, Add to talent pool, Assess against role, Add note, Mark as open to work and Mark as do not approach. A contact is never floated (or specced), submitted or shared to the marketplace while they are only a contact: add them to a job first, which makes them a candidate, and Float (or Spec) to a client and Share to marketplace then appear on both their records. Below those sit the contact's own actions: Edit contact, Make primary, and Remove contact, which takes this person off this client without deleting them. Deleting the person altogether is done from their candidate record.

    The Contacts tab is a grid like the People list: Name (with Primary), Job title, Email, Phone, Last contact and an action button, sortable by name or last contact. Two chips sit above it, "Your contacts" (where it opens) and "Works here", next to the search box and "+ Add contact". "Your contacts" is everyone somebody put on this client - added by a consultant, captured, or migrated in. "Works here" is derived: these are people whose own record says they currently work at this client, matched by organisation, and Lovelio adds them so a person is never missing from the company they work at. A works-here person is not treated as a relationship: they are listed separately, they carry no work email, they never appear in a contact picker (log a call, email the client, send a submission, invite to an interview), they are not counted in the CONTACTS column on the client list, and approach mail to them warns rather than being blocked. Click "Make a contact" and they move into your contacts for good, which turns the approach-mail block on. If they change jobs, the derived row is retired automatically; a promoted one is yours and is never touched. A placement can make someone appear under "Works here" through their updated employment history, but only a recruiter choosing "Make a contact" moves them into "Your contacts". Referees on a candidate can be filed here in one step from the candidate's Referees tab, and the client is created for you if you do not already have their company. A contact you have submitted to or floated to who moves company stays on one row: it says "Left in Aug · now at Beta Health" in amber, the old email is struck through, and the row button reads "Follow to Beta Health", which adds them as a contact at the new company (and the company as a client if needed); the old row stays as history, marked Moved on, and nothing is sent to it again. A contact with a new title shows a New title badge. Lovelio checks these contacts once a month and the tab says when it last checked. A search box sits at the top of the tab: type part of a name, email, phone number or job title and both chips narrow as you type; the chip counts show where the matches are. A phone number matches however it is spaced. The search stays in the page address, so you can share the filtered list or come back to it with the back button. On a narrow screen the grid drops columns rather than scrolling sideways: Phone goes first, then Email and Last contact. The same grid is the Contacts tab on the Opportunities company panel. Quick Create has a "New contact" entry (shortcut T) for adding one without opening the record: it asks which client the person works for, then opens the same add-contact form.

    Adding a contact also writes their employment onto their People record, so search can find them: the client becomes their current employer, the contact's job title becomes their job title, and a job history entry is added for the role. That is what makes them turn up in searches like "people currently at Woolworths" or "ex-Woolworths". Their work email and phone are copied across too, unless the address or number is shared by more than one contact (a shared inbox or a switchboard is nobody's personal detail). Change a contact's title and their record follows; remove the contact and the job history entry is closed with today's date rather than deleted, so what you did with them is still there. Nothing is ever overwritten: if the person already has a CV on file, their own work history wins and the contact role is added beside it without claiming to be their current job. Their location is never taken from the client, because a company's registered address is not where the person lives.

  • Floats: every float (spec) sent to this client, live ones first, with what each is waiting on. The verdict names the one that needs you: an interested client gets "Create the job", a question gets "Answer", a float with no reply gets "Follow up".

  • Placements: its own rung. The wins with this client, with a money strip of three numbers: "Billed with [client]" (fees on placements that started or completed - fall-offs never count), "Pending starts" (count plus the next start date), and "At risk in guarantee" (fees on placements still inside their guarantee period). It is read-only here: a placement is logged from the candidate's application once they have reached Submitted or beyond, never from the client record.

  • Opportunities: "Act on these" shows grounded public opportunities that still need a decision. "Latest" keeps handled history. Every public card shows the date, event type, source, why it matters, the agency's angle and a suggested next move. "Open source" always leaves Lovelio for the verified HTTPS evidence. "Mark handled" keeps the card in history; "Not useful" removes it from the normal feed. A notification or weekly report opens the exact card with ?tab=signals&signal=..., including handled history. Public loading or scanner failure never hides private movement. Opportunities hides when the agency has no active Lovelio plan.

  • Client DNA: the five Client DNA traits plus a reflection, refined through notes. "Add a note" opens the note box straight away.

  • Documents: files kept against the client, such as signed terms. "Upload a document" opens the file picker.

  • Private movement (inside Opportunities): read-only workforce intelligence - who works there now (of people in the database), who recently left, and who worked there before.

  • Timeline: everything that has happened with this client, newest first, grouped by day and then by month. The same timeline the job page and candidate record use: a filter dropdown for hiding email, notes or field changes, a search box, and a note box that writes straight to the timeline. Calls, emails, contact changes and edits all land here. A contact's own Timeline is the same events filtered down to the ones about that person, so a call with Charlotte shows on both her record and the client's.

  • Ask: ask questions about this client in plain language; answers use scoped client records plus grounded public opportunities, with the source retained. The conversation survives switching tabs.

Recruiters on a client

Anyone who works one of the client's jobs is attached to the client automatically. Teammates can also be added or removed by hand in the Overview tab's Recruiters section; any teammate can be added to any client. A chip's hover text says whether the person was added automatically or by hand. Client alerts go to these recruiters and the client owner. When nobody is attached, they fall back to the client's team, then the company.

The agency self-client

Every job needs a client, including the agency's own internal hires. For those, Lovelio keeps exactly one special self-client per agency. It never appears in the client list or the API client list, but it stays selectable in every job client picker, labelled "(your own agency)". It can never be deleted. Job ads for self-client jobs name the agency openly, unlike normal ads which never identify the client.

Common questions

  • Why does one client show staff numbers and head office and another does not? Those facts come from company databases, looked up by the client's website. A client added without a website, a company none of them list, or one whose name there does not match the client shows none.
  • Why does my new client only show its domain as the name? A domain-only create uses the domain as a provisional name; enrichment replaces it with the real company name shortly after.
  • I pasted their LinkedIn page as the website and nothing was filled in. The link is kept on the record, but only a company's own website is used to identify and enrich them - a LinkedIn or Facebook page, a directory listing or a job board describes them somewhere else, and enriching from one would fill the record with that platform's details. Add their own web address and enrichment starts.
  • Why can I not edit the fee percent on the client? Editing client terms is admin-only: consultants cannot set their own fees. Ask an admin, or ask them to widen the permission in Settings > Permissions.
  • What happens when I delete a client? The delete popup warns that their contacts, jobs, and history go with them, and there is no undo. The agency self-client can never be deleted.
  • Why is a teammate listed on my client? They worked one of that client's jobs, which attaches them automatically; they can be removed by hand.
  • Where did the Placements page go? Placements live under Clients now, as the second tab on /clients. Old placement links redirect there, filters included.