Welcome To InboxDone!

We're so excited to begin working with you!

Next Steps

1. Your next step is to book your Onboarding Call here: https://www.inboxdone.com/onboarding

2. Complete the Wish List of potential tasks you will to delegate to us in the future: https://inboxdone.com/client-wish-list/

3. Watch the video below, or read the text below

The video and text below explains all the critical elements of working with InboxDone. We strongly recommend you go through it before your Onboarding Call.

Press play on the video above, or continue reading below...

We’re so excited to begin working with you and honored you’ve entrusted us with something as personal as your inbox.

Your dedicated email assistants will go above and beyond to establish trust so that you always feel comfortable handing over emails and tasks.

If you haven’t delegated to an assistant before, it’s normal to feel uncertain about the process. Our team is trained to walk you through each step and will ask you questions to elicit the information they need to break you free from email.

Our clients often tell us what a self-reflective process this is, since teaching someone else about your company and your role helps solidify your systems (and identify any gaps). It also reveals what you truly prioritize.

We highly recommend reading this page to the end. The points outlined below (and in the video) summarize our Terms Of Service, which were agreed to on your date of payment.

By reviewing these points now, we can avoid any confusion and set clear expectations upfront. This way you will always know what happens next, how you will be involved and understand key rules and procedures. 

We can’t wait for you to experience all the free time you’ll have once your assistants are fully trained, making your inbox something you’ll never have to worry about again.

Here’s to your freedom!

— 

1. ONBOARDING CALL

After you make your first payment, we’ll provide you with links to schedule an Onboarding Call and complete a short Wish List of tasks you would like to delegate to us. 

The purpose of the Onboarding Call is to learn more about you, your role in your business, to show us inside your inboxes and explain other tasks you need us to take over.

We ask specific questions like what times during the day do you usually check your inboxes, how many emails/messages do you get on a daily basis, what outside platforms do you use, and are there people in your organization that we need to work with.

This call helps prepare your assistants for what to expect when they first enter your inboxes, to understand how you work on a day-to-day basis and what can be delegated to us immediately.

2. MATCHING

After the Onboarding Call is complete, our Matching Manager works behind the scenes to find you two, three or a full team of assistants who are the best fit to work with you.

We match you with assistants based on the following criteria:

  • Alignment with your company vision, values, industry, and your personal goals
  • Timezone compatibility  
  • Communication style
  • Skill with software or tools (or the ability to learn them quickly)   
  • Other internal assessments we have completed

Please note that our assistants are independent contractors so we can’t legally require them to work at a specific time of day, however we will always do our best to work within your specified time frames. 

NOTE: Because of the significant time investment involved in carefully selecting your assistants, we cannot offer refunds after the matching period has begun.

3. CONTRACTS

By paying, you have already agreed to the TOS and CSA, and our assistants have agreed to a general NDA.

If you have any additional contracts or your own custom NDA you’d like your assistants to sign, send them through to us.

4. INTRO CALL

Once we have selected the best assistants for your team, we schedule an Introductory Call for you to officially meet them.

During the Intro Call you will discuss:

  • Confirmation of check-in times for when your assistants will work 
  • Communication preferences for how your assistants will update you and other people in your team using your tool of choice (Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, Phone Text/Call, Zoom Meeting, etc)
  • Setting up a password manager so your assistants can access your email and associated tools without ever viewing your password
  • Your short and long term goals within the roles you perform
  • Everything you will delegate to your new assistants during the first 30 days
  • Review your habits and systems already in place to manage email and related processes, and what new systems you’d like built 
  • Any questions about anything you are not clear on

Your assistants will also set up additional security tools such as a VPN for privacy or DocSend for securing your documents. You will not have to cover the cost of these security tools.

5. BILLING CYCLE & FAILED PAYMENTS

IMPORTANT: The day of your Intro Call is also the day your billing cycle starts. This means your second payment will be billed 30 days after your Intro Call.

