Open any customer's record and you'll see small labels called tags. Some you'll add yourself; most are added automatically as the customer moves through your business. This page is the dictionary.
The two kinds of tags
System tags — added and removed automatically as things happen: an estimate goes out, a payment lands, a customer joins your plan. They're how Escape keeps track of where everyone stands. Leave these alone. They clean themselves up when the situation changes, and pulling one off by hand can stop a customer's follow-up or reminders without any warning.
Your labels — optional notes you can add to describe a customer: how many systems they have, whether they're commercial, and so on. Add and remove these freely. Nothing automatic depends on them.
Adding, removing, and the one thing never to do
- Add a tag to a customer? Yes — go right ahead. Type a new name and it's created, so you can invent whatever labels help your team.
- Take a tag off one customer? Yes for your labels (click the ×). For system tags, no — see above.
- Delete a tag from your account entirely? Don't. ⚠️
Why deleting is the dangerous one
Removing a tag from one customer affects that customer. Deleting the tag itself strips it off every customer who has it — and system tags are what your automatic messages run on. Delete one and estimates stop being chased, reminders stop firing, or members stop being recognized — with no error message and no obvious cause. A tag that looks unused is often the trigger for something that only runs once a season.
The rule: if you didn't create it, don't delete it. Want one gone? Ask us — we'll check what depends on it first, which takes about a minute.
Deleted one by accident? Tell us right away. Re-creating it with the exact same spelling gets things working again going forward, and we'll check what was mid-flight.
Your labels — safe to add and remove
| Tag | What it means |
|---|---|
| 1-system … 5-system | How many HVAC systems are at this property |
| system-ac · system-furnace · system-heatpump · system-iaq · system-full · system-other | What kind of equipment they have |
| commercial-property | This is a commercial account, not a house |
| multiple-properties | Same customer, several addresses — each property gets its own record. How to set them up |
| do-not-service | Your team has decided not to work with this customer again |
| remove-sales | Stops every sales chase for this customer — quote follow-up, win-back, upsell — while appointments, invoices, and service messages keep running. Add it and it does the rest, then clears itself after a few days so you can use it again. Full details: Stop sales follow-up for one customer |
| customer · staff · reviewer | Simple relationship labels |
equipment-10yr+ — your replacement list (system)
This one is worth knowing about. Escape watches the install dates on every piece of equipment you've recorded, and tags any customer with at least one system over ten years old.
Filter your contacts by this tag and you're looking at your replacement list — the customers most likely to need a new system in the next couple of seasons. For most shops it's the most valuable list they have.
It maintains itself:
- A system crosses ten years → the tag appears
- You replace one unit but another is still old → the tag stays, because they still have an aging system
- You replace their last old unit → the tag comes off on its own
Don't add or remove it by hand. Just keep install dates accurate on the customer record and the list stays right. If a customer's equipment dates were never filled in, they won't appear — worth fixing on your next visit.
Seeing equipment-scan appear and vanish? That's us re-checking the whole list, usually after new records are added. Ignore it.
Where a lead came from
Added automatically when a lead arrives; useful for seeing what's actually working.
| Tag | What it means |
|---|---|
| source-call | Called you |
| source-web | Came from your website |
| source-facebook · source-instagram | Came from social |
| source-google-lsa | Google Local Services |
| source-referral | Referred by someone |
| source-other | Everything else |
Jobs and appointments (system)
| Tag | What it means |
|---|---|
| new-lead | Brand new lead, not yet worked |
| open-deal | Active job in your pipeline |
| appointment-booked · confirmed · job-confirmed | Booked, and the customer has confirmed |
| rescheduled · rescheduled-job | The appointment moved |
| job-cancelled · lead-cancelled · cancelled-in-past | Cancelled — the last one flags a customer who has cancelled before |
| needs-return | The job needs a return visit (more) |
| no-charge | Nothing billable on this visit |
| invalid-lead | Bad number, wrong area, spam |
| requested-callback · requested-financing | The customer asked for a call back, or about financing |
Estimates (system)
| Tag | What it means |
|---|---|
| estimate-sent | Estimate is out; follow-up is running |
| estimate-accepted · estimate-approved | They said yes — follow-up stops, scheduling starts |
| estimate-lost | They declined; all chasing stops |
| estimate-archived | Closed out and filed |
| in-pre-estimate · in-followup | Currently inside an estimate sequence |
Money (system)
| Tag | What it means |
|---|---|
| invoiced | An invoice has been sent |
| deposit-paid | Deposit received |
| pay-reminder · in-late-payment | Automatic payment reminders are running |
| payment-escalation | Unpaid long enough that your office was alerted |
| payment-failed · final-payment-notice | A payment attempt failed / last notice sent |
Memberships (system)
| Tag | What it means |
|---|---|
| member | Active member — member pricing applies |
| plan-1 · plan-2 · plan-3 | Which of your plans they're on (your plan names map to these) |
| member-signup | Just signed up; welcome sequence running |
| membership-not-paid | Their membership payment didn't go through |
| cancelled-membership | Membership ended |
| tune-up-reminder-fall · tune-up-reminder-spring | Seasonal maintenance reminder sent |
Messaging and privacy (system — handle with care)
| Tag | What it means |
|---|---|
| opted-out · dnc | This customer replied STOP. All messaging to them has ended — see Customer opt-outs. Only the customer can undo this by texting START; removing the tag yourself won't restore texting, because the phone carriers enforce it too. |
| service-declined | The customer turned down recommended work |
| sales-stopped | Your team used the remove-sales tag on this customer at some point. It stays permanently as the record — leave it. (What that means) |
| replied | They've responded to a message — automatic chasing has stepped aside |
Tags that look technical (system bookkeeping)
You'll occasionally see tags like in-speed-to-lead, in-missed-call-recovery, in-nurture, in-rehash, in-service-call, in-service-followup, trigger-funnel-2, rehash-eligible, seasonal-reactivation-pool, auto-purged, reindex / reindexed, video-build / video-ready.
These are Escape's own scratch notes — they mark that a customer is currently inside an automatic sequence, or that a background task ran. They appear and disappear on their own. Nothing to do with them except ignore them.
Quick rules
- Never delete a tag you didn't create. Deleting affects every customer and can silently stop automatic messages.
- If you didn't add it to that customer, don't take it off them either.
- Make all the tags you want for your own tracking — new names are free and nothing automatic depends on them.
- Seeing a tag that isn't in this list? Tell us — either it's yours and we'll add it here, or it's new and we'll explain it.