How to Build a Master Inbox to Manage Cold Email Campaigns?

You've heard the term ‘master inbox’ everywhere in the sales groups, but you’re unsure how to build one. 

To be honest, you don’t even need to build a master inbox if you use Saleforge to run your cold emails; we have a Primebox™ feature to avoid hassles like these.

Let’s get back to it then: managing your cold email campaigns demands more than scattered inboxes—it requires a master inbox! This is a centralized powerhouse corrals all your campaign inboxes into one organized hub, ensuring faster communication with prospects as soon as they respond.

With nifty tools and automation onboard, you'll become the response time maestro and follow-up virtuoso, delighting clients with your lightning-speed interactions.

But wait, setting up this inbox isn't just about picking any software—it's about building one with filters and robust follow-up protocols.

So, what's the secret sauce to creating this email command center, AKA master inbox, you ask? Buckle up because mastering this trick could be the key to turbocharging your agency growth game!

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Key Takeaways

If you’re in a hurry, here’s the TL;DR of how to build a master inbox…

• Open the email service provider and forward all your incoming email accounts into one email inbox.
• Set up email filters to automatically sort incoming campaign responses based on predefined criteria.
• Set up send to respond to the prospect from that email inbox without leaving the master inbox.
• Utilize automation tools for scheduling follow-up emails like the right inbox for consistent engagement.

Thirsty for more detail? Let’s get into it…

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What is A Unified Master Inbox?

The unified master inbox centralizes all responses from your cold email campaigns, simplifying response management by consolidating interactions into one organized location.

Acting as the primary inbox, it receives communications from various cold email inboxes, streamlining prospect management. Efficient email filtering ensures critical interactions are prioritized, boosting responsiveness and organization. This system is essential for maintaining order and completely removing leak leakage possibilities in your sales efforts.

Luckily you have the Primebox feature in salesforge.ai so you don't even have to build a master inbox.

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Why Do You Need A Master Inbox?

Implementing a master inbox in your cold email campaigns is essential for several compelling reasons:

First off, it centralizes all lead interactions, simplifying monitoring and managing potential client responses.

This setup enhances the efficiency of following up with prospects and improves team collaboration by allowing multiple users to access and act on the same information set seamlessly.

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1. Streamlined Lead Management

Whether you’re an agency owner or SaaS founder trying to book demos or sell your services or a lead generation agency owner generating leads for your clients, you will find it overwhelming to manage prospects' responses.

A master inbox simplifies the tracking and analysis of leads, making it an indispensable tool for businesses aiming to optimize their marketing strategies and maximize conversion rates.

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2. Effective Follow-Up Systems

Using tools like -

1. Mailtrack
2. Right inbox

Allows you to create sub-sequences and run effective follow-up systems. Maintaining timely and organized follow-up emails right from your email to potential leads.

Check out our research on the best email trackers.

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3. Seamless Collaboration

A master inbox facilitates seamless collaboration among team members and prospects by centralizing communication and ensuring everyone can access the same information in real time.

No need to hassle between your multiple sales employees' email inboxes you can just manage all of it from one inbox.

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4. Zero Lead Leakage

You will receive lots of responses if you follow our blog, learn the ABCs of cold emailing, and continuously run campaigns.

People in the sales community often complain about losing a lead due to responding late, not following up enough, accidentally deleting it, landing in spam, or various other reasons.

You pretty much reduce your chances of lead leakage to zero when you build a solid master inbox.

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5. Prioritize Leads

You can see how many times someone read, opened, or forwarded your emails when using email trackers in your master inbox. It helps you make informed decisions.

If someone reads your emails more than 3 times you’d know they might be more interested in your pitch than someone who read it once. Based on this you can make informed decisions in your sales pipeline to convert them into a customer.

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How to Build a Master Inbox to Manage Multiple Inboxes?

From meticulous planning to forwarding all emails to a central hub, simplifying monitoring and responding.

Implementing steps such as setting up 'Send As' and 'Reply' functionalities, filtering warm-up emails, and creating specific lead filters will streamline operations and enhance efficiency.

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Step 1: Planning

Initiating the process of creating a master inbox involves a careful assessment of your current email infrastructure and identifying the critical requirements for integration.

