What is a Shared Inbox & How Does It Help?
Posted In | CRM | Help Desk | Ticketing Software | Omnichannel Shared InboxWhat is a Shared Inbox?
A shared inbox is a central mailbox that employees use to communicate with each other within the company, as they can add tags, attach files, share calendars, collaborate on the same project, and many more. Therefore, shared inboxes are a great way to improve team coordination where everyone can stay updated on the latest team conversations (project-related communications), and customer interactions. This can help reduce the amount of email clutter in an individual's inbox. For example, users can set up their own groups to communicate with departments inside an organization, such as the HR department (hr@acme.com), the Sales department (sales@acme.com), the Marketing department (marketing@acme.com), etc.
Why Use A Shared Inbox And How Will It Help Your Organization?
1. Integrate multiple Communication Channels (e.g., Emails, SMS, and Calls) into a single Inbox
What challenges do organizations face while managing multiple communication channels and how to fix it?
The main obstacle that organizations face while managing multiple communication channels is the lack of a centralized system. This can lead to confusion and inconsistency in messaging and reaching out to customers. Additionally, it can be difficult to track and measure the effectiveness of each channel if they are not all managed in one place.
For example, customers reach out to the organization via email, text message (SMS), phone call, etc. This makes it more challenging for businesses to reach and respond to all inquiries and requests on time. To deal with this, businesses need a centralized system to collect messages from all available channels, sort them by importance, and then send them to the right person for a response.
How does the Gridlex Zip Shared Inbox do it?
With the help of Gridlex Shared Inbox, customer requests (from all channels) are redirected to the agent’s inbox, where they can respond to the customer swiftly. Gridlex Zip Shared Inbox allows you to view all the relevant information in one centralized location. Agents can quickly reply to customer inquiries and reach out to them quickly with the help of a shared inbox.
2. Get The Full Customer Data Through Deep Integration With The CRM
Why is it crucial to integrate CRM with your Shared Inbox?
Integration of CRM with your Shared Inbox is important as the agent can have a complete view and access to customer details. Further, it allows you to keep track of your customer interactions and automate your sales and marketing processes. By having access to this information, you can resolve customer issues more quickly and efficiently. For example, when a customer contacts you via email or live chat, you will be able to see a complete record of all of your earlier interactions (if any) with that customer in your shared inbox.
How does Gridlex Zip help you overcome the issue?
Using Gridlex Zip Shared Inbox integrated with CRM, you can view a customer's entire transactional and service history with your company. All the data you need to close the deal or deliver the service they have requested will be there at your fingertips. Gridlex Zip Shared Inbox integrated with CRM will help you to automate sales and marketing processes leading to improved response time and better team management. For example, you can easily stay in touch with leads and monitor their progress through the sales funnel, prioritize prospects, and more.
3. Standardize Communication With Message Templates
How does a Message Template help to Standardize Communication?
A message Template is a pre-written message that can be used to send messages to customers. It can be used to format messages in a consistent way that can include text, images, and other media. Using a message template, salespeople can save messages for later use, so they don't have to retype, copy, and paste them every single time. Agents can save time and increase productivity by responding to frequently asked inquiries and concerns with a message template. For example, a message template for a customer service email might include a greeting, a short introduction, a list of questions to ask the customer, a sign-off message, etc.
How Does Gridlex Zip Shared Inbox Standardize Communication with Message Templates?
Gridlex Zip allows users to personalize pre-built message templates by changing the colors, adding their own logos, and inserting connections to their various social media networks, among other things. You can make as many message templates as you like and create your own custom email reply templates from frequently sent messages. Message Templates ensure that you do not make any errors or omit any crucial information, reducing the misunderstandings that commonly occur while sending repeated messages.
4. Reduce Routine Work With Automation
How Does Automation Work to Reduce Routine Tasks?
Automation can help to reduce monotonous work tasks, resulting in increased efficiency and productivity. It can help improve the quality of products or services and reduce the chance of human error. For example, get an email from someone asking for feedback on their project. Users can set up an automation rule to forward the email to a specific inbox or to specific users.
How does Gridlex Zip Shared Inbox help reduce routine work with Automation?
Automation is one of the most powerful features of Gridlex Zip. Incoming customer emails can be converted into tickets, rules can be set up to add tags automatically, and filters can be applied depending on the subject line. Messages in your group's inbox can be automatically sent to individual users based on predefined rules. Gridlex Zip allows users to set up rules like assigning a "high" or “low” priority label to all messages received.
5. Monitor Team Productivity And Performance
How does a Shared Inbox improve Team Productivity and Performance?
A shared inbox allows you to monitor team activities and delegate tasks clearly. A shared inbox provides a transparent space for the team members where they can view activities or tasks other employees are working on. For example, a shared inbox allows users to segment their conversations among multiple team members. One can assign a task to their team members through a shared inbox. In an employee's absence from work, another team member from the same group can step in to oversee the operation and respond to the customer's inquiry, boosting both the company's productivity and the quality of service it offers. Moreover, you can avoid losing a prospective lead.
How does Gridlex Zip Shared Inbox help?
Tracking team members' productivity is a breeze with Gridlex Zip's Shared Inbox because all of their work can be viewed in one place. You'll be able to see the projects they've been working on and the dates they started and finished working. Having this information allows for more precise workforce planning since you know exactly who is working on what. This is a simple technique for managers to identify problems before they escalate, such as an employee spending too much time on a single activity or not making enough progress on their assignments. This can help you decide if you should give some employees more responsibilities or if something needs to be changed so that they can do their work faster than others.
6. Service Level Agreements Can Help You Establish A Good Customer Relationship
How are Service Level Agreements important for establishing a strong Customer Relationship?
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is an agreement between a service provider and a customer that specifies the nature of the service to be provided. SLAs are important for establishing a strong customer relationship because they help to ensure that both parties understand the expectations and requirements for the service being provided. For instance, an SLA for a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform outlines the terms of the service, including the level of support the provider will offer and the uptime percentage the platform will take to achieve. This can help to avoid misunderstandings and disputes between the two parties. Additionally, SLAs can help to hold the service provider accountable for meeting their obligations.
How does Gridlex use SLA to build a strong Customer Relationship?
With the help of Gridlex Zip, users can create SLAs for multiple shared inboxes based on the Service Level Agreement. In addition, it will allow your support team to be more responsive by identifying the emails that violate the SLA conditions. Therefore, SLAs can help to build trust between the customer and the service provider, as they provide a mechanism for addressing and resolving any issues that may arise.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Can shared mailboxes receive external email?
Yes, shared mailboxes can receive emails from external sources, making them an ideal solution for teams to collectively manage communications with clients, partners, and other external stakeholders.
2. How shared mailboxes work?
Shared mailboxes operate by granting multiple users access to a single mailbox. Users can send, receive, and organize emails within this mailbox without needing a separate login. Actions taken (like replying to or deleting an email) are visible to all users with access, facilitating seamless collaboration and ensuring consistent communication handling.
3. How does a Shared Inbox differ from traditional email accounts?
Unlike traditional email accounts, which are designed for individual use, a shared inbox is accessible by multiple users simultaneously. It promotes transparency and collective management of emails, which is not possible with standard email accounts.
4. How does a Shared Inbox reduce email overload?
Shared inboxes reduce email overload by organizing emails into categories, allowing for easy delegation, and enabling team members to collaborate on responses, thereby spreading the workload evenly.