The handover period is the first step of the process once we've matched you with your dedicated Inbox Manager.
This period lasts up to 60 days and is vital because it allows us to learn more about what kind of email you receive, how you currently handle email, and — most importantly — for you to feel comfortable giving up control of your email by experiencing the process in a carefully managed handover.
You will start by delegating the emails and tasks you feel comfortable letting go of, then slowly work up to higher-level items. The goal is to move from delegating to decision-making, where your manager understands your goals and priorities so well that they can make pre-approved decisions in your place.
The following breakdown is a general outline of the process we take each client through. We understand this may be the first time you've ever delegated your email, so your Manager will be trained to carefully walk you through each step of the process.
Handover Timeline
Phase 1: The Cleanup — Weeks 1-2
Objectives: Begin with a clean slate by organizing your inbox; learn about any existing systems you regularly implement; gather context about each email.
- Your newly-assigned inbox manager will determine how best to communicate with you, including what tools to use (Slack, WhatsApp, SMS, etc), how frequently to communicate (daily, weekly, monthly) and what information you want to see (content summaries, urgent emails, general updates and questions).
- Your Manager will determine upfront if your goals are more freedom-based or revenue-based (or both) in order to inform the systems they will build.
- Your Inbox Manager will study your website, sales pages and social media as if they are a prospective customer/client of your business to gain an aerial view of your processes. The more context we have upfront about your products, services, sales process and other team members, the faster our progress will be.
- We assess your current email folders, working to improve efficiency, organize active/inactive folders, suggest methods to refine the system and create new, relevant folders as needed.
- We review your email filters and analyze for efficiency, then set up new filters to automate the processing of email, including unsubscribing from unnecessary messages.
- Your Inbox Manager will process all email currently in your inbox to bring you down to ‘Inbox Zero’— whether you have 10 or 10,000 emails in your backlog — and use your backlog as a training tool to gain context. Your Manager will pay special attention to emails from the past 30 days, placing them into categories as needed and making sure you don’t miss any mission-critical emails.
- Your Inbox Manager will learn what emails you need to know about immediately and what doesn’t require your immediate attention. The priority of all emails will be determined (low, medium, high priority) and appropriate labels applied.
- We learn about your current calendar scheduling system. If required, take over the communication process for all your calendar bookings (team calls, sales calls, customer calls, interviews, etc) so you don’t have to deal with the back-and-forth of confirming meetings.
After these steps are complete, your inbox will be clean and optimized. During the next phase, we learn how to respond to your emails and begin creating draft replies for you to approve and send.
Phase 2: Replying To Emails — Weeks 3-8
Objective: Develop a system for you to monitor/critique your Inbox Manager’s email responses; your Inbox Manager will learn how to master the day-to-day maintenance of all incoming emails and respond to as many as possible.
- Your Inbox Manager will review your Sent folder and look for patterns in the emails you receive. This will help them create a library of templates to dynamically reply to common emails that match your writing style and tone (formal vs. informal, lengthy vs. concise). These will include everything from scheduling, converting leads, customer retention, general inquiries and all FAQs. Templates are never sent blindly; instead they are tailored to each email query.
- You decide what types of emails you’d like your manager to take responsibility for. These can be assigned to your Manager in their own personal folder. Any emails you decide still need your attention/expertise are assigned to you in your own designated folder.
- Your manager will write drafted email replies using your previous responses as a reference point. You can send these drafts out as-is, or edit the responses as needed before sending them out.
- You provide feedback and changes to your manager so they can incrementally improve during the drafting process — to the point that they write better replies to your emails than you do!
- Your Manager will add the email responses you’ve approved to your template library. This library is saved inside your own private knowledge base and can also be accessed inside your inbox. Templates act as the foundation for email responses, but templates are always personalized to fit each specific context.
- With your approval, your email manager will reply directly to your emails without your involvement. This only occurs after you have gained confidence in your Manager through the draft writing process.
Throughout the handover and beyond, your Manager will continue to build your knowledge base, creating reliable systems for handling your email that other people can step in and take over if needed.
At this point, your inbox is well on its way to being a well-oiled machine, while still retaining a high level of personalization. You will only see the emails you want to see (or any information necessary to keep you in the loop). Your Inbox Manager will handle everything else!
After The Handover
After the handover ends (30-60 days), we will schedule a call to evaluate your subscription plan to make sure it’s the right fit for your specific needs.
We will also begin to work through your Wish List and take over some of your higher-level requests. Every step of the systems we build for you will be recorded in your personal knowledge base and available to you at all times.
We don't lock you into a long-term pricing contract — you can cancel at any time. Regardless of whether or not you continue with us long term, you will always have an inbox with streamlined systems and a training manual to reference at any time.
Although rare, some clients are so excited about who we've matched them with that they decide to hire their Inbox Manager as an employee. If this is something you'd like to pursue, we have a process in place that facilitates this transition.
If you are ready for your own specialist email assistant, the first step is to book your Discovery Call.
Book A Discovery Call Now To Discuss Your Needs
Enter your name and email into the form to book your discovery call, then choose a day and time for the call on the following page.
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