Email Delivery Challenges

EPC Delays Don’t Fail in Courtrooms — They Fail in Emails No One Read Most EPC disputes aren’t lost in arbitration. They’re lost months earlier — in the inbox. Because the story of delay isn’t written in the judgment. It’s written in: -the notice that was never sent, -the meeting minute that said “agreed in principle”, -the progress report that quietly shifted blame without proof. By the time lawyers enter, the evidence is already baked. No forensic expert can fix what wasn’t documented. If you work in projects, remember: Delay claims are built, not declared. Every email, MOM, and schedule log is a brick in that claim. So before you ask your lawyer “Can we recover this?” — ask your team, “Did we record it?” #constructivecounsel #mehakoberoi

6 EMAIL MARKETING PROBLEMS (and how to fix them) LOW OPEN RATES This can stem from uninteresting subject lines, poor deliverability, or not using preview text. Craft subject lines that spark curiosity and use personalization. Ensure strong sender reputation, avoid spam words, and test sending times. Use preview text to complement and summarize. Make subscribers eager to open your email, not just feel obligated. HIGH UNSUBSCRIBE RATES High unsubscribe rates may signal irrelevant content or frequency issues. Get feedback via surveys or emails. Segment list for tailored content and frequency. Improve content with value and variety. Deliver what subscribers want to keep them engaged. LOW CTR Low click-through rates often result from dull call-to-actions (CTAs) and irrelevant content. Use action-oriented, appealing, and well-placed CTAs. Align content with audience interests; use visuals. A/B test CTA styles, placements, and wording. When you have CTAs that stand out and relevant content, it'll help improve your email engagement. EMAIL GOING TO SPAM Emails landing in spam folders are often due to not following email deliverability best practices. Use double opt-in if necessary. Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Regularly clean your email list. Monitor reputation with Google Postmaster. Follow these easy best practices to improve email deliverability. SLOW EMAIL LIST GROWTH This can stem from poor sign-up strategies, low-value offers, and low traffic. Offer compelling lead magnets like eBooks or discounts. Write persuasive copy and simplify the sign-up. Promote sign-ups via social media and website. A/B test form designs, placements, and copy. A streamlined and seamless sign-up process will help boost your list growth. HIGH BOUNCE RATES High bounce rates typically indicate issues with email addresses or list hygiene. Clean list regularly; verify addresses before sending. Monitor bounce reports; address hard and soft bounces. Use double opt-in; keep subscription info updated. A healthy, well-maintained list minimizes bounce rates.

I once coached a rep who spent 45 minutes writing a single prospecting email. It never got opened. This is what perfectionism looks like in sales. It feels like diligence. But it's actually fear in disguise. It’s the #1 silent killer of productivity I see in top performers. And it’s keeping thousands of reps from greatness. When I ask my clients why they procrastinate on key actions—emails, calls, exec meetings—it's rarely because they’re lazy. It’s because they’re scared it won’t be “good enough.” They believe if it’s not perfect, it’s not worth doing. So they delay. They overthink. They rewrite the email 9 times. They wait until they “feel more prepared” to meet the VP. They avoid risk… and call it professionalism. But here’s the truth: Perfectionism is just fear—dressed up as high standards. And it’s costing you pipeline, confidence, and growth. The irony? You only become “good enough” by doing the reps. You don’t become a world-class presenter by sitting in Google Docs. You become one by presenting. Over and over. You don’t write powerful emails by waiting for inspiration. You get there by writing 100 bad ones first. Mastery doesn’t come from waiting until you're ready. It comes from acting before you are. The best salespeople I know are not perfectionists. They are consistent executors. They ship when it’s 80% ready. They call the VP even when they’re nervous. They send the message before second-guessing every word. They understand that competence is built through action. Not before it. Perfectionism isn’t a high standard. It’s fear of failure in a nice suit. You don’t beat it by thinking. You beat it by acting. Every single day. Done now Beats perfect never. Always.

