Just started using Front? We think you’re going to love it. We updated our Getting Started with Front article. Head there for tips on using your brand new inbox.
Getting started on a new app can sometimes be complicated. That’s why we’ve put together all of our best tips and tricks to get the most out of your shared inbox on Front.
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Choose the workflow that suits you best
To make sure you achieve inbox zero on a daily or weekly basis and reply to every message you receive, you pretty much have two workflow options you can choose from.
Option 1 – The “one leader assigns all” workflow
In this scenario, you pick out one person on your team (you can have different people rotate through this position over time) and give him or her the responsibility of handling all messages that come inside of the shared inbox. His one-and-only job: keep the shared inbox clean and organized. That means sorting out emails and making sure they either get assigned to someone or archived and trashed if they are not necessary. The rest of the team then only needs to go in their “Assigned to me” folder and not worry about the rest of the inbox.
Option 2 – The “grab-and-go” workflow
The other option available basically relies on each and everyone of your team member just replying to messages as they see them if they feel like they are the most relevant person to do so. This option is much more flexible and lets your team choose the conversations they want to deal with. It’s still important that one of your teammate checks on a regular basis if they aren’t some conversations that have been left on the side for too long.
Our pro tip: You can also automatically assign conversations thanks to our rules (you’ll find them in the settings). Given specific keywords, sender’s address or inbox, a message can be automatically assigned, tagged or replied to. We even made a video to explain it all.
Use shortcuts to boost productivity
If you want to move swiftly through your inbox, nothing is better than good old shortcuts. But you need to know them! Batch assigning or archiving conversations, taking the lead on a message (with “q”) or commenting (“m”) are just a key away. Also hit “r” for reply or “e” for archive.
Use message templates to stop typing the same things over and over again
You and your team might feel like you’re often giving the same replies to frequently asked questions. Instead of typing them over and over again, you can set up message templates. They will then appear in the text box when you are typing an email. They’re entirely customizable so that you can still add that little something that makes your emails so special.
Get a global overview of your inbox(es) and your team
To stay on top of everything that’s happening in your emails, there is more than just the notifications. First, you can have a look at your activity feed and see everything that’s happening on the app in real time. The feed can be filtered by any type of given activity.
You can also click on any of your teammates’ name (at the bottom left of the app) and see his or her “Assigned to me” folder. This will help you to know what everyone is working on and if you don’t have too many emails that are not being taken care of.
Get all of your contact’s info in one place
When you click on any given contact name in a conversation thread, you can see his or her contact history (all the previous conversations you had with this given contact) as well as his or her profile. On your contacts’ profiles, you can leave notes and comments for you and your team to remember.
Our pro tip: You can add a custom field to your contacts and have a link to your back-office or any website you want thanks to our API. More info here.
Manage the times when you’re away
Whenever you’re away or unable to reply to messages, you can set your status as “Unavailable” in the settings. When you are unavailable, any new message you receive will by default go in the shared inbox unassigned. So you don’t have to forward anything or ask your teammates to constantly check your “Assigned to me” folder when you’re taking a break!
Want to know what Front is in the first place?
Watch on YouTube: What is a customer communication hub, anyway?
Written by Mathilde Collin
Originally Published: 17 April 2020