You have 54 Unread Email Messages.

Gah. I hope some of them are clients that want to throw money at me.

And so it begins, you open the first email.

Email 1

It's Chloe. She wants to know "how you work". If you only had a nickel for every time someone asked that.

So, how do you work?

I work fine. At my desk. Listening to Katy Perry even though I swore I would not be a fan.

Wait, that's not what she wanted to hear. She wants to hear:

Hi Chloe,

Thanks for reaching out and I would love to help you work on your home.

I'd love to work with you on your home. I can definitely use of what you have now and build upon it in most cases (those cases when I don't are when things are ug-to-the-ly).

My process is very simple. After you purchase a design service I put you on my project calendar and send you my ‘Getting Started Packet’. It will walk you through the process but here is a brief outline:

I'll have you fill out a questionnaire and collect photos. The questionnaire gives me a crystal clear picture of you and ...

And the email goes on telling Chloe all about your wonderful process explaining how you work on each and every project because you've done this forever.

To craft this wonderful email to Chloe, you need to STOP. COLLABORATE & LISTEN.

Twenty minutes later you think you have crafted the most perfect email to Chloe that will have explained your process to her and you can move on to the next email.

Email 2

It's Constance. Cheapo Constance. She wants you to reduce your fees a bit. You know *just little bit* this one time.

You kinda knew she wasn't your ideal client, but you went against your gut instinct and figured you've give it a go with Constance (and if we're being honest you needed the dough).

So here she is popping into your inbox today looking for a discount. Well, you aren't a discount designer and you are going to be firm about this. You type:

Hello Constance,

How are you? In this tough economy you’re not the first to ask for a fee reduction for my services, but I have to firmly stick to my fee. You see, I know you have other choices for selecting an online interior designer, but I know that my fee is not unreasonable.

I strive to save my customer’s money. With over 20 years under my belt, I work efficiently and quickly by knowing how and where to get you the best bang for your buck. I also strive to save you time and that’s why...

She might not like it, but at least you can look yourself in the mirror in the morning and that's what we all really want.

You look at the clock and it's an hour later than when you started. While you figured out how to explain your process and to tell Constance delicately that you're not reducing your fees you lost an hour of your day.

If you're smart you remember to save those responses for future use when the situations come up again. And you know they will.

Make Gmail Your Bitch

To save these and use them over and over again you are going to want to use Gmail's Canned Response.

While in Gmail look for this symbol, click it and click "settings" in the dropdown.

Look for the tab labeled "Labs" and click it.

There you can enable "Canned Responses". That's what you want. Enable and save your changes.

Now go back to your "Compose" window and after you have your new "Canned Response" ready click the arrow on the bottom right of your "Compose" window.

Now you can hover your mouse over "Canned responses" and find "save" and keep that response forevah!

I hope this helps you save a lot of time when you are responding to the same things over and over in your business.

ARE YOU ALREADY USING GMAIL CANNED RESPONSES? WHAT EMAIL TEMPLATES HAVE YOU ALREADY CREATED?

Need some done-for-you templates? Got those for you inside the Toolbox!

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