Your first payment covers the entire onboarding and matching processes, plus the first 30 days of work (starting on the day you meet your assistants).

Since InboxDone operates on a pre-paid model, all work will be paused after a payment has failed for 2 or more business days and will resume once the payment has been processed. 

6. HAND OVER

Next your new assistants begin a hand over process to take over your email, calendar schedule, social media message replies, customer service and all other tasks you’d like to delegate to them. 

Think of the hand over as an ongoing, ever-evolving process, since our goal is to lighten your load and take as much off your plate as possible over the long term.

There is no specific end date for the hand over as every client situation is different, however the more feedback you can provide to your assistants upfront, the more quickly they can lighten your load. You will likely continue to hand over more over time as your trust in your assistants grows.

We train our team to become highly skilled at building productive systems and streamlined processes. Your assistants can therefore offer suggestions on how to build the most effective systems in your inbox, or simply take over whatever systems you already have in place.

Our goal for the first 30 days is for your assistants to take over the bulk of your routine daily messages, calendar management and associated tasks you delegate to them. You should definitely feel 'lighter' by the end of the first month.

Some of our clients report back that they don't feel the full impact of their InboxDone assistants until three months in, at which time their assistants are running each inbox like a well-oiled machine.

7. YOUR TIME COMMITMENT

The first 30 days is when we require the most of your time and attention (approximately 5 hours per week).

It’s a bit of a Catch-22, since you need to give us a little extra time upfront in order for us to free up your time long term. 

During your first month, your assistants will schedule a weekly call to discuss their progress and will compile a list of questions that came up during the week to make the most efficient use of your time. 

Some clients ask for twice-weekly calls, or even a daily call, though this will need to be pre-approved by your assistants. 

Although we require your time upfront, the more you help train your assistants, the less time they will need from you in the future (and the more time you will get back as they take over your email, calendar and other tasks!)

8. CRITICAL INFORMATION

It's important right at the start of hand over that you inform your assistants of any critical risks or confidential information inside your inbox(es).

Please outline (and if possible remove access to) any high-stakes emails/contacts that contain sensitive or critical content not intended to be viewed or accessed by your assistants, or any emails/contacts your assistants should not view at all (which may be filtered into a private folder or forwarded to another address).

You can provide a list of specific contacts to flag via email, or by elaborating on these areas during your Onboarding Call. We ask that you alert and continually update your assistants on this type of information so we can do our best to avoid any type of mistakes.

Although we’ll never share any of your information, if there is any legal, financial, medical or technical information that you don’t want your assistants to view, or there is risk of legal ramification or financial loss for you if this information is mishandled, we need to know about it upfront. 

Your assistants will create a custom process to handle risks unique to your situation, but we can't do this if you don't tell us what is critical upfront. Please review Section 3.5 in our Terms for the full list of client expectations.

9. DELEGATING MORE OVER TIME

We are a virtual executive assistant service that specializes in managing inboxes, however, we can do so much more for you.

As you go about your daily work routine, we recommend that you ask yourself one question...

Should I be the one completing this task? 

...and if the answer is no, ask your assistants to take over. 

The sooner you delegate and systematize, the sooner you’re free.

To delegate a new task, ask your assistants directly using your preferred communication tool. If they’re already using up all the hours on your plan, they can either prioritize this new task, or suggest an upgrade. They will then go to work to begin the handover process for this new task.

10. WHAT WE DO NOT DO

While our assistants are able to handle much more than our clients realize, there are some tasks that your assistants are not the best choice to take over.

For example:

  • We don’t do inbound/outbound phone sales. With your assistants’ approval, we can do basic call coordination (for example scheduling things over the phone), but you may need to upgrade your plan so we can provide adequate time coverage.

  • We don’t do intricate technical work (website design and programming), though you may be surprised by how technically skilled your assistants are.

  • We are not a creative writing or content creation service. We can compile content for you, but you need to provide the source material.

 

  • We can't sign documents on your behalf, although we can create/oversee processes that assign signatures to other members of your team.

