My #1 Time Saving Hack: Canned Emails

My inbox may or may not be my worst nightmare.

It tends to get a little bit unorganized, all kinds of crazy & that much harder to reach 0!! (I learned early on that if I let the emails pile up, it’s THAT much harder to knock ’em down!!!)

My BIGGEST woe with my inbox is that it takes me TIME and my TIME is valuable!!! When we own our own business, we need to be EFFECTIVE and EFFICIENT with the little bit of time we DO have … we also need to create CONSISTENCY throughout ALL forms of communication with our clients (& potential clients!)!

Canned email responses will do JUST that!!!

I have been using canned emails for over 3 years and have continued to add to my master list!!!

My top two reasons why you NEED canned emails in your life?

1) Canned email responses allow you to stay consistent with your voice & your policies.

By taking the time to write your emails ahead of time (ahead of emotion & the hustle of “send the email as fast as I can” mode), you’ll create a consistent brand voice & remain firmer on company policies. My friend Ashlyn said it best: “Email template copy helps you stand firm on your boundaries. If you’ve ever gotten that request to change a part of your contract you’re not comfortable with, if you’ve ever needed to remind a client a payment was overdue, or any other potentially sticky situation, you’ve got locked-and-loaded copy that maintains your voice and brand, is carefully edited, and ensures you don’t forget something important.”

2) Canned email responses will save you TIME.

I said it before; my biggest stress with my inbox is the TIME it takes to respond to every email. Don’t get me wrong: I WANT to respond!!! I love connected with my clients & meeting someone new who happens to pop in for a chat, but sometimes emails take more time then I’d like to spend writing. In my first year of biz, my friend Katelyn told me: if you find yourself writing an email more than 3 times, it’s time for a canned response. I have followed that motto for over 3 years & have dozens of canned emails in my arsenal ready to send off at a moment’s notice!!

So what are few emails you can have a canned response for and where do you store them?!

Let’s tackle the latter first: a lot of creatives use Gmail’s Canned Responses but I tried it for all of 1 day & hated it. I needed something different so I went back to my original, tried-and-true method I love:

Saving them in the Drafts right in Gmail! It’s quick, simple & easy for me to Command C then Command V and have a brand new email ready to go!! Now, I do have a Master File in Google Drive with all my Canned Responses, but I found I didn’t love flipping to another platform when writing my emails – all it takes is 2 clicks & I’m in my draft folder ready to copy/paste!!

Now, what are the emails you can have a canned response for? Here are a 8 ideas to get you started:

Initial Inquiry: You’re Available
Initial Inquiry: You’re Booked
Vendor Referral
Bio / Speaking
“We’re not the best fit but _____ may be!”
Wedding Timeline to Vendors
Half-Way Mark Check-In Email with Client
Wedding Week to Client
Coaching Inquiry
Tips for getting started (I get this question from boss ladies starting out so I created a detailed email to send their way!)

Think about the things people ask you about over & over. Create email templates that will be concise yet details & showcasing your brand personality!! You can even have canned responses around one specific element of your biz; for example, we had almost a dozen canned responses ready to go for the C@H launch in January!! We knew our inbox would be flooded & I wanted to be prepared to answer questions in a jiffy and know that every creative was getting the same consistency in content!!