Email Tips for Small Businesses
Gone are the days of door-knocking and cold-calling on the phone to garner new business- and thankfully so. Face the facts, businesses rely upon email. Today we can reach out to potential clients from the safety and security of our computers and have all the power of the internet to thoroughly research new business beforehand. Winning.
First impressions matter, and behind an email covers your pretty little face so let's be sure you dress up your note with images and graphics to appear professional and polished. But when push comes to shove (or when the inbox starts filling up), it takes real organization to stay on top of things.
There’s nothing more unimpressive to a client than an overly delayed response to an email- except for neglecting to respond altogether. So how do you stay on top of the inbox and make sure you’re bringing the A-game when it comes to customer relations?
Email trackers provide invaluable insight into your client responses and help you evaluate how effectively you’re communicating. There are plenty of options out there: some are free and some are paid but most all of them do the same thing: track who reads your emails- and when. Boomerang is one of our favorites because it’s free and super-simple to set up and start using right away- perfect for the small business. Let's get started:
Just like the name suggests, this handy tool aims to get that response from your emailing efforts. It comes in the form of a free Chrome extension and works alongside Gmail. It allows you to write and schedule emails to be sent at just the right moments, which is super-handy if you’ve written an important email but it’s 4:55pm. Boomerang let’s you schedule it to be sent at a time of your choice, say 9:00am tomorrow so it’s fresh in your clients’ inbox first thing in the morning. There’s no more risk of forgetting that it’s sitting in your drafts folder overnight!
Another great feature of Boomerang is the read receipts and follow-up features.
1. It will let you know once your email has been received
2. Alert you with how many time’s it’s been opened and read.
3. Have not heard back? Boomerang will remind you to send a follow-up email. Easy!
Boomerang comes with a form of artificial intelligence built-in to the system that analyzes your email and gives you an idea of how likely it is that your email will receive a response. Reaching out to new clients? Nervous about your content? Take it through the test!
All of the features mentioned here are free to use but you can unlock even more advanced features with a premium upgrade- if you think that it’s necessary! For small businesses, this is definitely a preferred option. If you don’t need the drama of a full-fledged CRM system with the full-fledged priced-tag, Boomerang is your newest best friend.
