A little care goes a long way
Your first shared inbox needs a few shared habits
A simple working agreement for ownership, private notes, and follow-ups, before the first busy Monday.
Moving from a shared email login to a shared inbox is a good moment to agree on how your team works. Start small. You can make the process more detailed when the work asks for it.
Give each conversation an owner
Assignment should answer one question: who is responsible for the next step? It does not mean that person must solve everything alone. A teammate can help in a private note while the owner keeps the customer informed.
At the start of a shift, check the unassigned queue. Before handing over, leave a note with the current question, what you have checked, and what needs to happen next.
Agree on what each status means
- Open: there is work for the team to do.
- Pending: you are waiting for information or a decision.
- Snoozed: you want the conversation to return at a specific time.
- Resolved: the current question has been answered.
These definitions are a starting point, not a universal rule. The important part is that your team uses them consistently.
Keep notes useful and private
A note is for context another teammate needs. Write it so someone can pick up the conversation without reading a separate chat thread. Always check whether you are writing a reply or a private note before sending.
Useful handoff: “Customer needs the billing name corrected. Asked for the new details; waiting for their reply.” Less useful handoff: “Can someone look at this?”
Start with one test conversation
Send a message from your website, assign it, add a note, and reply. Ask a teammate to take over. You will learn more from that small exercise than from configuring every setting at once.
Follow the FlexHello setup guide to get your first inbox ready.