How to use the broker portal

1 · Creating your account

Open loanadviserusa.com and click Broker Sign Up. You'll fill in your company information, choose a password, and submit. The portal sends you a welcome email immediately.

What happens after you submit

1. Your account is created and you can sign in immediately.
2. You receive a welcome email with sign-in info and a note about domain authentication (DNS).
3. By default, emails you send through the portal go out from our verified address. To send from your domain instead, we'll send you three DNS records (TXT for domain verification, DKIM, and DMARC) to add at your registrar.

2 · Signing in

Click Broker Sign In, enter your email and password, and you're in. The session keeps you signed in across pages.

3 · Forgot password

If you can't sign in, click Forgot password? on the login screen. Enter the email on your account and we send you a reset link.

• The reset link is valid for 1 hour.
• For security, the page always says "if an account exists, a link has been sent" — even if the email isn't on file.
• Open the email, click the link, choose a new password, and sign in.

4 · The top bar

Once you're signed in, every page shows the broker top bar with quick access to the main areas.

5 · Dashboard & applications list

The dashboard is the main view after sign-in. It lists every application assigned to you, newest first, with a status badge and an unread-message count.

What's on each row

• Business name and Application ID — the unique APP-YYYY-NNNNN identifier.
• Owner name, funding type, and amount requested.
• Status badge: New, Contacted, Emailed, Approved, Declined, or Pending.
• Unread message count if the client has sent you anything you haven't read yet.

Click any row to open the full application detail view.

6 · Inside an application

Opening an application reveals a tabbed workspace where everything related to that file lives in one place: the application itself, the conversation with the client, your internal notes, your reminders, the document vault, and the email log.

7 · Application tab

Shows every field the client (or you) filled out: owner info, business info, requested funding type and amount, monthly revenue, credit score range, industry, intended use of funds, time in business, and so on.

Use the Edit Client button at the top to update the underlying contact and business details — see section 13.

8 · Messages tab

This is your in-app chat with the client. They see your replies inside their own client portal and also receive an email notification when you write. You see their replies here in real time.

9 · Notes tab

Private notes for your eyes only. The client never sees these. Use them for underwriting flags, "called and left voicemail," competitor notes, or anything else worth remembering on the file.

10 · Reminders tab

Schedule a future reminder for an application — for instance, "follow up on bank statements in 3 days." When the reminder fires, the system surfaces it to you. Reminders are private to you.

11 · Documents tab

The document vault for the application. Both you and the client can upload files. Each file shows who uploaded it.

Features here

• Drag-and-drop or browse — upload PDFs, Word docs, Excel, images, TXT, CSV (max 20 MB each).
• Description — a label so you know what each file is.
• Requires signature — checking this triggers an e-signature flow for the client.
• Per-file actions — Download, Email to Client (sends them a copy), or Delete.
• Uploader tag — each row shows whether you or the client uploaded it.

12 · Email Log tab

A complete record of every email sent regarding this application — from you, from the system, and from the client portal. Useful for proving "yes, we sent that" and for retracing the file's history.

13 · Editing the client (contact & business)

From the Application tab, click Edit Client. A modal opens with four tabs:

1. Client Info — first/last name, email, phone, title, date of birth, home address.
2. Business — business name, phone, email, business address.
3. Funding — funding type, amount requested, monthly revenue, credit score, use of funds.
4. Portal Account — shows whether the client has a portal login. Use Send Password Reset Email to give them a fresh 1-hour reset link.

14 · Opening Leads

Click the green Leads button in the top bar. Your leads modal opens. Leads are your private list — prospects you're working before they become full applications.

15 · Adding a lead

Click + Add Lead. The form expands inline.

• Company Name (required)
• Contact Name — we use the first name as {first_name} in templates.
• Email — required if you want to send them anything.
• Phone · State (2-letter) · Notes

Save and the lead appears at the top of the list.

16 · Importing CSV or Excel

Click ⬇ Import CSV/Excel. Pick a file with columns named company_name, contact_name, email, phone, state. The portal walks the rows and inserts new leads.

• Up to 10,000 rows per import.
• Duplicate emails are skipped automatically (across the import and against your existing leads).
• Rows without a company name are skipped.

17 · Searching & pagination

The search bar above the list filters by company, contact, email, or phone in real time. The list shows 100 leads per page; use the pager at the bottom to move through them.

18 · Daily email cap (20/day)

To keep your sending reputation healthy, the portal caps each broker at 20 lead emails per day (introductions, follow-ups, and application links combined). A banner at the top of the Leads modal shows how many you have left.

• Blue — more than 5 emails left.
• Amber — 5 or fewer left.
• Red — cap reached; the buttons stop sending until midnight.

After each send, the toast at the bottom of the screen also shows "Introduction sent to… (14 of 20 left today)" so you always know where you stand.

19 · Send introduction

Click the green Intro button on any lead row. The portal:

1. Picks one of your enabled introduction templates (random pick, or your forced default if you've set one).
2. Substitutes {first_name}, {company}, and {broker_company} with the lead's actual info.
3. Wraps the body in a branded header, an "apply" call-to-action button, and your contact card.
4. Sends from the platform address with your name and email as the reply-to.
5. Logs the send to the lead's email history and decrements your daily quota.