If you’re unsure about delegating a certain task to us, just ask — we can always add a new assistant to your team who has the skillset you need. Since we have a highly talented team of assistants, some of the above tasks may also be available at a higher rate.

11. WHY WE ASSIGN TWO ASSISTANTS

You may be wondering why we assign you two assistants to start.

We do this to solve a lot of common problems you may have experienced when working with other virtual staffing solutions.

Most virtual outsourcing companies will assign you one assistant. This causes a problem when your assistant needs time off, gets sick or decides to quit. You’re immediately left with all the work they were doing falling back into your lap!

We assign you two assistants from day one. This means we can provide redundancy and minimize the risk of a lapse in service.

If one of your assistants gets sick or needs time for family or a holiday, your other assistant can maintain coverage. If one of you team members moves on, we can bring in a replacement usually within a week, all while the other assistant continues to support you. 

While we can’t guarantee 100% coverage (sometimes two assistants get sick at the same time!), our unique two-assistant system helps minimize the issue.

Your assistants may split work equally and perform the exact same tasks each day, or they may designate according to their availability and strengths.

For example, if one assistant has more experience with Instagram, they may take over answering your DMs while your other assistant focuses primarily on email. If one assistant is a morning person and the other a night owl, they may distribute work according to when they work best. 

Working with two assistants offers more flexibility, scope and potential for growth overall. 

12. HOLIDAYS & VACATIONS

Speaking of time off, we observe most US holidays, so these will act as well-deserved breaks for your assistants. They will always give you notice when a day off is approaching and set up an autoresponder or alternative system for their time away.

If the holidays are a busier time for your business, just let us know — you can always add on a one-time block of hours for a temporary surge in emails. However this block of time would need to be purchased in advance, since we operate on a prepaid model only.

If one of your assistants takes a longer vacation, they will let you know in advance and make sure their co-assistant is prepared to cover for them in their absence. 

13. UPGRADES, DOWNGRADES, PAUSING & CANCELLATIONS

Every client begins on our Standard Plan and your subscription renews every 30 days. There are no lock-in contracts.

As mentioned earlier, your second payment will go through 30 days after your Intro Call when you first meet your assistants.

This second payment occurs regardless of how much you have handed over to your assistants by Day 30.

Now comes the important part...

A few days before your second payment goes through, we’ll reach out to schedule a Recap Call to review your first month. Our Client Success Manager will be the only one on the call and will encourage you to speak freely about how you feel your assistants are doing well and what can be improved.

We will discuss how many hours your assistants used during the first 30 days and how many hours we recommend for the next 30 days to stay on top of all current tasks.

If everything is running smoothly and your assistants are able to complete all your tasks without going over their allotted hours, you can stay on your current plan.

If you want to delegate more new tasks to your assistants, or we need more hours to maintain the current workload, you may decide to upgrade your plan.

Or, you may decide to downgrade if you need to stick to a strict budget and only want to delegate a minimum workload to us. 

Please note, you cannot downgrade in the middle of a billing cycle. Downgrades are only available at the start of a new billing cycle. 

You can also add an additional assistant at any time if you want more round-the-clock coverage, so they can work with other members of your organization and so you have a team checking in at several different times throughout the day.

During Recap Calls, we will explain any changes needed to your pricing plan or situations that impact how we work together. You always have final approval before any change is made.

If you want to pause or cancel your subscription, you can request this any time by emailing us at support@inboxdone.com, texting us at (209) 732-6344, or wait until your scheduled Recap Call.

Keep in mind that we can’t pause your subscription for longer than 30 days without reassigning your assistants.

NOTE: If you don’t attend your first Recap Call, or let us know you want to upgrade/downgrade, your subscription will remain the same and automatically charges after 30 days.

Your assistants will continue to work with the same amount of hours, business as usual.

14. FEEDBACK AND QUESTIONS

You may have feedback (good or bad), or questions regarding your assistants or our service in general. If appropriate, please share feedback or ask questions directly to your assistants.

