Yes, we’re talking about email
Many of us living in the 21st century thought email would be dead by now. But you can safely put that prediction in the same category as flying cars. Someday… maybe? Definitely not anytime soon.
Email communication is more popular than ever. 91% of the internet population in the U.S. uses email. And according to the CMO Council, when communicating with businesses, email is the #1 preferred channel for every generation—yes, even Gen Z and Millennials:
Our friends at Karbon can attest to the impact this has on us: “the average accounting professional handles 100–200 emails per day.” At the high end, that represents 24 hours per week handling email. Now multiply that number by every member on your team. It’s a staggering amount of time spent managing email.
Email responsiveness = superior service and business growth
Your clients view email responsiveness as an indicator of superior service. If their message slips through the cracks, or the internal back and forth in your team takes too long before you reply, it gives your clients the impression that they’re being ignored or aren’t a priority for you.
You want to provide excellent service for your clients. It’s what you build your reputation on, and it sets you apart from your competition. Plus, when your whole team is aligned around a client-focused service strategy, it acts as a flywheel for business growth — the momentum builds as you all move forward in the same direction.
There’s a problem: traditional email is broken
Gmail and Office365 work great for individual use, but as soon as you try to collaborate with your team on client email, the process breaks down quickly. FWDs, CCs, and BCCs are like pouring grit into the gears of your business.
Email headaches like missed messages, sharing inbox passwords, excessive back-and-forth, or duplicate replies slow your team down and lead email anxiety, and client frustration.
Other tools promise to do away with email headaches by asking your team to adopt an entirely different communication platform: Slack, live chat, SMS, sales CRM, ticketing software, customer portals, project management software, or something else. Productivity gains there may be beneficial, but you haven’t really stopped using email, and those headaches haven’t gone away.
Meet Outpost: Email designed for team collaboration
At Palo Alto Software, we love helping people succeed in business. We built Outpost to make team collaboration a delightful email experience.
Firms and practices love using Outpost to manage their client mailboxes and accounting@ or info@ addresses. They can collaborate on email in the same shared inbox, without stepping on each other’s toes. It’s also secure, so there’s no need to share passwords.
Most importantly, it saves everyone time. A team of three can save more than 40 hours per week, collaborate efficiently, and respond to clients faster than ever.
Outpost is not a complicated CRM or a confusing Client Management Software—and it won’t break your budget. You can start a free trial of Outpost, or schedule a custom tour to learn how Outpost will work for your team.
You’ll get access to all these features for a simple monthly or annual pricing plan:
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- Unlimited mailboxes
- Centralized contact list across mailboxes
- Assignments
- Private, internal notes
- Saved template responses
- Collision alerts
- Tags
- Routing rules
- Real-time analytics
- Mobile app
Plus, Appy Hour readers are eligible for a special discount to get you up and running. Save 45% on your entire first year with Outpost. Sign up today »