If you spend your days chasing deals, supporting accounts, or just trying to figure out if anyone actually reads your emails, this guide’s for you. We’re breaking down how to use Ebsta to really monitor customer engagement in real time—not just look at “activity counts” and call it a day. No fluff, just what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid wasting time.
What Ebsta Is (and Isn’t)
Ebsta’s a tool that plugs into your CRM (mostly Salesforce), hooks into your email/calendar, and tries to make sense of who’s actually engaging with your team. It tracks email opens, replies, meetings, and even surfaces which accounts are hot or cold—right now.
But let’s be clear: Ebsta won’t magically “fix” disengaged customers or give you some AI-powered crystal ball. It’s a dashboard, not a magic wand. Used well, though, it’ll save you from nasty surprises—like finding out your “hottest” deal ghosted you weeks ago.
Step 1: Get Ebsta Set Up and Connected
You can’t monitor anything until Ebsta’s hooked up to the right systems. Plan for a quick setup, but give yourself time—integrations always take longer than you’d hope.
What you need: - A Salesforce account (Ebsta is built for Salesforce users) - Access to your email/calendar (Gmail or Outlook) - Admin permissions (or someone who’ll do this for you)
How to set up: 1. Install the Ebsta app - Usually from Salesforce AppExchange or direct from Ebsta. - Make sure it’s the right version for your Salesforce instance.
- Connect your email and calendar
- Ebsta walks you through OAuth connections.
-
Double-check that permissions are granted—no permissions, no data.
-
Sync historical data (optional but helpful)
- You can pull in past email/calendar activity to get an instant baseline.
- Heads up: This can take hours, or even a day, depending on volume.
Pro tip: Don’t rush the setup. Test with one or two users before rolling out to your whole team. If data isn’t syncing, double-check permissions before blaming the tool.
Step 2: Understand Ebsta’s Engagement Scoring
Before you start monitoring, know what you’re looking at. Ebsta assigns an “engagement score” to each contact, account, or opportunity, based on real activity—emails sent, replies, meetings, and so on.
How the scoring works (in plain English): - Higher score: More recent, two-way activity (think: email replies, meetings booked, calls logged) - Lower score: Little or no activity, or only one-sided outreach (like your team’s 7th “just checking in” email)
What’s good about this: - You can see at a glance which accounts are hot, warm, or cold. - The score updates as new activity happens—no waiting for weekly reports.
What to watch out for: - Not all engagement is good engagement. If a customer replies “unsubscribe,” that’s still technically engagement. - Scores can be misleading if your team logs a bunch of internal notes or automated emails. Garbage in, garbage out.
Pro tip: Customize the scoring model if you can. Out of the box, it might weigh certain activities (like meetings) more heavily than others. Tweak it so it matches what actually matters for your customers.
Step 3: Set Up Real-Time Alerts and Dashboards
Staring at a dashboard all day isn’t practical. The real value is in getting nudges when things change—like when a key account suddenly goes cold, or a decision-maker finally replies.
How to set up real-time monitoring:
- Configure Ebsta’s alerts
- Get notified when:
- Engagement drops below a certain score
- A big account hasn’t replied in X days
- A new stakeholder engages with your team
-
Set these up in Ebsta’s dashboard under “Alerts” or “Notifications.”
-
Build dashboards or embed widgets in Salesforce
- Use Ebsta’s native dashboards, or add widgets to your Salesforce home page.
-
Filter by owner, account, opportunity stage, or custom fields.
-
Set up daily/weekly digests (optional)
- Some people prefer a daily rollup instead of constant notifications.
- Ebsta can send summary emails with key engagement changes.
What works: - Setting tight alerts for your highest-priority accounts (so you don’t miss red flags) - Embedding engagement dashboards where reps actually work (not hidden in a reporting tab)
What to ignore: - Don’t try to track everything. You’ll drown in noise. Focus on accounts/opportunities that truly matter.
Pro tip: Start with just one or two critical alerts. Add more if you need them, but don’t build a Rube Goldberg machine of notifications.
Step 4: Use Engagement Data to Drive Actual Action
So, you’ve got engagement scores and alerts—now what? The point isn’t to admire the charts. It’s to spot risk and opportunity, then actually do something about it.
Here’s how people actually use this data: - Prioritize outreach: Reps focus first on accounts where engagement is dropping, before they go totally dark. - Spot “ghosting” early: If a deal’s engagement flatlines, you know before the close date slips. - Flag churn risk: Customer success teams see which accounts are slipping before renewal time. - Coach your team: Managers use engagement trends to spot reps who need help (or who are just blasting out emails but getting no replies).
What works: - Using the data in 1:1s or pipeline reviews, not just for reporting. - Combining Ebsta data with CRM notes—context matters.
What doesn’t: - Blindly trusting engagement scores. Sometimes people are just busy, and a quiet account isn’t always a lost deal. - Ignoring qualitative signs (like a polite “we’re happy, just busy” email).
Pro tip: Pair Ebsta engagement data with qualitative feedback from your reps. The data’s a guide, not a verdict.
Step 5: Avoid the Most Common Pitfalls
Ebsta can be powerful, but there are a few ways people mess it up:
Common mistakes: - Over-automating: Too many alerts, too much noise. You’ll tune them out and miss the real signals. - Ignoring data hygiene: If your CRM data is a mess (duplicate contacts, missing emails), Ebsta’s insights will be fuzzy. - Using Ebsta as a surveillance tool: Don’t use it to micromanage. Reps will find ways around it, or just lose trust.
How to avoid them: - Start simple. Monitor your most important 10-20 accounts. - Regularly clean up your CRM—merge duplicates, fill in missing info. - Use engagement data to help your team, not punish them.
Pro tip: If engagement data and your gut disagree, dig deeper. Don’t just pick one and run with it.
Step 6: Iterate and Make It Your Own
Every team works differently. Ebsta gives you a ton of knobs to turn—custom fields, scoring rules, dashboard layouts. Don’t try to perfect it all on day one.
How to iterate: - Check in after a couple weeks. Are the alerts useful, or mostly noise? - Ask your team what’s helping them, and what’s getting ignored. - Adjust scoring rules as you learn what actually signals a live account in your world.
What matters most: - Simplicity beats complexity. If you’re spending more time tweaking Ebsta than talking to customers, it’s time to scale back.
Bottom line: Ebsta can make customer engagement a lot less mysterious—if you set it up with care and use it to drive real conversations, not just dashboards. Start small. Keep it simple. Iterate as you go. Monitoring engagement is only useful if you actually act on what you see.