If you’re sending emails in bulk (>5000 emails/day), you need to know this. In a recent update, Google laid down a threshold of spam rate for bulk senders, which is less than 0.3%. This means two things: [1] You need to monitor the no. of spam complaints regularly - Spam complaints are NOT emails landing in your spam folder [2] You need to keep your spam complaints below 0.3% - Many of the companies I know have higher spam complaints First, start monitoring spam complaints by setting up Gmail Postmaster Tools for your domain. It’s a free tool by Google to check delivery errors, spam reports, domain reputation, and IP reputation. The more important question though is how to maintain spam complaint rates below 0.3%. The answer is simple - Be more relevant and valuable to users. For that, make sure to: [a] Segment your users (Use their activity, intent, and need to segment) [b] Understand what each of these segments want (Ask them questions) Send emails that are relevant to their needs. Don’t just sell but educate, entertain, and engage them [c] Bring novelty in each email. Don’t just keep sending the same sales-oriented email every day. If you don’t have any value to add, don’t send the email. There are other requirements for senders, too, like: [1] Authenticate outgoing emails by setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. DMARC may be set to p=none. [2] Enable one-click unsubscribe. And process unsubscription requests within two days. The deadline to set these up is February 1, 2024 - but they’re nudging senders to set them up already. In fact, setting these up earlier “may improve your email delivery”, the update said. For more details - read their email sender guidelines [link in comments]

A Series A SaaS founder from Los Angeles told me last week: "𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯." He’s not alone. I’ve heard the same thing from VCs, ex-FAANG operators, even ex-McKinsey partners. They believe polish is what earns credibility. That perfect syntax builds authority. That if it reads like a press release, people will take them seriously. But here’s what they don’t realize— This mindset is exactly what’s killing their reach. Their voice sounds safe. Sanitized. Forgettable. Because when every post feels like it went through legal… It stops feeling like you. Let me be clear: Being strategic ≠ being sterile Having standards ≠ chasing perfection Thing is, We don’t trust perfect people. We trust the ones who tell the truth, even when it’s messy. Look around: → Naval’s most shared ideas are raw, unedited tweets → Melanie Perkins got more traction from rejection stories than product launches → Sahil Bloom saw 10x growth after leaning into imperfection And if that’s not enough— The data tells the same story: • Posts with imperfections + personal insight see 3.5x more engagement • Showing the “behind the scenes” drives 2–4x more private replies • Realness lowers CAC, increases trust velocity, and boosts retention So what do you really want? A post that sounds “professional”? Or one that people feel... and remember? Because here's the paradox most don't see: The more perfect you try to be… The more disconnected you become. Authority ≠ polish Authority = presence Own your voice. Let it breathe. Because the only content that scales today— Is the kind that makes people stop scrolling and start trusting. Still editing for perfection? Or is it time to speak like someone worth following?

You get to work, open your email ... and your blood starts to boil. Your co-worker sent you an email. It could have been simple. It could have been direct. Instead, it's riddled with subtle jabs and hostility. What do you do? 1️⃣ Ask to meet in person to clear up any miscommunication? 2️⃣ Send a similarly tense reply? If you would choose the latter … you're not alone. We are seeing a MAJOR increase in incivility across U.S. workplaces. The truth is … it's in all of our hands to fix it. So, next time you receive a tense email, here's my challenge to you: ☑️ Take a break and reflect: When emotions are high, it's essential to process your feelings. This will help you respond thoughtfully without escalation. ☑️ Schedule an in-person meeting: Emails can create misunderstandings. Request a meeting to communicate your concerns and understand your co-worker's perspective. ☑️ Focus on understanding: Practice empathy by actively listening to their point of view. Ask questions for clarity. Don't make assumptions. ☑️ Apologize if necessary: If you regret your actions, sincerely apologize. Acknowledge your role and express a desire to move forward. Have you ever clashed with a co-worker? How did you go about finding peace, civility, and common ground? #SHRM #HumanResources #Civility #WorkplaceCulture #HealthyWorkplaceEnvironment

Working in a hybrid world, we rely more than ever on email and chat messages. But could they be doing a disservice to how your communication is received? Research shows the communication channel you choose contributes to how authentic you appear. Emotions expressed in emails, through the use of words or emoticons, are typically seen as inauthentic. This happens even when the emotions *are* authentic, because people think it’s easy to ‘fake’ emotion in an email. It also occurs because email is perceived as ‘low effort’, compared with a phone call or in-person conversation. This is important in a digital, hybrid working world, where there is often little face-to-face communication. So if you must use a written form of communication instead of a more personal channel, make sure you explain why you chose that channel if you want your feelings to be considered genuine. [Image description: Cartoon image of two figures. One is looking at a phone and looking confused; the other has a speech bubble above their head with an image of an email in it, and is also looking confused. The text above reads: Did you know ... Emotions expressed through email are seen as inauthentic.] #email #CommunicationTips

