5 ways to improve your email management with Rooftop

Last week, you could already read how we discovered in our user test that e-mail is slowing down the growth of your business. We wouldn't be Rooftop if we didn't already have the solution to this problem.

Did you miss the previous article? Read it here.

The conclusion was: "Having an empty mailbox at the end of the day brings a feeling of a job well done, reduces stress and increases the productivity of your team".

So, how do we attain inbox zero?

1. Avoid FWD, FYI, CC, BCC

They pollute your inbox and divert you from the mails that are sent directly to you, for which you have a real action to take. With Rooftop you can mention your colleagues just like you're used to on social media. For example:

Need to get a colleague or your boss in the loop? Notify him or her of the conversation, he will be able to follow the evolution of the file directly within Rooftop, without you having to spam him or her with emails.

Do you need your colleagues' opinion on a case? @ (add) them to the conversation and collaborate around that file. Without extra polluting your inbox with multiple conversation flows.

2. Group your emails by action date

In Rooftop, your mails are grouped by conversation which you can manage and plan according to your priorities. You have answered an email and expect an answer within 3 days at the latest. Avoid that this conversation obstructs your view and schedule the next action date to be in 3 days. If you receive an answer within those 3 days, it will come back in your conversations of today.

You will thus avoid having dozens of emails waiting in your mailbox and have a clear view of what needs to be done today.

3. Clearly define who should take action

In a shared inbox, it is not always clear who should reply to what, who should follow up or to whom an e-mail is addressed. Corporate culture and management play a key role here. Defining responsibilities, organizing internal collaboration, ensuring an efficient follow-up of each file are elements that need to be defined beforehand when using a shared inbox. This is to avoid messes, multiple responses to the same email or miscommunication.

Usually, there is always a senior manager who manages a file and then several stakeholders who help with the execution of the file. That is why in Rooftop each conversation is assigned or can be manually assigned to a main contact. Workflows can also be set up so that every email coming from such a client and/or concerning such a subject is redirected directly to this person in charge.

This also works the other way around, Rooftop keeps track of your entire database and recognizes addressees as well as previous interactions. This way you can link customers or suppliers so a follow-up of every client or supplier is made simple.

4. Avoid forgetting to reply to an email

Unfortunately, it is still often the case that e-mails are not answered on time or not answered at all. Either because a responsible person has not been clearly defined or because they get lost in the mass of e-mails to be managed.

In order to avoid being overwhelmed by the flow of e-mails received, it is important to be able to distinguish between e-mails requiring a response and follow-up or pending e-mails.

In Rooftop, as soon as you receive a new e-mail, the conversation automatically becomes "To be answered". This is even if you have already read the e-mail in question. And if this email doesn't need an answer right away? Snooze or postpone it until later so it doesn't obstruct your vision. This way you'll only keep the emails that need action today.

5. Save time searching for important information

Searching for a specific email in a mailbox that contains hundreds or even thousands of emails can quickly become time consuming.

That's why it is important that each e-mail is classified in the right way. With Rooftop you can integrate automatic sorting rules so that your customers' e-mails are automatically sorted in the right place. And when you do a search, you won't find dozens of e-mails, but only 2 or 3 conversations.

If a customer calls you about a specific folder that you can't remember, you can search for current conversations directly from the following tabs: