I cannot count how many conversations I’ve had with fellow entrepreneurs and small business owners starting with “I wish I could get my inbox down to zero” or “My inbox is over crowded with junk I can’t find that one email”. Meanwhile, I am thinking what kind of emails are they getting that I am not because my business inbox is completely streamlined and organized. Marie Forleo once said if you can answer it in 2 minutes or less do it or something of that nature. That’s what I tend to do. As soon as I see the email if it’s a quick question and response that’s what the person receives. If it is lengthy it gets put on the back burner.
Multiple Email Addresses
When my online resale boutique first launched there was one email for ALL emails. Let that nightmare marinate with you for a second. All order, customers, payment, and business emails in one box was just a mess that it became a nightmare. First, thing I did was buy another domain name. I had boutique in the domain name. A rookie mistake. Next, the people at Go Daddy helped me set up several emails. Each email has a purpose for your business.
Email name options
- Your name
- Payments
- Orders
- Customers or CS
- Press
- Advertising
Stir clear of Hello, info, Admin and other generic email options that can cause your email and website to be attacked. Yes, hello is a very cute email address but it does catch a plethora of spam. ICB Consults uses it as a general email for inquires only.
Code Emails
If you have an Apple product in the mail program which is similar to outlook, I believe, you can color code with flags and denote VIP email senders. This has been extremely helpful for my business. When the word VIP pops up on one of my Apple products, I know that that email is from someone who I need to respond to quicker than normal, or as cliché as it is I know I have a very important correspondence that needs my full undivided attention. Flagging emails help me keep things in order. For instance, I use the green flag option to segment all of my finance emails that I need to keep.
Create Folders
Just as every email address serves a different purpose creating folders serves an even bigger purpose. Do you lose emails or have countless threads with clients, customers, vendors and more. Establishing separate folders will help you tremendously. Every time I start a new project with my website designer or fashion illustrator I create folders for these emails. That way I can always source them when I need them. It’s always great to see what was said so there is no confusion in regards to projects. Even consultation clients have separate email folders to keep track of what we are working on for their businesses.
Auto-responder For Email
Can we say lifesaver?! That was effectively and finally put in place the first of September. Auto-responder is email option that you can create in your settings area inputting a message you want someone to receive when they send you a correspondence. This has been tremendously helpful because my consulting company receives a plethora of emails with questions daily. The automate responses let people know that I am working on projects but see their emails. Also, it states if you have questions to first go to www.imperfectconcepts.com and read the Answers section to ensure that their not able to resolve a situation themselves. If they need more of a detailed answer it is suggested to book a coaching or consultation session.
Bonus Tip: There are several programs you can use to help your business run faster. Mailbox App, Canned Email Responses and now Schedule Emails out of Gmail with SnrLatr. These are all great tools to help you streamline your business inbox.
How can you streamline your business inbox today to save you time?
