Hi there, I want to ask those of you who use Google (gmail and apps/docs/drive) for your primary email management system what the best way is to organize GMAIL for a client.
I have a client that I'm going to be managing GMail for (sorting/answering/delegating etc.) and I'm wondering if before I get started if any of you have any tips to pass along? Anything worth mentioning to keep it as simple for them as possible and avoid any headaches later.
I will be doing my own research and experimenting on my gmail before I start theirs. This client doesn't have a Google Business and everything is going into Primary email right now.

Thanks!

At first, there will be a learning curve to see what the client deems important/not-important. Once you get through that, use the Gmail labels (and sub-labels) copiously. For example, if there are action items for the client, you can label those 'Action items' and have a sub-label called 'resolved' or completed, or something to that effect.

Ask your client which labels they already have that are off limits to you. While you have access to everything, a client may want to have some personal or sensitive info in a sub-folder. Just by asking a client about this, will allow to the client to see that you respect their privacy and that will build trust.

If the client is a solopreneur, take the time to think ahead about other labels (you can think about how you set up email and the labels or folders that you have as a guide). A label for "web stuff" like domain registration information, expiration dates, logins, etc., or a label for electronic receipts (like when you make a purchase on Amazon, FTD, etc.) are handy. The receipts label is good so that you can also get an idea of what the client has purchased in the past should you need to reorder in the future.

Finally, make less work for everyone and set up filters for everything you can. Makes life easier

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Out of the Office .. offering sanity via virtual assistance!

Thanks Denise! I'm going to be reviewing their email extensively tomorrow and hopefully I can apply your advice and set up a filters and labels for emails for my client to check, then folders for the ones I am going to be responsible for.
I love your blog posts by the way - very helpful.
Cheers,
Sylvana

Thank you Sylvana, I greatly appreciate your kind words. Secretly, it's great to know that someone reads the blog ;-)

Feel free to message me if you need some help or inspiration on how to tackle email management.

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Out of the Office .. offering sanity via virtual assistance!

Thanks so much. Not being new to working from home as an admin but certainly being new to the whole virtual admin world, it's tough to get actual information on the icky picky details of daily tasks and not having many contacts (VA's) that I can reach out and just ask a question to. I will certainly email you for help!
I haven't started my own blog yet but I'm thinking I'm going to start with simple 'tips' / how to articles as I learn them myself. Cheers!

Hi quick question regarding email handling. Do you have your clients give you their email and password to manage their emails or do they forward their emails to your email. I'm just starting out and 1 of my clients wants to forward his emails over but I don't want my work email to be bombarded with his and then get mixed up with everything else. How did you guys proceed with this service?
Thanks

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Victoria
Victorious Virtual Assistant

If you use email to:

• Work with a lot of ongoing retainer clients
• Send / Receive client domain email a client account
• Handle Email Customer Service for a client

Then I recommend Mozilla Thunderbird. Beside email, it can also synch your google calender (and your clients google calenders) It's free, and it's updated often.

With one simple add-on, you can have complete control of how your accounts are displayed and in what order. You can set up automatic filters.

And, the neat thing...you can back up Thunderbird. I back up several files to both Dropbox / Thumbdrive / Remote Drive each month. My Thunderbird back-up is one of them.

I also have a special gmail account (also set up in Thunderbird) that I only use for clients. This is the first way they hear from me, and it lets them connect to me super quick via:

Gtalk
Google Drive
Dropbox

I can then still communicate with my clients if I loose power or some other act of god happens.

When I transition completely over to my new business model, I'm still going to use this for the Google and Dropbox services, but will be giving new clients an me@mydomain.com address for general communication.

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