# Esferas.io

> LinkedIn sales acceleration platform that automates prospecting, outreach, and relationship building for sales professionals.

## Product Overview

Esferas.io helps sales teams automate their LinkedIn outreach by:
- Importing and organizing LinkedIn prospects
- Creating automated multi-step outreach sequences
- Sending personalized connection requests and messages
- Tracking engagement and managing conversations
- Discovering prospect email addresses through enrichment

The platform consists of a web application for management and analytics, plus a Chrome extension that executes actions directly on LinkedIn.

## Core Features

### Prospect Management
- Import LinkedIn profiles from searches, Sales Navigator, or CSV exports
- Store contact details: name, title, company, email, phone, websites
- Organize prospects with tags for segmentation
- Track connection status (pending, connected, not connected)
- Add notes to individual prospects
- Archive/restore prospects as needed

### Action Sequences
- Create automated multi-step outreach workflows (up to 10 steps per sequence)
- Available action types: Visit Profile, Connect, Send Message, Sync Connections, Enrich Data
- Define time delays between steps (delays calculate from previous step completion)
- Set priorities: High, Normal, or Low
- Organize sequences into folders
- Sequences auto-pause when prospect replies or accepts connection
- Manually pause, resume, or complete sequences per prospect

### Message Templates
- Create reusable message content for sequences
- Use variable replacements for personalization (e.g., {FirstName}, {Company})
- Organize templates into folders
- Templates can be shared across multiple sequences

### Data Enrichment
- Request email address discovery for prospects
- Enrichment credits are purchased in packages
- Batch processing for multiple prospects
- Track enrichment status and results

### Analytics Dashboard
- View activity metrics and trends
- Track sequence performance
- Monitor queue health
- See recent actions and prospect replies
- Activity stream with timeline of all interactions

## How-To Guides

### Importing Prospects
1. Navigate to Prospects > Import
2. Choose import source:
   - **LinkedIn Search**: Paste search URL, extension imports profiles
   - **Sales Navigator**: Export from Sales Navigator, import CSV
   - **CSV Upload**: Upload from OctopusCRM, Lead Leaper, or The Data Scraper
3. Duplicates are detected by LinkedIn URN and skipped
4. New prospects appear in your Directory

### Creating Message Templates
1. Go to Sequences > Message Templates
2. Click "Create Template"
3. Enter template name and content
4. Use variables like {FirstName}, {LastName}, {Company}, {Title} for personalization
5. Save and organize into folders

### Building Action Sequences
1. Navigate to Sequences > Action Sequences
2. Click "Create Sequence"
3. Add steps (up to 10):
   - Step 1: Usually "Visit Profile" to warm up the prospect
   - Step 2: "Connect" with optional connection message
   - Step 3+: Follow-up messages with delays
4. Set time delays between steps (e.g., 2 days after visit, 3 days after connect)
5. Select message templates for message steps
6. Set sequence priority
7. Save sequence

### Assigning Sequences to Prospects
1. Select prospects from your Directory (checkbox selection)
2. Click "Assign Sequence" button
3. Choose the sequence to assign
4. Actions are queued for the extension to execute

### Managing Pending Connections
1. Go to Prospects > Pending Connections
2. View all sent connection requests awaiting acceptance
3. Withdraw requests that have been pending too long
4. Extension syncs accepted connections automatically

### Using Enrichments
1. Select prospects needing email addresses
2. Click "Enrich" to request email discovery
3. Credits are deducted from your package
4. Results appear on prospect profiles when complete
5. Monitor usage in Enrichments dashboard

## Key Concepts

### Prospects
LinkedIn profiles imported into Esferas. Each prospect has:
- LinkedIn profile data (name, title, company, headline)
- Connection status tracking
- Message history
- Assigned sequences and current step
- Tags for organization
- Notes and enrichment data

### Action Items
Individual tasks queued for execution. Types include:
- **Visit**: View prospect's LinkedIn profile
- **Connect**: Send connection request
- **Message**: Send LinkedIn message
- **SyncConnections**: Check for new connections
- **SyncMessages**: Retrieve new messages
- **Enrich**: Request email discovery
- **SearchImport**: Import from LinkedIn search

### Sequences
Automated workflows that execute actions over time. Each sequence:
- Contains 1-10 ordered steps
- Has configurable delays between steps
- Can be paused/resumed per prospect
- Auto-pauses on prospect engagement
- Tracks completion status

### Tags
Labels for organizing prospects. Use cases:
- Industry segmentation
- Campaign tracking
- Lead scoring tiers
- Geographic regions

### Daily Limits
Configurable rate limits that control how many actions execute per day. Important for:
- Preventing LinkedIn restrictions
- Managing outreach volume
- Prioritizing high-value prospects

## Chrome Extension

The Esferas Chrome extension is **required** for LinkedIn automation.

