{"id":145310,"date":"2023-11-30T16:50:39","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T16:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monday.com\/blog\/?p=145310"},"modified":"2023-12-24T09:19:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-24T09:19:16","slug":"shared-inbox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monday.com\/blog\/crm-and-sales\/shared-inbox\/","title":{"rendered":"How to save your team time with a shared inbox"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all know the feeling. That moment when you realize that you didn\u2019t reply to the client’s email. The really important email. The email that would have meant the difference between a happy customer \u2014 and you, staying late at work, trying to fix the problem, and calm down an irate account holder at the same time.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re struggling with a mountain of customer emails, a shared inbox could be the answer. That way, you and your teammates can distribute the workload evenly, keep your emails organized \u2014 and never, ever miss a customer query again.<\/p>\n

In this article, we\u2019ll get into the details about how shared inboxes work, walk you through some software options, and finally explain how you can use monday sales CRM as a shared inbox \u2014 and so much more.<\/p>\nTry monday sales CRM<\/a>\n

What is a shared inbox?<\/h2>\n

A shared inbox is a collaborative email system that allows two or more team members to access and respond to the same email.<\/p>\n

For instance, you might have an email address like customersupport@yourcompany.com. Whenever customers write to that email address, anyone in the Customer Support team will get the email and be able to answer it.<\/p>\n

Shared inboxes are most often used in customer support, sales, and project management settings. They can help you respond to emails more quickly, avoid duplicating work by accidentally answering the same email, and improve your team\u2019s internal communication.<\/p>\n

How does a shared inbox work?<\/h2>\n

Of course, the way the shared inbox works will depend on the tool you use to manage it. Here\u2019s a basic overview:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. You set up a new shared inbox for your team in an email messaging platform, a customer relationship platform like monday sales CRM<\/a>, or a dedicated communication tool.<\/li>\n
  2. You grant access to the team members who need it. You can usually define roles and permissions too.\u00a0For example, you might want some people to be able to send emails from the shared email address, and some people to just be able to read the emails so they\u2019re up to date on the latest communications.<\/li>\n
  3. When people send emails to the associated email address, the shared inbox automatically collects and displays them for your team. It might also be able to aggregate messages from different channels, like chat software or social media platforms.<\/li>\n
  4. Your team can access the shared inbox from their individual devices, then read and respond to messages.<\/li>\n
  5. You can usually also use the shared inbox platform to assign messages to different team members, leave comments, or update the status of the email to keep everyone informed.<\/li>\n
  6. Many shared inbox platforms also let you track response times, generate reports, and generally keep an eye on how efficient your team is when it comes to answering queries.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"writing<\/p>\n

    Why should you use a shared inbox for team email?<\/h2>\n

    A shared inbox is there to make your team\u2019s life easier. Everyone knows that email can be a nightmare. There\u2019s just so much of it: roughly 333 billion e-mails<\/a> are sent and received daily around the world. Most of us feel like we get too many emails<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    So everything you can do to make email easier will help your team become more productive \u2014 and less overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

    Here are just a few benefits of a shared inbox:<\/p>\n

    Easier collaboration<\/h3>\n

    By allowing multiple team members to manage messages in the same place, it makes it easier to know who\u2019s answering which email, and which messages still need an answer. You avoid duplicating efforts, and keep all the information about your customer communications in the same place.<\/p>\n

    Happier customers<\/h3>\n

    Because a shared inbox can make your team more efficient in processing their emails, you can get back to your customers more quickly. This is especially important for customer support because response times tie directly into customer satisfaction ratings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Seamless knowledge sharing<\/h3>\n

    If you use a shared inbox, then anyone can jump in to reply to a customer. It means that if one team member is off sick, someone else can easily pick up where they left off in their communications with customers.<\/p>\n

    What are the best shared inbox options for teams?<\/h2>\n

    Review site G2 gives you 54 great options for shared inboxes<\/a>. We\u2019ve filtered the options down to the cream of the crop, starting with\u2026<\/p>\n

