Email Quarterback

You don’t reply to everything. You see the field, throw the ball to the right person, and make sure it gets caught.

← Productivity  ·  Ecommerce  ·  ClearCafe product  ·  ClearCafe Config  ·  Send and delete  ·  5 roles

Who this is for

This is the public version of our private handbook SOP, written so I can send it to Snook (and anyone else covering the inbox) without hunting through the internal wiki.

It combines both handbook pages:

  • Part 1 — day-to-day ClearCafe: global inbox, assign, saved replies, workflows.
  • Part 2 — overseeing others: no email-as-todo-list, ping the team, weekly reports.

Product + login: app.clearcafe.com · clearcafe.com/docs · ClearCafe overview · ClearCafe Config 2.0 (AI triage).

One-sentence job

The Email Quarterback owns the field, not every reply. Incoming mail gets seen, assigned to the right owner, turned into a real task or answer, and marked closed. Email is a pipe — never a to-do list.

Same spirit as send and delete: once a request is thrown, someone owns the catch. If you have to chase it for months, the system failed.

The four plays

1. Watch the field

Use the global mailbox (“god mode”). One screen for incoming across every brand. Don’t hop mailbox-by-mailbox unless you’re drilling in.

2. Throw to the owner

Assign a person or a department. Don’t forward and forget. The owner should already match that inbox’s work — brand CS, accounting, IT, BD, etc.

3. Turn email into work

If it needs action, it becomes a portal task, Google Doc / sheet, or a reply. It does not sit in Active / Pending as a reminder.

4. Close the loop

Replied, filed, or acknowledged → mark Closed. Active / Pending means “not addressed.” That is the issue.

Part 1 — Day-to-day in ClearCafe

Confirm which mailbox you are working. Confirm the scripts / saved replies for that mailbox if you are the one answering.

Global inbox (quarterback mode)

If you oversee incoming mail for the group, live in the global mailbox. Fastest way to see everything, then field it to the right person. You can also check assigned mail across all mailboxes from there.

Assign — don’t just forward

As the number of inboxes grew, we stopped treating email like a pass-the-parcel game. Team members own specific inboxes related to their work. Assign to them (or to a department) instead of forwarding a copy into another inbox.

You can assign to a department, not only one person.

Skills that make the desk faster

  • Workflows — auto-tag, auto-assign, auto-close the boring stuff (receipts, newsletters that slipped through, known no-reply patterns).
  • Saved replies (used to be “canned replies”) — same answer, same tone, one click.
  • Keyboard shortcuts — makes the desk actually fun. FreeScout module: freescout.net/module/keyboard-shortcuts
  • Sent folder — you can see what went out. Use it when someone says “I already replied.”
  • Too much junk? Don’t hero-sort it forever. Ask IT for webmail-level filters, or unsubscribe at the source.

Why we run our own server

ClearCafe is on our server, not a per-seat SaaS bill. Unlimited mailboxes and unlimited users — that’s why we left HelpScout. Product packaging (software / sort-only / full service) is on /clearcafe.

Mailbox ownership (how to think, not a live roster)

The 2023 handbook listed every mailbox. That list goes stale. Use app.clearcafe.com as the live roster. The pattern still holds:

Type What it is Quarterback move
Brand CS Amazon / product brands (Esatto, Akitai, Excalibur, etc.) Assign to that brand’s CS owner. Saved replies first.
VIP / BD bd@ or named exec boxes (Bavdan BD, NYBS BD, Katrina, Mike work) Don’t treat as general support. Route to the named person.
Catch-all Shadstone info, Shadstone catch-all, structure.info Triage hard. Most of it is noise or “belongs in another mailbox.”
Project / event GFA, CBS sales, Handycon, GFA Kids, Flamingo Handshake Owner of that project. If the project is dead, close or park — don’t let it sit.
Inactive / archive Old shops, old blogs, “not active” brands Expect little volume. Close or reassign; don’t build a pile.

If you don’t know the owner: ask in the email-quarterback channel. Don’t guess and leave it assigned to the wrong person — the real owner will never see it.

Part 2 — Overseeing others + reports

Part 1 is using the product. Part 2 is making sure the team is using it. This is the management half of the role.

Active / Pending = not addressed

We do not use email as a to-do list. Work belongs in tasks, docs, and sheets. A conversation sitting in Active or Pending is an open loop.

Emails sitting in Assigned for six months (or last year) is a fail. What is the status of those? Nobody knows — that’s the problem.

How I check the desk

  1. Open app.clearcafe.com.
  2. Scroll the mailbox list.
  3. High UNASSIGNED — nobody is watching that mailbox at all. Quarterback (or the named owner) needs to land there today.
  4. High ASSIGNED — first glance: a lot of mail is not being replied to. Open it. Who is sitting on it?
  5. Drill into assigned threads. Age matters. Last year is not “in progress.”

What you do when you find a pile

Ask that teammate to do one of three things:

  • Reply — if they own the answer.
  • Re-assign — if someone else should have it. The other person has no idea it exists until it’s on their name.
  • Mark closed — if it’s already handled, filed, or only needed an acknowledgement.

Accounting example: once they record / acknowledge the email, they mark it closed. They do not leave it Pending forever “in case.” That’s messy, stressful, and unclear.

If they don’t move: ping them in the email-quarterback team channel. That’s what it’s for.

Main KPI

Emails are addressed, filed, or replied to — and marked closed. We should not have Active or Pending sitting around.

Weekly report (use the reports we already paid for)

ClearCafe has reports. Use them. Don’t invent a second spreadsheet unless the built-in view is missing a column.

Productivity

Who is clearing volume. Who is sitting on assigned mail. Age of open conversations.

Satisfaction

Ratings are already in the product. Include them — not only speed.

What the weekly should say

Positive reinforcement: who is doing best.
Prod: who is not replying / addressing.
Satisfaction: any dips worth a conversation.

Decide the exact format with the team once. Then run it every week so nobody is surprised by a six-month pile.

Walkthrough video

Public partner / client walkthrough we also keep on clearcafe.com/docs — YouTube.

Snook’s first-week checklist

Related on this site

Public SOP · rebuilt from the Shadstone handbook (July / August 2023) · for Snook and anyone covering the desk

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