If you need to discuss anything with us separately from your assistants, send an email to support@inboxdone.com, send a text message to +1 (209) 732-6344 or ask during your next Recap Call. Our Client Success Manager or another team member will get back to you as soon as possible to address your concerns or set up a call. 

We encourage you to share regular positive feedback directly with your assistants. We’re all human and thrive off positive reinforcement. When you see great work being done, let your assistants know.

This could be as simple as sending them a message saying “Keep up the great work!” or “Here are some things you’re doing great, here are some things I’d love to tweak.”

15. ANNUAL RAISE

Every 12 months, your subscription fee will increase according to your hourly cap, which acts as a cost-of-living raise for your assistants. For example, if your plan currently includes 40hrs/month, your plan will increase $40/month annually. 100% of this annual raise goes straight to your assistants.

This is a mandatory raise to keep up with inflation and to provide an incentive for assistants to commit to the growth of your business long term.

You may also give your assistant(s) additional bonuses at any time, but these must be billed through your InboxDone account. Since InboxDone covers the processing fees for all transactions, just let us know what amount you'd like your assistants to receive, we'll process the payment with your card on file, and your assistant(s) will receive 100% of the requested amount on their next paycheck.

Our current clients utilize this policy most often at Christmas, but also for birthdays, or any time they want to surprise their assistant(s) by saying thank you.

16. ASSISTANT TURNOVER & CHANGE REQUESTS

Although it rarely happens, sometimes one of your assistants will need to step away from your account. Your other assistant will fill in until we find a replacement and will also help onboard the new assistant, so we can minimize any disruption of service to you.

If for some reason you don’t feel the personality or skillset of one of your assistants is a match, let us know by emailing support@inboxdone.com, text (209) 732-6344, or bring it up on your next Recap Call. 

17. HIRING YOUR ASSISTANTS FULL-TIME (CONTRACT BUYOUT)

We know you’re going to appreciate the exceptional quality of work your InboxDone assistants provide — so much so that you may want them to join your team as an employee.

Although 95% of our clients stay with us long-term because of the lower overhead, built-in management and ongoing training, a small percentage decide to hire their assistants full-time. 

If you want to hire any of your InboxDone assistants directly on an employee basis, there is a mandatory buyout fee (as outlined in your contract). This fee covers our upfront investment in recruiting, vetting, testing and training each assistant and our cost to replace them on any other accounts they may be managing.

Your assistants are aware of this buyout structure and it is ultimately up to them if they’d like to join your company full-time. 

To initiate a buyout process, you can email us at support@inboxdone.com, text us at (209) 732-6344, or bring it up during your next Recap Call.

18. REFERRALS

Our goal is for you to love your InboxDone experience so much that you will tell your friends about us.

If at any time you meet someone who could benefit from a virtual executive assistant, please send them to us.

We have a generous referral program and will credit you with a commission if a person you refer signs up. 

19. ASSUME THE BEST

Our motto at InboxDone is “Always assume the best of intentions.” This is vital in a digital-only space where miscommunication can easily occur. 

Please remember that your assistants are doing the best they can to learn about you, your business and achieve both your financial and freedom goals. 

In return, we ask for respect and patience as you help your assistants learn how to help you. The more our clients foster an environment of respect within the inbox, the faster your assistants can provide lasting value.

If you have questions on any of the above, please don't hesitate to reach out at support@inboxdone.com, or text us at (209) 732-6344. We're always here to make this unique process as seamless as possible for you!

 

Example Handover Period

The following time frames offer an example of what the handover process can look like. Keep in mind that every client account is different, the length of each phase can vary, and phases often overlap. 

 

Phase 1 - Logging In & Organization (Often Completed Within 14 Days)

Objectives: Begin with a clean slate by organizing your inbox; remove backlog; set up folders/filters; learn about any existing systems you regularly implement.

