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<aside> <img src="/icons/bookmark-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/bookmark-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> Table of Contents

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<aside> <img src="/icons/bookmark-outline_red.svg" alt="/icons/bookmark-outline_red.svg" width="40px" /> Client Preferences Template for Inbox

Inbox Preferences Sample

👉 Inbox Preferences Template (Duplicate This)

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🌎 Overview

An executive’s inbox is one of the major front doors for their lives. It’s important to establish clear guidelines for personal and professional emails right from the start.

This playbook attempts to help assistants build out a standard operating procedure (SOP) in a detailed and explicit way.

Assistants and clients should read the relevant sections below and work through the preferences templates shared above.

🔖  Goals

• The EA should develop a system in place that will save the client from having to go through or look for emails.
• For the client to be more hands-off with inbox, avoid context switching and, if necessary, they know exactly where to find items.

📋  Process for getting client’s preferences

For the EA

1. Assess the client's inbox's current status.

• How is the inbox currently being handled?
• Is there an apparent system of organization?

2. Check the emails the client is getting in the following categories:

Personal

• Subscriptions
• Newsletters
• Billing statements
• Transaction receipts
• Direct messages from family and friends

Professional

• Direct emails from the team/colleagues
• Company-wide emails
• App notifications from team project management software and the like
• Calendar invites/updates

3. Prepare suggestions for the client regarding potential folders for categorizing inbox items.

Suggested folders:

• Urgent ‣ needs review & action within the day
• Action ‣ needs action but not urgent
• FYI ‣ no action but important to read
• EA to Action ‣ needs action, but EA can handle it

Please take note that folders are different from labels. With labels, you do an in-depth email categorization. You will also need to discuss with your client the different labels you will use.

4. Go through the following with the client:

• Inbox triage
• Inbox labeling
• Drafting emails