Part of my responsibilities as an Art Manager is to ensure that my artistic clients are able to do what they do best... create art. So when one of my best clients calls me to say he's overwhelmed by incoming emails and can't focus on studio work... it's a problem. It's my problem.
Here are some of the actions I'll put in place to ease the onslaught on this artists inbox:
1. I inform the client that I will only send him 1 email per week. On a Friday. That email will summarize the weeks activities until the time the client and I meet face to face for a brain storming session. The once a week emails will also serve as an agenda for any upcoming meeting. I tell the client that should he receive an email from me on say...Tuesday, it is because I absolutely need a response to an issue.
2. I set up an alternative email address to filter all non specific emails coming in from our marketing efforts. This will eliminate spam, newsletters, and misc crap from his personal email inbox. As his webmaster I will review all these emails and alert him to only those which are relevant.
3. We set up special categories to filter and sort his inbox for art suppliers, membership organizations, buyers and personal. In this way, as his incoming email is downloaded to his local computer it is sorted and categorized and put in the appropriate folder. He is able to distinguish by an alert which emails are priority and which emails can wait a day (or two) for a reply.
4. I advise the client to check email only once a day... preferably either before he starts his studio time in the morning or after his studio work is done at the end of the day. This may sound obvious but even the best of us can fall into the trap of checking email several times a day.
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