  • Decide how you’d like to communicate with your assistants (we recommend Slack or WhatsApp). Many of our clients also opt to send their assistants audio messages for specific instructions/feedback/requests, which enables you to stay out of your inbox and communicate on the go.

 

  • The first step is to get your assistants logged into your inbox (and any other platforms necessary to running your inbox). After they've received your login information via LastPass (or your chosen password manager), your assistants may require a verification code from you in order to login. This can be exchanged over a Zoom call where you'll first meet your assistants "face to face," or exchanged via the communication platform you’ve chosen.

 

  • Your assistants' first goal is to help you reach 'Inbox Zero' right away. This can be achieved by archiving any backlog of emails currently in your inbox, or by categorizing/responding to these emails one at a time. (If using Gmail, archived emails can always be found by searching for them, so they are never actually gone).

 

  • Next, your assistants will review your folders with you and delete any inactive/outdated folders. New, relevant folders will be created and existing folders will be utilized.

 

  • Any email filters you have set up will be reviewed and new filters will be created based on the types of emails you receive and patterns we observe (your assistants will become your "eyes" inside the inbox, ensuring that no email ever falls through the cracks).

Phase 2 - Reactive Responses (Often Completed Within 60 Days)

Objectives: Develop a feedback system to monitor your Manager's email responses; create a template library; master the day-to-day maintenance of all incoming emails.

  • As your assistants are organizing your inbox, they will observe your email responses in order to match your writing style, tone and personality (formal vs. informal, lengthy vs. concise). Based on your personal preference, your assistants can respond as themselves, as you, or a mix of both (depending on the email).

 

  • Next, you will decide what types of emails you’d like your assistants to start taking responsibility for. These can be assigned to your assistants in their own personal folder. Any emails still needing your attention/expertise, can be referenced by you in your own designated folder.

 

  • Your assistants will write drafts to these designated emails by referencing your previous responses. When you login to your inbox, simply visit the Drafts folder to review the responses your assistants has written. You can then send these drafts out as is (which is the goal), or edit the responses as needed before sending them out.

 

  • Whenever you make a change to a Draft your assistants have written, you can tag your sent email to convey specific feedback (i.e. "Too long" or "Links added") so that your assistants can review and implement the changes you've made going forward. You may also choose to add a note of feedback by forwarding a message to your assistants in the relevant thread. Otherwise, your assistants will continue to regularly review your sent folder each day to see if you sent their drafts out as is, or made changes.

 

  • As your assistants learn how to respond to your emails, they will begin to create an Email Template Library based on the responses you’ve approved. This library will be saved inside your Knowledge Base, but can usually be accessed inside your inbox as well. Templates act only as the foundation for email responses and allow your assistants to work efficiently and maximize their time. However, any template used will always be heavily personalized to fit each specific context.

 

  • If scheduling is something you would like your assistants to take over, this phase allows them to learn about your calendar/event types, and to create systems that will spare you all the back and forth involved in scheduling. Many of our clients benefit from a "calendar-based inbox," meaning your assistants will add relevant details to each calendar event so that you only ever have to check your calendar (instead of your inbox).

 

  • Everything your assistants learn will be continually added to your Knowledge Base in step-by-step instructions (SOPs) for you to reference at any time.

Phase 3 - Proactive Systems (Continues Indefinitely, 60+ days)

Objectives: Build proactive follow-up systems and nurture campaigns for long-term growth (in both relationships and sales).

  • Having all your day-to-day emails managed often provides you with the greatest return on your investment. However, creating proactive systems is something we love to do as well. These systems can be built after your assistants has mastered the daily ins and outs of your inbox and have a foundational knowledge of your business. Now that your assistant is drafting email responses (and hopefully sending out several emails independently), they can help you build more proactive systems to work toward some of your longstanding business goals (as described in your Wish List), so that your inbox is not only reactive. 