### What It Does
- Executes action items from your queue
- Visits profiles, sends connections, delivers messages
- Syncs new messages back to Esferas
- Updates connection statuses
- Processes pending connection acceptances

### Requirements
- Google Chrome browser
- Extension installed from Chrome Web Store
- Logged into LinkedIn in the same browser
- Logged into Esferas in the extension popup

### How It Works
1. Extension polls for queued action items
2. Actions execute with delays to mimic human behavior
3. Results sync back to the web application
4. Extension respects daily limits and rate throttling

## Troubleshooting

### Extension Not Processing Actions
- **Check extension is installed**: Look for Esferas icon in Chrome toolbar
- **Verify you're logged in**: Click extension icon, ensure you see your account
- **Confirm LinkedIn is open**: Extension needs an active LinkedIn tab
- **Check for updates**: Outdated extension may have compatibility issues
- **Clear browser cache**: Sometimes resolves connection issues
- **Restart browser**: Force reconnection to Esferas servers

### Actions Stuck in Queue
- **Daily limit reached**: Check My Account > Daily Limits for current usage
- **LinkedIn restrictions**: LinkedIn may temporarily block automation activity
- **Extension offline**: Ensure extension is running and connected
- **Rate throttling**: Actions are spaced out to avoid detection
- **High priority queue**: Lower priority actions wait for high priority

### Prospects Not Importing
- **CSV format issues**: Ensure columns match expected format
- **Duplicates**: Existing prospects (same LinkedIn URN) are skipped
- **LinkedIn URL invalid**: Profile URLs must be valid LinkedIn profile links
- **Sales Navigator format**: Use the Sales Navigator export option specifically

### Sequences Pausing Unexpectedly
- **Prospect replied**: Sequences auto-pause when prospect sends a message
- **Connection accepted**: Some sequences pause on acceptance to await manual follow-up
- **Manual pause**: Check if sequence was manually paused
- **Prospect archived**: Archived prospects don't receive sequence actions

### Enrichment Issues
- **No credits remaining**: Purchase additional enrichment packages
- **Enrichment failed**: Some profiles cannot be enriched (no public email, etc.)
- **Batch still processing**: Large batches take time, check status in dashboard
- **Invalid LinkedIn URL**: Prospect must have valid LinkedIn profile

### Login/Authentication Problems
- **Session expired**: Log out and back in to refresh session
- **LinkedIn logged out**: Ensure you're logged into LinkedIn in the same browser
- **Auth0 issues**: Clear cookies and try logging in again
- **Account suspended**: Contact support if you see suspension message

## Account & Billing

### Trial Period
- Free trial available for new accounts
- Full feature access during trial
- Trial duration shown in dashboard
- Notification when trial is expiring

### Subscription
- Managed through Stripe
- Access Billing from My Account menu
- Update payment method or cancel subscription
- View invoice history

### Daily Action Limits
- Configure in My Account > Daily Limits
- Set maximum actions per day by type
- Lower limits = safer, higher limits = faster outreach
- Recommended: Start conservative, increase gradually

### Enrichment Packages
- Purchased separately from subscription
- Credits used when enriching prospects
- View remaining credits in Enrichments dashboard
- Packages don't expire

### Account Cancellation
- Cancel subscription in Billing section
- Account remains accessible until period ends
- Contact support@esferas.io to reactivate
- Data retained for 90 days after cancellation

## Resources

- [Help Center](https://help.esferas.io)
- [Getting Started Video](https://vimeo.com/677513519/010831b9ba)
- [Freshdesk Knowledge Base](https://esferas.freshdesk.com)
- [Extension Setup Guide](https://esferas.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/folders/70000301056)
- [Importing Prospects Guide](https://esferas.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/70000369634-importing-prospects)
- [Sales Navigator Integration](https://esferas.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/70000393133-import-via-sales-navigator)
- [Message Templates Guide](https://esferas.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/folders/70000306605)
- [Billing Information](https://esferas.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/folders/70000301026)

## Contact Support

- **Email**: support@esferas.io
- **Help Center**: https://help.esferas.io
- **In-App**: Click the support widget in the bottom-right corner