Simbi is an online reading platform designed for kids aged 6-12 struggling with reading. It motivates them to love reading through a gamified system, boosting reading achievement faster. Simbi’s CEO and Co-Founder, Aaron Friedland, is also the Executive Director of their sister non-profit, Simbi Foundation. The Foundation supports underserved African refugee communities facing challenges accessing quality education.
The Problem~
As you can imagine, Aaron receives a lot of emails! Communication with team members, investors, donors, United Nations officials, and podcast guests, jam packs his inbox daily. (Check out Impact in the 21st Century for fantastic conversations with guests like Dr. Jane Goodall and Neil deGrasse Tyson). Keeping track of all those emails, plus the required follow-up, was becoming a full-time job for Aaron distracting him from his essential duties.
Although Simbi uses robust project management software, transferring email conversations that required follow-up into actionable tasks was cumbersome. Emails were getting lost, and essential follow-up notification tasks were buried in the workflow. At the executive level, not responding to emails promptly and missing meeting requests can have dire consequences for the business resulting in lost revenue from a lack of follow-up with potential investors and clients. Aaron recognized that a new system requiring strong organizational skills was needed.
The Solution~
Enter Virtual ME Solutions. After my discovery call with Aaron, I knew there were opportunities to organize the process and get his inbox under control. The first step was to put a system in place that would not require transferring important email conversations and follow-ups to a separate system. Project management tools are great, but 90% of Aaron’s work was happening inside his Gmail inbox, so that’s where the system needed to be.
Honestly, Aaron was hesitant to add yet another app to learn (and pay for) to his arsenal. Luckily, I use a tool that’s easy, customizable, and free; Sortd for Gmail. It uses boards and cards like Asana and Trello to help manage emails, tasks, and follow-ups, but everything happens right inside your inbox. After a quick product tour, he was sold, and I got to work doing what I do best; organizing.
I set up boards for each business category with columns to move emails through the workflow. For instance, the Follow-Up board contains columns for Schedule Meeting, Schedule Meeting Next Month, Follow-Up 6 Months, Follow-Up 12 Months, and Keep Pestering for Meeting (Aaron has a sense of humor). The email, or card, is dragged to the proper board and then moved through the columns until archived. Each card has fields for notes, comments, what’s next, reminder date, and deadline date. It’s a “set and forget” system that gets emails out of the inbox but doesn’t bury them in folders or labels.
Now, when Aaron needs to follow up with someone six months from now, I move the email to the proper board column, make notes on the status of the conversation, set the reminder date, and forget about it. Six months later, a reminder from Sortd tells me that it’s time to follow up, and when I open the card, the notes and next steps are outlined so I can easily take action.
Once the new system was in place and running smoothly, the final step was to create an SOP to document the process from start to finish.
The Outcome~
Aaron shares that since working with Virtual ME Solutions, his follow-up rate has improved significantly, resulting in increased revenue for the business. His inbox looks much cleaner and isn’t clogged with old emails that get lost in the clutter. Now he has peace of mind that important email conversations and tasks won’t’ fall through the cracks.
Inbox beast tamed!
Ready to take back your time and be more productive? Organization is my superpower! Contact Virtual ME Solutions today to learn how I can help you grow your business.