 

  • Sometimes several consecutive emails are required to achieve a desired outcome (ex. converting a lead into a customer, recouping failed payments, strengthening relationships through email networking, outreach campaigns for podcast interviews/media requests, etc.). Customers often require several touch points before they trust a company enough to make a purchase, but busy business owners rarely have the time to followup as much as they need to. Your assistants can create a collection of personalized followup emails with timed reminders so that nothing ever falls through the cracks.

 

  • By creating a tailored system of labels and reminders, your assistant can create targeted nurture campaigns to followup with cold, warm and hot leads, nurturing relationships and potentially even closing sales via email. By delegating these campaigns to your assistant, they can fill in the gaps of automated email funnels with the human touch. For example, if a prospect messages to ask about your free trial, your assistant can send the “Free Trial Policy” template they've created for you, personalize the template specifically to the prospect, then follow up every 3 days until enrollment is confirmed. Your assistant can work with you to shape the timeframes around these nurture campaigns and establish if a clear endpoint is needed so that they are always spending their time in the most efficient and effective way possible.

 

  • With your guidance, your assistants can create templates for cold emails to an approved list of contacts for increased lead generation (based on your goals and instructions). Your assistants can also research contacts in your industry and create a list of potential relationships to invest in, then send followups in order to build your network. Since strong, key relationships are foundational to many businesses, you can be as involved (or hands-off) as you'd like to be in this process. You may feel more comfortable keeping higher-level relationship emails in draft mode only (so you can always review emails before sending), or you may feel comfortable enough with your assistants to send them an audio recording of what you'd like the email to include, which they can then transcribe and send. 

 

  • If you're able to provide the bulk of content, your assistants can compile your newsletter or roundup for your email list (including any relevant links and images). Please keep in mind that our assistants are not copywriters so you will have to provide the copy, but they can pull all the pieces together and send the newsletter through your designated email marketing tools.

 

  • Once your assistants have a foundational knowledge of your business and customers, they can also help compile marketing funnel emails based off the templates they've created in your inbox (we recommend YesWare to store your library of templates).  

 

  • Your assistants are also able to create a system for tracking receipts, as well as issuing payments through platforms like PayPal and Stripe, however our clients usually only feel comfortable designating payments until after several months of trust have been established.

 

  • Nurture campaigns, lead outreach, social media management (and anything else listed on our Services Page) are all areas we can begin to take over at this point (when time allots and instructions are clear). You can always add more hours to your monthly plan, or we can prioritize according to your preferences in order to maximize the standard plan. Once we've achieved inbox mastery, we will use your Wish List as a roadmap to prioritize any requested tasks.

 

  • Since we like to focus on relationship-based sales by nurturing any new or existing client/customer relationships (and by referencing any FAQs about your products/services), the sales your assistants may generate can enable InboxDone to potentially pay for itself (though this is never guaranteed). Some of our assistants are able to facilitate and close sales via email because they've learned so much about how their clients' business operates. The scope of what we're able to successfully manage is often determined by your openness to this process. That being said, we will only ever progress at a pace you feel comfortable with and tailor our services to your unique preferences.

 

  • Remember, our goal is for your assistants to become as autonomous as possible so your business can begin to function on its own. Every time you jump in to handle something, ask yourself, "Do I want to be the one doing this long term?" If not, work with your assistant to create a system where they have all the information they need to take those actions themselves next time. When you choose to delegate to an assistant, you are delegating the various levels of the decision-making process. The more decisions your assistant can make, the more free you will become.

 

Note for Gmail users: Any external Google apps you personally use (such as Google Tasks or Google Keep) may be synced to the inbox your Manager handles. Although InboxDone team members rarely use these apps for email management, we recommend linking any apps you might employ for personal/private use to an email account separate from the account InboxDone manages. Any other areas linked to your Gmail account (such as your Youtube viewing history or Google Chrome browsing history) are also stored on any synced accounts, so we recommend creating a personal Gmail account for anything you would like to keep confidential. Although our team adheres to the highest standards of confidentiality for your emails (and any connected platforms), we respect the line between personal vs. professional and strive to safeguard our clients' confidential information at all times.