    1. monday sales CRM<\/h3>\n

    OK, so you know that monday sales CRM is one of the top-rated customer relationship management platforms on G2. But did you also know that we offer a shared inbox?<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s the thing \u2014 the whole purpose of monday sales CRM is to let you manage the entire sales cycle from pre- to post-sales in one centralized, easy-to-use location. And that includes email.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s easy. Just share access to a connected email account with your teammates. You can customize share settings for each individual, choosing between \u201cRead & Write\u201d and \u201cView only.\u201d<\/p>\n

    With just a few clicks, you\u2019ll get a shared inbox that will keep all your customer emails in the same place, so you have all the information you need to close deals and offer superior post-sales support.<\/p>\n

    Not to mention handy email templates to make sure you\u2019re all sending the perfect message to every prospect.<\/p>\n

    Best of all, you can send bulk emails right from the Contacts board, with no need to jump around between different tools.<\/p>\n

    \"contacts<\/p>\n

    2. Microsoft Outlook<\/h3>\n

    Microsoft Outlook’s shared mailbox feature lets a group of people read and write emails from a public email alias. When a person in the group replies to a message sent to the shared mailbox, the email appears to be from the shared address, not from the individual user.<\/p>\n

    There are a few limitations though \u2014 for instance, you\u2019ll need to make sure that your company has the right Microsoft Outlook license if you want to store more than 50GB of shared mailbox data.<\/p>\n

    One reviewer<\/a> also comments that you can\u2019t encrypt email from a shared mailbox and that if anyone deletes an email it will affect all users.<\/p>\n

    Plus, only people from inside your organization can use a shared mailbox with Outlook \u2014 so you can\u2019t invite external consultants or other third parties to get involved.<\/p>\n

    3. Google Collaborative Inbox<\/h3>\n

    If your team uses Google Workspace, you can use Google Collaborative Inbox to manage your team\u2019s email at no extra cost.<\/p>\n

    Google\u2019s shared inbox solution comes with several benefits. For starters, it\u2019s free if you\u2019re a Google Workspace subscriber. Plus, it\u2019s easy to set up, comes with permission settings, and you can assign conversations to team members or to yourself.<\/p>\n

    What it doesn\u2019t do is bring your email right into your usual inbox \u2014 so you\u2019ll still need to use multiple inboxes to handle your personal and team email.<\/p>\n

    4. Hubspot Service Hub<\/h3>\n

    Hubspot Service Hub is another solid choice for managing your team\u2019s emails. It comes with a built-in ticketing feature to help your team keep track of your incoming messages. Reviewers tend to mention the user-friendly interface and convenient integrations with other software.<\/p>\n

    There\u2019s a reason why monday sales CRM ranks higher than Hubspot<\/a> on review site Software Advice though. Hubspot is a great option, but it can be complex to use \u2014 one reviewer describes it as \u201cintimidating and scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

    5. Help Scout<\/h3>\n

    Help Scout is a good option for managing your shared inbox, because it gives you the ability to send email and offer live chat and self-service customer support from right inside a single inbox. Reviewers tend to say it\u2019s easy to use and set up, and it has a great reputation for customer support.<\/p>\n

    However, Help Scout may not be \u201csufficient for larger, more complex operations\u201d, according to a G2 reviewer.<\/a> Plus, Help Scout is very focused on customer support functions \u2014 if you want a single platform to manage the end-to-end sales journey, you\u2019d be better off with monday sales CRM.<\/p>\n

    Why monday sales CRM is the best option for your team’s shared inbox<\/h2>\n

    If you\u2019re looking for a shared inbox for your team, monday sales CRM has you covered. Our CRM platform prioritizes the end-to-end customer journey, from first point of contact to purchase and beyond.<\/p>\n

    When it comes to managing your team\u2019s email, our shared inbox feature is just the beginning. We also offer:<\/p>\n