20 · Send follow-up

The blue Follow-Up button works the same way as Intro but uses your follow-up template set — six default variants, randomized, with the same placeholder substitution and branding.

Follow-ups include the same personalized apply button as introductions, so a lead who's ready can convert in a single click.

21 · Send application link

The indigo App Link button sends a focused, "here's your application" email with the same personalized URL. Use this once a lead is warm and you want them to fill out the actual application.

Each lead gets a unique referral token the first time you send them anything. When they click through and submit an application, the system attaches your broker ID to the new application automatically.

22 · Email history

Click the ··· button on any lead row to expand the email history inline — every introduction, follow-up, and app-link email you've sent that lead, oldest first, with subject and timestamp.

23 · Unsubscribes

Every lead email has an unsubscribe link in the footer. If a lead clicks it, they're flagged as unsubscribed in your list and the Intro / Follow-Up / App Link buttons stop working for that lead. You can still keep their record — you just can't email them through the portal anymore.

24 · Template manager

Open Settings → Emails tab. Next to "Introduction Email" and "Follow-Up Email" you'll see a 👁️ Preview & manage 6 templates button. Click it to open the manager.

The two modes

Using your own wording instead

If you'd rather write your own intro or follow-up, type into the Introduction Email or Follow-Up Email textarea on the Emails tab. Whatever you put there overrides the defaults.

To create multiple custom variants that randomize, separate them with a line containing only ---:

Hi {first_name},

My first custom variant goes here…
---
Hi {first_name},

A second variant that says it differently…
---
Hi {first_name},

A third variant…

The template manager will then list your custom variants instead of the defaults, with the same checkbox / radio controls.

25 · Lender directory

Click Lenders in the top bar. The modal has a split layout: lender list on the left, a detail/edit form on the right.

Fields per lender

• Company name (required), contact name, email, phone
• Address, city, state, ZIP, website
• Funding types they accept
• Minimum and maximum amount
• Notes
• Signature text and logo (used when you send PDFs from that lender)

Logos can be JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, or SVG — up to 5 MB.

26 · Sending an application to a lender

From an application's Application tab, click Send to Lender. A composer opens:

• Pick a lender from your directory.
• Subject line — pre-filled with the business name; edit if you want.
• Message — a paragraph that introduces the file. Leave blank for the default.
• Click Send. The portal builds a polished PDF of the application (with the client's signature if it's been signed), attaches it, and emails it to the lender.

27 · Profile & logo

Click Settings in the top bar, then the Profile tab.

• Company name, your full name, title
• Phone, fax, website
• Address, city, state, ZIP
• Company logo — appears on lender PDFs and email headers (max 5 MB)

28 · Email signature

The Signature tab lets you set a single line of italicized signature text that appears below the body of lender emails, above your contact block. Most brokers use it for something like "Best regards" or a short tagline.

29 · Email templates

The Emails tab is where lead-email wording lives. Three textareas, three "Preview & manage 6 templates" buttons:

• Introduction Email — what the green Intro button sends.
• Follow-Up Email — what the blue Follow-Up button sends.
• Send Application Email — what the indigo App Link button sends.

Leave a textarea blank to use the built-in 6 default variants. Type your own to override (use --- on its own line between custom variants for randomization).

See the Template Manager section for full details on enabling, disabling, and defaulting variants.

30 · Tips & best practices

Use a real first name on every lead

Templates substitute {first_name} with whatever comes before the first space in the lead's contact name. "John Smith" becomes "John." A contact with no name falls back to "there," which is fine but less personal.

Don't burn through your 20-cap on cold sends

Save some of your daily quota for warm leads who need a same-day follow-up. If you're sending bulk intros, do it first thing in the morning so you have room to react throughout the day.

Mix the rotation

Random rotation works best when you have 3-6 variants checked. Two variants is too repetitive; checking only one is the same as setting a default.

Keep your signature short

One line works best. Long signatures push the call-to-action button below the fold on mobile.

Use Notes liberally

Underwriting questions, voicemail logs, owner quirks — the Notes tab is private and instantly searchable inside the application. Future-you will thank you.

Send the application PDF the same day a lender asks

The Send-to-Lender flow generates a polished PDF on the fly. There's no reason to download and re-attach manually.

31 · Troubleshooting

"Daily limit reached" when I try to send

You've hit the 20-emails-per-day cap. The counter resets at midnight (your server's time zone). If you need a higher cap, contact your account manager.

"This lead has unsubscribed"

The lead clicked the unsubscribe link in a previous email. You can't email them through the portal anymore, but you can still keep their record and reach out by phone.

"This lead has no email address"

Open the lead's row, click Edit, add an email, and save. Then retry.

I don't see the "Preview & manage 6 templates" button

Make sure you're on the Settings → Emails tab. The buttons appear next to the Introduction Email and Follow-Up Email textareas.

The template manager shows "Server error (500)"

The database migration that adds preference columns may not have run yet. Click Save Preferences once and the portal will attempt to create the columns automatically. If that fails, ask your administrator to run add_broker_template_prefs.sql on the database.

My welcome email never arrived

Check spam. If still missing, sign in anyway — your account is created the moment you submit signup. Then use Forgot password if you need a reset.

Emails go out from the platform address, not my domain

Expected until your domain's DNS is verified (TXT, DKIM, DMARC). Your name appears in the From line either way, and Reply-To is set to your email.

32 · Glossary