Set up your workspace

Your dashboard has a setup checklist. This article follows the same order, in four stages. Do the steps from the top. Each step opens the screen where you do it. When you finish a step, Darbase marks it as done.

Before you start

• Open your Dashboard. Under Account, open Setup checklist. The Get started card shows your next step.
• Select See all setup steps. The Get set up page shows all your steps in four stages.
• The headings in stages 1 to 4 are the names of the checklist steps.
• Some steps show only to a Workspace admin or a Team manager. Some plans add a step. Your checklist shows only the steps that apply to you.
• In this article, Settings is the gear icon in the navigation rail. To open Your account, select your initials, then Your account.
• If you need help, select Help, then Help centre or Get support.

Stage 1: Get your listings and clients in

Set your currency & region

Do this step first. Each new listing then starts in your currency. Only a Workspace admin can change these settings.

1. Open Settings → General.
2. Under Default currency, select your currency.
3. Under Default area unit, select square metres or square feet.
4. Under Country, select your country.
5. Select Save workspace.

Add your first property

1. Open Listings → Properties, and select Add property.
2. Type the Title and the Description.
3. Open Arabic listing copy, and type the title and the description in Arabic. Aqar needs them. See Arabic listing fields.
4. Under Key facts, select For sale or For rent, and select the property type. Type the price. The currency comes from your settings.
5. Type the bedrooms, the bathrooms and the size, and select the size unit.
6. Under Location, select the country, and type the city and the area.
7. Select Create property.
8. Under Photos & floor plans, select Upload, and add your photos. The first photo is the primary photo. To change it, select Set as primary on a different photo.
9. A new listing is a Draft. On the listing, under Status, select Available. Darbase matches buyers to available listings only.

Add your first contact

1. Open CRM → Contacts, and select Add contact.
2. Type the first name, the last name, the email and the phone number. Use the international format for the phone, for example +971 50 123 4567.
3. Under Contact type, select Buyer. Under Source, type where the contact came from.
4. Select Add contact.

Then tell Darbase what this buyer wants:

1. On the contact page, select Add intent profile.
2. Type a label, and select the intent.
3. Type the Budget from and the Budget up to. Add the locations, the property type and the bedrooms.
4. Select Add profile.

Darbase then shows the matching properties. It matches each buyer to the listings that fit their budget, area, property type, bedrooms and size.

Import your existing data

Bring your contacts and your listings from PropSpace or from a spreadsheet.

1. Open CRM → Import data.
2. Under What are you importing?, select Contacts or Properties.
3. Drag your CSV or Excel file onto the page, and select Upload file.
4. Darbase matches your columns to its fields. For a PropSpace file, select PropSpace export. Check each column.
5. Select Run preview. The preview imports nothing. It shows the rows that are ready, the duplicates and the errors. By default, Darbase skips the duplicate rows.
6. For contacts, select the lawful basis for contacting these people.
7. Select the Import button. It shows the number of rows to import.

To prepare a listings file, see Import your listings.

Stage 2: Connect where your clients already are

Connect a messaging channel

Buyers write to you on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, SMS and email. Connect your channels, and their messages come into one inbox. A Workspace admin or a Team manager can do this step.

1. Open Settings → Channels.
2. WhatsApp has its own card. Its setup uses your Meta Business account, and Meta reviews your display name. For the steps, see Connect your WhatsApp number. You do not have to wait for WhatsApp to connect the other channels.
3. For the other channels, open More channels:
   • SMS: type your number in the international format, with no spaces, for example +97145550100. Then type the Account ID and the Secret key from your Twilio account.
   • Instagram and Messenger: type your Instagram business account or your Facebook Page, and paste the connection key.
   • Email: email needs no key.
4. Select Save. The card shows Waiting for your first message until a message comes in.

When a channel is connected, use Send a test message on its card to check it.

Connect a property portal

Enquiries from Property Finder, Bayut, Dubizzle and Aqar come in from their lead emails.

1. Open Settings → Integrations.
2. Under Connected portals, copy your lead-capture email address.
3. In your Property Finder, Bayut, Dubizzle and Aqar accounts, add this address as a recipient for new leads.
4. On the card of each portal, select Connect. Property Finder also asks for the API key and the API secret of your agency account. Bayut, Dubizzle and Aqar need no key. The card then shows Connected.

After you connect Bayut or Dubizzle, its card shows a Feed URL. Select Copy feed URL, and send it to your account manager at Bayut or Dubizzle. The portal reads your listings from it.

Aqar has no listing API. On a listing, open Marketing. Under Aqar, select Download Aqar export. The file has your listings that are ready for Aqar. Enter them in the Aqar app.

