A current favorite tool of mine is FollowUpThen. The tool allows you to store automatic follow-ups for emails from any email provider. If the follow-up is just for yourself you can BCC 2days, 5months, 3years@followupthen.com and it will send you the reminder with the original message. As an added bonus, you can create follow-ups for yourself and others by using CC instead of BCC.
Email writing has become a science more so than a creative endeavor even more so over the past 6-9 months. I'm leveraging the latest technology such as; Writer.com, Quillbot, Wordtune and Jasper to make my email communication faster, more efficient, and more effective. I use AI-powered email tools that help me automate routine tasks, such as scheduling, follow-ups, and even composing emails. These tools save me time and allow me to focus on more strategic work. Additionally, I practice the "inbox zero" methodology, which involves regularly processing my inbox and keeping it at zero unread messages. This helps me stay organized and reduces email-related stress. Overall, my approach to email communication in 2023 is about using ai technology to streamline my workflow and staying on top of my inbox.
As the head of TechAhead, I know how crucial it is to have open lines of communication in this digital age. In 2023, I plan to use cutting-edge tools and techniques to keep my email inbox neat and my written correspondence crystal clear. To stay on top of my inbox, I utilize services like Grammarly and Boomerang to edit and schedule emails, respectively. In addition, I've learned the value of brevity and strive to be as concise and clear as possible in my written communications. This not only helps me save time, but also guarantees that my communication will be received in its intended form. Finally, I make sure I am always on top of my inbox by giving priority to responding quickly to urgent emails and delegating other emails to my staff as needed.
I love using different AI-powered email assistants. For example, Grammarly helps me write better emails by suggesting improvements to language and tone. It can also check grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors in real-time. Polymail uses AI to help me manage my inbox more efficiently by sorting emails based on their importance and context. I also use it to send automated follow-ups. And then I also love Gmail's Smart Compose feature because it will suggest text as you type your email. It helps me write emails more quickly and suggests phrases and greetings based on my writing style. And Chat GPT helps if I get writers block. I'll enter a prompt for ideas.
Writing and sending emails can get overwhelming if you don't have systems or SOPs in place to keep your inbox in check and ensure clear communication. To make email management easier, I practice the following techniques: I use smart filters and rules: Sorting through emails manually is too time-consuming. To add, it can leave you feeling scattered if you don't know what emails to prioritize. Setting up rules and filters for your inbox based on specific criteria helps me handle the bulk of emails quickly and efficiently. I prioritize emails: I first respond to the most urgent and important emails first, then gradually move down the list of emails. This helps me stay on top of what's important and not miss any critical threads. I schedule specific email times: I've found that dedicating certain times of the day to review emails has allowed me to be more productive and less distracted. This ensures that I don't get sucked into the constant back-and-forth of emails.
At Scale VC, we are sending hundreds of emails a week for i) outbound campaigns to early-stage founders, ii) networking with investors, iii) investor relations with LPs, or iv) updates from portfolio companies. Until recently, this we were limited to using GMASS plus SendGrid or similar services. We now leverage tools like Superhuman's snippeting, which allows for automated emails with little risk of going to spam. We are also actively using Zapier plus ChatGPT for automated emails when forms are filled out or founders respond to email campaigns.
One of the best tips I tend to use daily is to write every email with a TL;DR at the top - either specifically labelled or just as the first sentence. This should be literally one line that summarizes everything that will be found in that email, and if you feel like you can't do that then maybe you shouldn't be writing an email but rather speaking with that person instead. You should always assume that your email will not be read in full, so putting the most important info at the tip top and treating the rest almost like an appendix is good practice.
Keeping myself at inbox zero helps manage my stress and keep missed communications from growing out of control, but some emails can’t or don’t need to be answered immediately. Rather than saving those non-urgent emails for later and seeing them visually weighing down my inbox and mentally weighing down me, I snooze them all. Google’s “Snooze” feature allows me to temporarily remove those non-urgent emails from my inbox until I’m ready to respond to them. That way, I don’t see them until I need to and avoid losing track of anything before I’ve had a chance to respond.
I am pretty good with writing emails myself and I know how I want to deliver my message to my recipient. The tone matters a lot for me and for this reason I do not use any specific tool. However, Grammarly is the only tool that I find helpful in crafting the best emails because it helps me to prevent silly mistakes. Grammarly is indeed the most well-known program for correcting emails and also offers suggestions for improving your writing style and tone in addition to catching and fixing spelling and grammar mistakes. Both the browser add-on and the standalone desktop app versions of this email editor are available for no cost. So, it’s a win for anyone looking to craft the best and error free emails.
I've always prioritized security, but in 2023 I'm taking that even further. I am no longer answering any emails from unknown sources unless I can undeniably confirm the source is safe. I am erring on the side of caution to avoid the more sophisticated social engineering and phishing scams that are plaguing everyone's inboxes these days. Luckily, I work in cybersecurity so my colleagues are just as strict, but everyone should be taking a hard stance on spam and suspicious emails.