Your email campaigns are crushing it. Open rates up 30%. Click-through rates are soaring. Then suddenly... crickets. What gives? Here's what nobody tells you about scaling email marketing: success breeds failure. As a skilled product manager, you know best that the growth needs to be ongoing, not come with a spike or a few spikes. When you go from sending 1,000 emails to 50,000 overnight, email providers get suspicious. Your sender reputation takes a hit. Messages start landing in SPAM folders instead of inboxes. I've watched promising startups lose months of momentum because they didn't see this coming. Their product was solid, their messaging was on point, but their emails simply stopped reaching customers. One founder told me they lost 3 months of growth because password reset emails weren't reaching new users. Imagine losing customers because they literally couldn't log in. The solution isn't sending fewer emails (that's growth suicide). It's understanding that email deliverability is infrastructure, not marketing. Smart founders treat it like server capacity. So, something you prepare for BEFORE you need it. This means gradually warming up your sending domains, establishing trust with email providers, and monitoring your sender reputation like you monitor your uptime. Tools like Warmy.io - Email channel. Reliable. , a partner of this post can automate this process, helping maintain your sender reputation as you scale. But the key insight is planning ahead, not reacting after damage is done. With this choice, you get: • Automated Deliverability: No configuration headaches, just reliable inbox placement. • Time and Cost Efficiency: No dev resources wasted on constant updates. • Built-in Compliance: GDPR and security taken care of, so you can focus on strategy. • Scalability on Demand: Whether it’s 100 or 10,000 emails, Warmy scales without breaking a sweat. • Expert Support: Real deliverability specialists ready to help when things get tricky. Your growth strategy shouldn't break your communication channel. Because what's the point of acquiring customers if you can't talk to them? Do you struggle with promoting your product? Looking forward to your comments! #productmanagement #emaildelivery  #productmanager

Let's break down why this giveaway strategy is a trap and might be holding you back. I've analyzed giveaway campaigns in the last few weeks, and here's the uncomfortable truth: 🎯 The Reality Check: 1️⃣ Most participants are freebie hunters, not potential clients. 2️⃣ Engagement spikes, not the sales pipeline. 3️⃣ 60% of interactions come from bot accounts. 4️⃣ Less than 3% stick around after the giveaway ends. ❌ Why Giveaways Are a Marketing Mirage: • They attract non-relevant audiences. • Create false engagement metrics. • Drain resources without ROI. • Damage brand perception. 💡 What Actually Works: • Creating value-driven content. • Building authentic relationships. • Sharing industry expertise. • Solving real customer problems. ⚡ Quick Test: When was the last time YOU bought from a brand after entering their giveaway? 🎯 The Better Approach: 1. Focus on creating authority content. 2. Build genuine community engagement. 3. Invest in relationship-building. 4. Share authentic case studies. Remember: Fancy numbers don't pay bills. Real customers do. #SaaS #B2BSales #SocialSelling #GrowthStrategy

15,896 people joined my client’s e-mail course but only 5 of them converted to his paid online course. So I decided to run my “Why Didn’t You Buy Survey Funnel” to learn about our potential buyer’s objections (Results below) Now you don’t just want to sit on this data but use it to improve your offer, sales page, and sales sequences. But here’s how I specifically used it for my client: → Build abandoned cart flows that address these objections. 1️⃣ I started by creating relevant tags for each objection on ConvertKit → Soon to be Kit. For example: everyone who selected “Pricing (too high) has been tagged as “Objection - Pricing”. Same for other objections. This would help me send customized emails to each person for the reason they selected. 2️⃣ Then I wrote e-mails that addressed these objections. Now these are sales emails but I like to think of them as ‘educating’ our potential students. Here’s an example of what the “Pricing (too high)” objection sequence looked like: #1 Email: Educating our leads about our EMI plans. They might not be aware that they can join the course for as little as ₹500 instead of paying ₹10,000 upfront. #2 Email: The frame of this e-mail is “I see that you’ve decided to not join the course and achieve [Insert outcome] by yourself. But here’s the thing, if you could have done it yourself, you’d have done it by now” And then we go into the biggest obstacles they’ll run into that could have easily been avoided if they joined our course. #3 Email: The frame of this email is “Where would you be today if you had made this decision to join our course a year ago?” This helps educate the potential customer on the cost of inaction, and why it’s so crucial for them to take action today and join the program. (All these emails have loads of testimonials for social proof) 3️⃣ The biggest mistake I see people making with these Surveys is that they send a long list of 10 questions in a Google form. Nobody has the time to do that so stick to asking 1 question and embed the form inside your e-mail itself. I’ll report back on the results 🫡