• Evaluate Email Providers: Choose providers that support extensive forwarding options and integration capabilities.
• Central Master Inbox Setup: Determine the best host for the central master inbox.
• Tracking Tools: Assess tools that offer robust email engagement and tracking features.
• Subsequences Planning: Understand the capabilities of following-up to enhance campaign effectiveness.
• Filter Configuration Needs: Plan what filters you need to manage the flow and categorization of incoming emails efficiently.

Each step is vital in developing a streamlined, effective master inbox system for handling cold email campaigns.

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Step 2: Forward All Emails

Let’s configure email forwarding!

Forward all your email inboxes to the central master inbox one by one. This process centralizes control, allowing you to see all the incoming emails in that inbox.

To implement email forwarding, 

Turn on Automatic forwarding from your admin account, assuming you’re using Google Workspace.

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Log into each account and navigate to the settings to forward emails to your master inbox. While you're at it, turn on IMAP and Auto Expunge.

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Whether using manual methods or sending tools with a native master inbox feature, the goal is to streamline communications and enhance responsiveness without cluttering your primary workspace. This strategic setup is essential for maintaining efficiency in handling multiple email streams.

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Step 3: Send As & Reply

The next essential step involves configuring the 'Send As' and 'Reply' functionalities to send responses seamlessly by accessing multiple inboxes. This setup is critical for maintaining consistency in your cold email campaigns and making sure that all replies appear to come from the original sender, enhancing credibility and efficiency.

Phase 1:

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1. Log in to the Admin console.
2. Navigate to Menu ➡️ Apps ➡️ Google Workspace ➡️ Gmail ➡️ End User Access.
3. Allow per-user outbound gateways section, select Allow users to send mail
4. At the bottom, click Save.

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Phase 2

1. Login to your master inbox email address
2. Settings ➡️ Accounts ➡️ Add another email address
3. Insert Name, Email, password & check not an alias
4. Verify the email address
5. When Replying to a message check the Reply from the same email address.

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Reply Configuration: Set the reply settings to guarantee responses go through the master inbox.

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Step 4: Create Filters

Filters help segregate warm-up emails from regular incoming emails, ensuring your campaign's outreach efforts are gradually scaled without triggering spam filters.

1. Interested
2. Not Interested
3. Booked Call
4. Deal Closed
5. Out of Office / Auto Reply
6. Later

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To configure these filters, just follow these steps.

1. Open master inbox
2. Settings ➡️ Filters and Blocked Addresses
3. Create a new filter ➡️ Apply the label ➡️ Never send it to spam 

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Step 5: Follow-up Sequences

Effective follow-up sequences are crucial for maintaining engagement and responsiveness within your master inbox system. By setting up automated email sequences, you can guarantee timely follow-ups that boost response rates and foster ongoing lead nurturing.

Sign up to the Rightinbox to create sub-sequences or follow-up emails.

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Utilizing personalized templates within these sequences enhances their effectiveness, making each recipient feel uniquely addressed. This strategic approach streamlines communication and dramatically boosts engagement by keeping your brand top-of-mind.

Additionally, the automation of follow-up tasks relieves the burden on your team, allowing them to focus on more complex inquiries and opportunities. Properly executed, these sequences are invaluable tools for maintaining momentum and cultivating successful business relationships through your master inbox.

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Recommended Software to Manage Multiple Inboxes

Several software options, such as Mailbird, Postbox, Missive, and Spike, offer robust solutions for managing multiple inboxes from a single dashboard. These tools are essential for anyone looking to streamline email management, especially when handling cold email campaigns.

• Mailbird: Integrates all your email accounts into one interface, enhancing email productivity.
• Postbox: Powerful email client that promotes efficient organization with advanced search capabilities.
• Missive: Combines email with chat and task management, ideal for team collaboration.
• Spike: Turns emails into chat-like conversations, simplifying communication.

These management software options are indispensable communication tools for any professional environment.

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To Wrap It All Up

The master inbox is a strategic solution for simplifying and streamlining cold email campaigns and allowing you to scale your sales efforts. By integrating various inboxes into one centralized hub, organizations benefit from enhanced efficiency and improved response times.

Utilizing recommended software for managing these inboxes can further refine the process, ensuring that every campaign is conducted precisely and professionally.

Ultimately, creating a master inbox facilitates better management of email communications, fostering fruitful interactions and successful outcomes.

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