Zapier Email Parser Setup for Sierra Lead Capture

Table of Contents

1. Why This Matters
2. How the Email Parser Works
3. How to Get Started 
   1. Step 1: Set Up Your Zapier Mailbox
   2. Step 2: Create a Parser Template
   3. Step 3: Build the Zap
   4. Step 4: Split First and Last Name (Optional)
   5. Step 5: Map Fields and Publish
4. Best Practices
5. Troubleshooting Common Issues
6. FAQs

Why This Matters

Some lead sources — third-party portals, inquiry forms, or referral tools — don't support Sierra's API or direct integrations. If those platforms send lead notifications by email, you can use Zapier's Email Parser to:

• Automatically capture leads from email-based sources without manual data entry
• Route leads directly into Sierra the moment a notification arrives
• Standardize lead data across multiple sources using a single Zapier workflow

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How the Email Parser Works

Zapier's Email Parser is a separate service from the main Zapier platform, hosted at parser.zapier.com. The general flow is:

1. You create a dedicated mailbox in the Email Parser tool — Zapier gives you a unique email address.
2. You forward a sample notification email to that address to use as a template.
3. You highlight the fields you want to capture (name, email, phone, etc.) and save them as parser fields.
4. Back in Zapier, you create a Zap using the Email Parser by Zapier trigger, which fires whenever a new email arrives in that mailbox.
5. The Zap maps the parsed fields to the corresponding fields in Sierra to create a new lead.

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How to Get Started

Step 1: Set Up Your Zapier Mailbox

1. Go to parser.zapier.com and log in with your Zapier account.
2. Click Create Mailbox. Zapier will generate a unique email address for this mailbox.
3. When prompted, enter a custom identifier for the mailbox address. This needs to be unique — a good format is your site domain + lead source (e.g., mysite-zillow or mysite-homevalues).
4. Forward a real sample email from your lead source to the mailbox address Zapier provided.
5. Wait for the email to arrive in the mailbox — you'll see it appear in the parser interface.

Step 2: Create a Parser Template

Once your sample email has arrived in the mailbox:

1. Open the email in the parser interface.
2. Highlight the text you want to capture as a field (e.g., the lead's full name).
3. When prompted, give the field a name (e.g., full_name, email, phone).
4. Repeat for each field you want to extract — at minimum, capture name, email, and phone number.
5. Leave the remaining settings at their defaults unless you have a specific reason to change them.
6. Click Save Address and Template.

Step 3: Build the Zap

1. In Zapier, click Create Zap.
2. For the trigger, search for and select Email Parser by Zapier.
3. Set the trigger event to New Email.
4. Under Account, select your connected Email Parser account (the same one you set up at parser.zapier.com).
5. Under Mailbox, select the mailbox you just created.
6. Click Test Trigger — Zapier will pull in the sample email you forwarded. Confirm it found the right record and click Continue with selected record.
7. For the action, search for and select Sierra.
8. Set the action event to Create Lead.
9. Connect your Sierra account when prompted.

Step 4: Split First and Last Name (Optional)

If you captured a full name as a single field, you'll need to split it before mapping it to Sierra's First Name and Last Name fields. This requires the Formatter by Zapier tool.

To split the full name:

For First Name:

1. Add a new step between the trigger and the Sierra action. Search for and select Formatter by Zapier.
2. Set the action event to Text.
3. Under Transform, select Split Text.
4. In the Input field, select the parser output field that contains the full name.
5. Leave Separator as a space (the default).
6. Under Segment Index, select First.
7. Name this step something descriptive like Split First Name so you can identify it later.
8. Click Continue and test the step — confirm it returns the correct first name.

For Last Name:

1. Add another Formatter by Zapier step.
2. Repeat the same settings, but under Segment Index, select Last instead of First.
• Using Last (rather than Second) handles edge cases where a lead submits three names — it will always grab the final word regardless of how many name parts were entered.
3. Name this step Split Last Name.
4. Test the step to confirm it returns the correct last name.

Step 5: Map Fields and Publish

1. Open your Sierra Create Lead action step.
2. Map the fields from your Zap to Sierra's lead fields:
• First Name → output from your Split First Name formatter step
• Last Name → output from your Split Last Name formatter step
• Email → parser output email field
• Phone → parser output phone field
• Password → enter a static placeholder value (random text or numbers is fine — Sierra requires this field)
3. Map any additional fields your lead source provides (address, lead source label, etc.).
4. Click Test Action to verify the mapping looks correct. (You don't need to let it run against a live account — you can skip or cancel the test once you've confirmed the field values look right.)
5. Click Publish Zap.

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Best Practices

• Use a consistent mailbox naming format. Something like yourdomain-leadsource (e.g., acmerealty-homelight) makes it easy to manage multiple mailboxes if you expand to other sources later.
• Build one mailbox per lead source. Don't forward emails from multiple sources into the same mailbox as parser templates are source-specific and mixed formats will cause parsing errors.
• Always test with a real sample email. Generic or manually typed test emails can have slight formatting differences that cause the parser to miss fields in production.
• Use Formatter's "Last" segment for last name. Selecting "Last" instead of "Second" gracefully handles leads who enter a middle name or use hyphenated last names.
• Use a static placeholder for the Password field. Sierra requires a password when creating a lead via Zapier. A fixed placeholder (e.g., Temp1234) is fine. Leads won't use it to log in unless you have a portal enabled.

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

• The parser isn't detecting my forwarded email.
  Make sure you're forwarding the email to the exact mailbox address Zapier provided. Check that your email client isn't altering the format (some clients strip HTML or reformat plain text). Try sending a plain-text version of the notification email.
• Parser fields are returning blank or incorrect values.
  Your sample email may have a slightly different format than real incoming emails. Forward a fresh sample from the actual lead source and re-save the template with the updated email as your reference.
• First and last name are mapping as a single value in Sierra.
  Add the Formatter steps described in Step 4 to split the full name field before it reaches the Sierra action.
• Formatter is not available as a step option.
  Formatter by Zapier is a pro feature. You'll need at least the first tier of a paid Zapier plan to use it.
• The Zap creates a lead but the name shows up blank or garbled.
  Check that your Formatter's Input field is mapped to the correct parser output field not a raw text string. The field label in Zapier should show "Parser Output: [field name]."

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FAQs

• Do I need a paid Zapier account to use the Email Parser?
  The Email Parser itself is free. However, if you want to use the Formatter step to split a full name into first and last name fields, that requires a paid Zapier plan. You can skip the Formatter and attempt to parse first and last name separately in your parser template, but this can be unreliable.
• Can I use one mailbox for multiple lead sources?
  No. Each mailbox is tied to a single template based on the format of one sample email. If you have multiple lead sources that send differently formatted emails, create a separate mailbox and Zap for each.
• What should I use for the Password field when creating a lead in Sierra?
  Any static placeholder value works but random letters or numbers are also fine. Sierra requires the field to be populated, but leads don't use this password unless your website has a client portal enabled.
• How is this different from Sierra's Email to Lead feature?
  Sierra's built-in Email to Lead feature works for supported lead sources and routes emails directly without Zapier. The Email Parser approach is for sources that aren't covered by Email to Lead or a direct integration. See the Getting Started with Zapier for Sierra article for an overview of when to use Zapier vs. other options.
• Does this Zap run automatically once published?
  Yes. Once the Zap is published, it will fire every time a new email arrives in your parser mailbox and create a lead in Sierra automatically. No manual action needed.

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