This article helps you resolve common issues with leads, automations, forms, and properties in Playground's CRM.
Understanding CRM & Marketing Automation
Playground's CRM is a separate module from your school dashboard — it has its own settings, forms, automation engine, and email connections. Because each area (leads, automations, properties, connections) operates independently, an issue in one place often surfaces in another. For example, automations that appear broken are frequently the result of an email account that hasn't been connected in Settings → Connections. Understanding how the pieces fit together makes most issues straightforward to fix.
Automation Issues
My Automation Shows an "Invalid" Status
An automation marked Invalid means one or more steps in the workflow have a configuration problem that prevents it from running. The most common cause is an email account that is disconnected or not properly set up in your CRM connections.
From your CRM Dashboard, click Settings in the left sidebar.
Click the Connections tab.
Under Calendar and email accounts, check whether your email account shows an Email not connected badge. If it does, click the three dots (. . .) next to the account and reconnect it.
Once reconnected, return to Automations in the left sidebar.
Open the Invalid automation and click each step to check for any remaining red indicators. Update any steps that reference a missing template or sender address.
Click Save changes, if all steps are valid, the status will update to Live.
💡 Each email step in an automation requires a Send from address and an Email template. If either is missing or disconnected, that step will mark the entire automation as Invalid.
A Lead Is Still Enrolled in an Automation After the Goal Was Met
If a lead appears to have completed the automation's goal condition but is still listed as enrolled, this is expected behavior when the automation includes a delay step. The system waits for the current delay window to finish before checking whether the goal has been met. You'll see a line in the lead's automation history like "Waiting until [date and time]", this confirms the lead is in a delay, not stuck.
Open the lead's profile in your CRM Dashboard.
Scroll to the Automations section on the lead's profile and check for a "Waiting until…" timestamp. If present, the automation will exit automatically once that time passes and the goal is rechecked.
If you need to remove the lead from the automation immediately, click the three dots (. . .) next to the active automation.
Click Unenroll lead from this automation.
💡 Goal checks happen at the end of each delay step — not in real time. Leads will always stay enrolled until the current delay completes, even if the goal condition is already met.
My Automation Is Not Sending Emails or Texts
If an automation is live but emails or texts aren't reaching leads, the most common causes are a disconnected email account, an automation left in Draft instead of Live, or a duplicate automation creating a conflict.
From your CRM Dashboard, click Automations and confirm the automation's status shows Live, not Draft or Invalid. If it shows Invalid, see the steps above to resolve that first.
If you have duplicate automations with the same trigger, check that only one version is set to Live. Having two live automations with identical triggers can cause conflicts where neither sends reliably.
Open the lead's profile and check the Automations section to confirm the lead is enrolled and see which step the automation is currently on.
If the lead is enrolled but no messages have sent, open the automation and click the email or SMS step to verify the Send from address and template are both populated and valid.
🚨 SMS messages can only send if your organization is verified for SMS messaging. Check your SMS verification status under Settings → Connections → Phone numbers.
Lead Management Issues
I Can't Find Where to Bulk Import Leads or Upload a CSV
There is no self-serve CSV upload in CRM Settings. Leads can only be added two ways: manually one at a time using the + Add lead button, or automatically when a family submits a CRM form. If you're migrating from another system and have a large existing list, a data import can be arranged through your account manager.
To add leads one at a time, navigate to CRM Dashboard → Leads and click + Add lead in the top right corner.
Fill in the lead's Stage, primary guardian information, and student details, then click Add lead.
To import a large existing list, contact your account manager and send them your CSV file. They'll handle the import on your behalf.
💡 You can also build a shareable CRM form that lets families add themselves as leads directly. Go to Forms → Add form to get started.
Properties & Forms Issues
I Can't Add a Custom Field to the "Add Lead" Form
The Add lead window uses a fixed set of fields — Stage, guardian details, SMS opt-in, and student details. This modal cannot be customized. To collect additional information from leads, create a custom property and add it to a CRM Form, which can then be shared with leads.
From your CRM Dashboard, click Settings, then click the Properties tab.
Click + Add property in the top right corner.
Enter a label for your field (e.g., "Referral Source"), set the Association to Lead, and choose a field type (Text, Single choice, etc.).
Click Save. Your new property is now available to add to forms.
Click Forms in the left sidebar, then click Add form.
Name your form and click Create form to open the form builder.
In the form builder, click + Add lead property and select your new property from the list.
Toggle the field to Required if needed, then save and publish the form.
💡 Once published, you can send the form link to a lead from their profile, or use an automation to send it automatically when a lead reaches a specific stage.
A Custom Property I Created Isn't Appearing in the Form Builder
Custom properties only appear in the form builder when the property's Association matches the form type. If you created a Guardian or Student property but are looking for it under lead properties, it won't show up.
Go to Settings → Properties and locate your property.
Check the Association column, it should show a Lead badge if you want it to appear as a lead field in forms.
If the association is wrong, click the three dots (. . .) next to the property and edit it to update the association.
Return to Forms, open your form, and click + Add lead property, the corrected property should now appear in the list.
FAQ
Why does my automation show "Invalid" status?
Why does my automation show "Invalid" status?
Go to Settings → Connections and check whether your email account shows an Email not connected badge. Reconnect it if so.
Open the automation and click each step — look for any step missing a Send from address or email template.
Fix any misconfigured steps and click Save changes. The status will update to Live once all steps are valid.
Why is a lead still enrolled in an automation if they already met the goal?
Why is a lead still enrolled in an automation if they already met the goal?
Open the lead's profile and check the Automations section. If you see "Waiting until [date/time]", the automation is in a delay step and will recheck the goal once the delay ends.
To remove the lead immediately, click the three dots next to the automation and select Unenroll lead from this automation.
Can I bulk import leads from a spreadsheet or CSV file?
Can I bulk import leads from a spreadsheet or CSV file?
There is no self-serve CSV upload tab in CRM Settings.
To import a large list, contact your account manager and send them your CSV file — they'll import it for you.
For smaller lists, add leads one at a time via Leads → + Add lead.
How do I add a custom field like "Referred by" to collect from new leads?
How do I add a custom field like "Referred by" to collect from new leads?
Go to Settings → Properties and click + Add property. Set the Association to Lead and save.
Go to Forms → Add form, name your form, and open the builder.
Click + Add lead property and select your new field. Mark it as required if needed, then publish the form.
Note: The + Add lead quick-entry modal cannot be customized — custom fields only appear in CRM Forms.
My automation emails aren't sending — what should I check first?
My automation emails aren't sending — what should I check first?
Go to Automations and confirm the status is Live, not Draft or Invalid.
Go to Settings → Connections and confirm your email account is connected (no "Email not connected" badge).
Open the automation and click the email step — confirm the Send from address and Email template are both set.
Open the affected lead's profile and check the Automations section to see whether they're enrolled and where in the sequence they sit.
Where do I manage the stages that appear in my lead pipeline?
Where do I manage the stages that appear in my lead pipeline?
Go to Settings → Stages from your CRM Dashboard.
Drag and drop stages to reorder them. Click the pencil icon to rename a stage or the trash icon to delete it.
Click + Add Stage at the top to create a new stage.
Note: Deleting a stage that leads are currently assigned to will require you to reassign those leads to a different stage first.