When someone submits an inquiry through one of your Online Viewing Rooms, you’ll now see that information directly in ARTERNAL. No more digging through email notifications!
This guide walks you through where to find inquiries, what’s included, and how to use them to follow up with interested collectors.
🗂️ What's Included in Each Inquiry
When a viewer reaches out through your OVR link, their inquiry includes:
Contact information: Their name and email address
Link: Which Online Viewing Room they inquired through
Date: When they submitted the inquiry
Message: Their full inquiry message (if they left one)
Think of this as your starting point for conversation. From here, you can save them as a contact, view their full profile, track interactions, and respond right away.
🔍 Where to Find Inquiries
All OVR inquiries live under the OVR section in your sidebar. You'll find two main areas:
Info Collected
This is your hub for all leads and contacts who've come through your Online Viewing Rooms. Here you can see everyone who's submitted an inquiry, filter by contact status, and take action.
Info Collected has three filter tabs:
Filter | What It Shows |
All | Every inquiry from your OVRs |
My Contacts | Only people already saved in your contact library |
New Leads | People who inquired but haven't been saved as contacts yet |
Inquiries
This section lets you view inquiries organized by artwork:
Artwork — See which works are generating interest, with the contact and message for each inquiry
Archived — Inquiries you've finished following up on and moved out of your active list
👥 Understanding Contact Labels
When you look at your inquiries, you'll notice different labels next to contact names. Here's what each one means:
Label | What It Means |
No label | This person is already saved in your contact library |
LEAD | This person inquired but hasn't been saved as a contact yet. Click their name to save them. |
NEW | ARTERNAL automatically saved this person as a new contact after their inquiry |
📋 Info Collected
The Info Collected section shows all visitors who have engaged with your Online Viewing Rooms in one streamlined list. You'll see their name, email, which OVR link they came from, and the date of their inquiry.
Working with Existing Contacts
For people already in your contact library (no label next to their name), click the three vertical dots to reveal more options:
View contact
Send Smartmail
Add a tag
Add to List
Saving New Leads
For people labeled as LEAD, you'll see a Create Contact button. Click it to save them to your contact library so you can start tracking your relationship with them.
Pro tip: Use the "New Leads" filter tab to quickly see everyone who still needs to be added to your contacts.
💡 Controlling Auto-Save Behavior
By default, ARTERNAL automatically saves new inquirers as contacts (these show the blue "NEW" label). If you'd prefer to review leads before saving them:
Go to Settings > Online Viewing Room
Check the box that says "Don't create contacts from emails collected in OVRs"
When this setting is enabled, new inquirers will show as "LEAD" instead of "NEW," giving you control over who gets added to your contact library.
🖼️ Inquiries by Artwork
The Artwork tab under Inquiries gives you a different view. Organized by the works themselves rather than the contacts. This is helpful when you want to see which pieces are generating the most interest.
Each entry shows the artwork image alongside the contact who inquired and any message they left.
📁 Archived
Once you've followed up on an inquiry and no further engagement is needed, you can archive it. Archived inquiries are stored here so you can reference them later if needed, but they won't clutter your active views.
📬 Keep the Conversation Going
Ready to respond to an inquiry? Click the three dots next to any contact and choose "Send Smartmail" to open a pre-addressed message window where you can customize your reply.
After you send a message, return to the inquiry and you'll see a "View Thread" button, so you can quickly pick up where you left off.
💡 Pro tip: The tag "OVR-email" is automatically added to every inquiry, making it easy to filter contacts who came through your Online Viewing Rooms.
✨ Example Use Cases
Not sure how your team might use the Viewing Room Inquiries feature? Here are a few examples:
🎯 Sales Associate
As inquiries roll in, jump in right away to follow up with interested collectors. Each inquiry includes contact info, a specific message, and the artwork being referenced, making it easy to respond with context and keep conversations moving.
👩🎨 Gallery Director
Check which artists and artworks are generating the most inquiries to better understand demand. This can inform decisions about future shows, pricing, or consignment strategy..
📣 Marketing Manager
Use inquiry data to build segmented lists like "Interested in Abstract Works" or "Top Collectors in Europe" for more targeted campaigns.
🗃️ Registrar
See which works are being asked about and make quick checks on availability or holds. Flag works that may need to be marked as reserved after a conversation starts.
❓FAQs
Q: Can I reply to the inquiry directly from ARTERNAL?
A: Yes! Click the three dots and choose Send Smartmail to open a pre-addressed message window.
Q: How do I save a lead as a contact?
A: Find them in Info Collected and click the Create Contact button next to their name.
Q: What's the difference between "NEW" and "LEAD"?
A: "NEW" means ARTERNAL automatically saved the contact. "LEAD" means the person inquired but hasn't been saved yet. Click "Create Contact" to add them.
Q: Can I add an inquiry contact to a list?
A: Yes! Click the three-dot menu and select Add to List.
Q: Are contacts automatically created when someone submits an inquiry?
A: Yes, unless you've disabled this option under Settings > Online Viewing Room.
Q: What's the difference between Info Collected and Inquiries?
A: Info Collected shows all leads/contacts in one list, organized by person. Inquiries > Artwork shows the same information organized by which artwork was inquired about.