One of the best email productivity hacks I have discovered actually comes from an old adage my grandpa used to tell me when I was a kid: “if it can be done in less than two minutes, it should be done now.” While this old mantra was largely meant to apply to picking up tools or taking out the trash, I’ve applied it to email responses, and it has been a game changer. Like a lot of people, I used to get an email in my inbox, read it, and think “oh, I’ll just respond to that later.” While this makes our lives easier in the moment, it is insanely inefficient. You’ve already read the email and know what you want to say back, so why not just do it? Waiting only wastes your time and duplicates the mental work you’ve already done. I started using this hack about a year ago, where any email that rolls into my inbox that can be responded to within two minutes, I do it in the moment. It’s more efficient, and has the added bonus of making me appear incredibly responsive.
One practice I follow while writing emails is to personalize them as much as possible. I like to take the time to research the recipient, and the topic being discussed and address them by name. By researching the recipient and making the effort to understand them and their preferences before emailing them, you’re signaling effort and interest. Additionally, it can be beneficial to use language that resonates with the. This could be industry jargon they’re accustomed to or a tone they prefer. While writing emails, these elements work together, building rapport seamlessly and establishing a positive connection right from the get-go.
I got excited about the potential of ChatGPT-powered email authoring tools, but unfortunately I found that I was spending more time editing their results than I would have spent writing the email myself. Instead, I've leaned heavily into templates. We use Streak, a Gmail-based CRM tool, which has email template functionality built into it. I have around 50 email templates that cover the majority of the communication I send on a weekly basis. Those templates often need a little bit of tweaking to personalize the message for the context, but it has been by far the most efficient approach
I've been using Superhuman, an email helper with artificial intelligence. By giving me features like keyboard shortcuts, automatic follow-ups, and message analytics, this programme has completely changed the way I manage my email. I can also personalise emails with Superhuman's AI-powered features, track email interaction, and write better emails. For instance, I had to rely on manual follow-ups to make sure that my emails were being read and answered prior to utilising Superhuman. I can schedule automatic follow-ups using Superhuman, which helps me save time and improves my response rate. Additionally, I was able to personalise my emails with the help of its personalised message feature, which increased the open rates of my emails.
We use Gmail for our email communication, and to make the process more efficient, we've created three templates for our most common types of emails. These templates allow us to quickly craft personalized messages without having to start from scratch each time. Using email templates not only saves time but also ensures consistency and accuracy in communication. It's important to customize each template to the specific recipient and situation, but having a general structure and content can make the writing process more efficient. Additionally, Gmail has some helpful features like suggested responses and AI-powered grammar and spelling checks that can improve the quality of emails.
We write very simple, very short emails with short subject lines that are to the point and jargon free. People are busy. They don't want to read your cold email. So, you need to fly under the radar and provide immediate value. We keep our subject lines short, so they look like they're from people the know. And we quickly offer value at the start, keep the the reader hooked.
We're taking full advantage of email personalization and dynamic messaging by using advanced tools and adhering to a customer-centric approach. We use a marketing automation platform, which integrates AI and machine learning to better understand customer behavior and preferences. This enables us to create tailored content and send it at optimal times. To help further maximize personalization, we practice empathy and active listening. We gather customer feedback, analyze their pain points, and address them in our messaging. For example, we recently launched a series of tutorial emails, addressing common customer queries, which have led to a decrease in support requests. Our mantra is to always put the customer first, including through email, and make every interaction meaningful and personal.
Use a modern email client: Choose an email client that offers advanced features such as smart filtering, scheduling, and automatic replies to help you manage your inbox more efficiently. Practice good email hygiene: Regularly clean up your inbox by archiving or deleting old messages, setting up filters to sort incoming mail, and unsubscribing from mailing lists that are no longer useful. Be clear and concise: Keep your messages brief and to the point, and use bullet points or numbered lists to break up large blocks of text. Avoid using overly technical language or jargon, and tailor your message to the recipient. Personalize your message: Use personalization tools to tailor your message to the recipient and show that you value their time and attention. Use automation: Use automation tools to send timely follow-up messages or reminders and make sure you stay on top of important communication.
When writing emails, I use Grammarly to ensure the tone, context, and spelling of my emails are correct and sufficient for the message I'm trying to convey. Using Grammarly, I have identified that I have made numerous mistakes in past emails and emails I crafted to send this year. It's helped me to learn more about punctuation and the tone of my emails. I've found that not only am I able to get my point across briefly, but I'm also able to sound more professional in my email communication. At times though, I revert to standard email communication depending on who I'm emailing or the context of the email. It's important to know that your email doesn't always have to sound formal and to the point, and Grammarly can be adjusted depending on the tone you would like to portray in your email.
In the legal industry, every communication is specific and detailed, so we already know AI may work less effectively here. Although I won’t say that my teams have wholeheartedly adopted AI when writing emails, I know we’re certainly experimenting with it. For example, when communicating with clients, we refer to how AI would break down complex legal words and phrases into more understandable lines. This ability to communicate in a language that doesn’t sound alien to our clients will help us create a more comfortable connection. There will be more experiments in this direction, but as I said, there’s only so much we can experiment with without compromising on the clarity and specificity of our communication.