Stage 3: Make yourself bookable

Set your booking availability

Buyers can book a viewing from your booking link. First, set the hours when you show properties.

1. Open Your account, and go to Booking availability.
2. Make sure that Accept public viewing bookings is on.
3. Under Weekly hours, select your days, and set the hours. Make sure that they are the hours that you work.
4. Set the Slot length, the Booking window (days) and the Minimum notice.
5. Select Save availability.

Each listing has its own booking link. On the listing, open Activity. Under Booking link, select Copy link, and send the link to your buyer. The buyer opens it on their phone, and selects a free time.

Connect a calendar

To see your viewings in your own calendar, connect Google or Outlook.

1. Open Your account, and go to Connected calendars.
2. Select Connect Google or Connect Outlook, and sign in.

Stage 4: Bring your team in

Verify your email

When you signed up, we sent you an email. Open it, and select the link to verify your address. The link is valid for 24 hours. If the link is too old:

1. Open Your account, and go to Email address.
2. Select Send a new verification link.
3. Open the new email, and select the link.

Your email address then shows Verified.

Invite your team

A Workspace admin or a Team manager can invite people.

1. Open Settings → Team.
2. Under Invite a teammate, type the Email address.
3. Under Role, select a role:
   • Agent: works their own leads, deals and viewings.
   • Team lead: sees and manages the leads, deals and viewings of their team. A team lead does not see billing or commissions.
   • Team manager: has all that an agent has, plus the team reports, and can invite agents.
   • Workspace admin: has full access, including billing and settings. Only a Workspace admin can give this role.
4. Select Send invitation.

Each person gets an email, and sets a password. Pending invitations shows who has not joined yet. An invitation expires after seven days. For more about roles, see Invite your team and set roles.

After the checklist

These steps are not on the checklist. Do them when you are ready. A Workspace admin or a Team manager can do them.

Route leads by area

A new lead from your lead forms, from the AI concierge or from an automation can go to the agent for its area. Lead routing is not on every plan.

1. Open CRM → Leads, and select Routing.
2. Type the Region, for example Dubai Marina. Type it as it shows on your leads. A rule for Dubai also matches Dubai Marina.
3. Under Assign to, select the agent.
4. Set the Priority. Lower numbers run first.
5. Select Add rule.

Add one rule for each area that you cover. A lead that you type in yourself, and a lead from a portal email, do not use these rules.

Set up the AI concierge

The AI concierge answers each enquiry, day and night, in Arabic or English. Start in Draft mode. In Draft mode, the AI writes a reply, and your agent checks it and sends it.

1. Open Settings → AI Concierge.
2. Select Start from a template, for example Listing enquiry concierge. The template fills in the form, and suggests articles for your knowledge base. Nothing is saved until you save.
3. Under Brokerage settings, read AI processing, and select I understand and consent.
4. Select Enable AI Concierge.
5. Set Default mode for new agents to Draft (suggest only). In Auto-assist and Fully automatic modes, the AI sends replies itself. No person checks them first.
6. Type your Escalation keywords. When a buyer uses one of these words, or asks for a person, the AI gives the chat to your team.
7. Select Save brokerage settings.

Then give the AI your facts:

1. Open Settings → Knowledge base, and select Add article.
2. Type the Title and the Answer in your own words.
3. Select Save.

Before the AI talks to buyers, test it under Try it out.

Automations and message templates

Automations run your follow-ups, for example a viewing reminder a day before.

1. Open Settings → Automations.
2. Under Start from a template, select Viewing reminder, a day before.
3. Check when it runs and the message, and select Save. A saved automation stays off until you turn it on.
4. Select Test with a contact, and select a contact. The test sends nothing. It shows what the automation does.
5. When you are ready, select Turn on.

On WhatsApp, Meta must approve each template before it can be sent outside the 24-hour window. To make a template:

1. Open Settings → Message templates.
2. On a sample, select Clone. Darbase makes the template in English and in Arabic.
3. Check the words, and select Save changes.
4. When WhatsApp is connected, select Submit for approval.

Commission rules

Darbase works out each commission from your rules: the agent's share and the manager's share.

1. Open Settings → Commission rules, and select New rule.
2. Select the branch, the deal type and the agent. Or keep Any branch, Any deal type and Any agent.
3. Under Rate structure, select Flat rate or Tiered (slab). A tiered rule pays a different rate on each slice of the gross commission (GCI).
4. For a flat rate, type the Agent split (%), the Manager override (%) and the Brokerage (%).
5. Select Create rule.

Darbase uses your rules when it drafts the commission for a deal.