If your emails feel more like a formality than a relationship-builder, you’re not alone—but that doesn’t mean they should stay that way. In this solo episode, I’m breaking down the three essential ingredients every client email needs to actually do its job: move your process forward and connect with your people.
Whether you’re sending emails manually or automating the heck out of your CRM, this episode will help you write communication that’s purposeful, personality-packed, and perfectly clear.
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Hello. Hello y’all, and welcome back to another solo episode of The Business First Creatives podcast. Today I wanna keep it short, sharp, and strategic. How’s that for some alliteration? Today I’m gonna break down three things that every single email inside of your client experience should have, whether it’s automated or not.
If your emails are missing, even one of these elements, your communication is likely falling flat. Because trust me, you can sound like a human and still be efficient. All right, let’s jump into it. The first is purpose. I want every single email that you send to be sent for a reason. We are not in the business of sending emails just to send emails.
That is actually the quickest way to get your clients and customers to stop reading your emails is if your emails don’t have a purpose and every time they open it and it’s just like, Hey, if you’ve got questions, let me know. They’re going to start ignoring those emails. Okay, so what is the purpose of your email?
Are you confirming something? Are you asking a question? Are you delivering a resource? Are you following up on a step that they should have taken and haven’t yet done? If you don’t know why you’re sending an email, your client won’t know either.
Now, this is when I wanna give you one of my little tips When you are writing your client experience email templates inside of your CRM, the purpose, should be your title. So every time you are putting an email in, I personally like to number my emails in the order that they are sent within the client experience, but the title itself should be an indication of what the purpose is. So if you are sending the proposal, the title should be Send Proposal.
If you are asking them to confirm a location, the title of that email should be Confirm Location. Now, keep in mind, your clients cannot see titles. Those are on the backend, they are not client facing. I.
Okay? So number two, personality. You see where we’re going? First we had purpose. Now we have personality. This is where your emails are gonna go from basic to brilliant.
This is when the emails are very subtly reminding them of why they hired you in the first place. Your emails should sound like you. This means write like you talk. Skip the formalities. Unless you’re like an accountant. If you’re an accountant and you wanna be like really stiff because that’s part of your brand, then hey, go for it.
Now the last thing is I want you to add in all of those things that make your brand memorable. Gifs, jokes, emojis, y’all. I love a good emoji and I love a gif. Even more than that, I should probably go count how many of my emails include either a Schitt’s Creek GIF or a GIF of me at Disney. So that’s my bonus tip for this particular section. If you are not creating gifts of yourself, you are really missing out. It can be as easy as you clapping your hands, shaking your hands in the air, um, opening your computer, waving. Hello. All of these are gifts that I’ve personally made of myself and that my clients have made, but making them is so easy.
You just turn on your phone. Record six to 10 seconds worth of video, and then you can go online or use Canva to make it into a GIF so that you can put it directly into your emails. Okay, so. Personality is also how you’re going to get people to remember the emails and also remember to take that step. Um, it’s kind of funny, I’ve, I talk a lot about the automated lead response email, but one of my automated lead response emails says something to the effect of.
I’m gonna get back to you in about 48 hours. I’m being vague just in case. I’m currently at Disneyland riding Dumbo. You have no idea how many people respond to that email and be like, Hey, Colie, are you actually at Disneyland right now? I mean, it’s a totally automated email, but they make it seem like I wrote it just to them because it is so personal to me.
All right, so first we had purpose. Then we had personality. The last one was actually the hardest for me to come up with in this whole alliteration of Ps, but it’s preview. Nothing drives me more bananas than vague emails that don’t give the next step. When your client reads the email, they should know exactly what is coming next, whether you are going to send them a form in two days.
You are going to send them a text message two weeks before their session. You are gonna send them locations in the next email in order to choose one and confirm one. You should have mapped out your entire client experience so you know what’s coming next. This is the part where you make sure that you and your clients are both on the same page, and that they know exactly what is coming next.
Because if you don’t inform or give your clients a preview of what’s coming next, this is when they ask you a gazillion questions. Like, Hey, are my photos ready? This is when they just sit there confused and maybe they are going through rereading all of your previous emails, rereading all the forms so that they can see if they can answer the question for themselves first before they bother you.
So even if that preview is sit tight, I’ll follow up next week. Say that. Clients want clarity. Give them a plan and you’ll instantly feel and come across as more professional, organized, and trustworthy. Alright, so let’s recap. First, every email, whether it’s automated or not, needs a clear purpose,
your personality and a preview of the next step in the client experience.
And so here’s my challenge or my homework for you. I want you to go pick one email inside your CRM. Maybe it’s your automated lead response. Maybe it’s your booking confirmation email. Maybe it’s the email when you send your client questionnaire, and I want you to check it against this list.
Do you give yourself a 10 out of 10 for identifying what the purpose of that email is and clearly communicating that to the client. Does it show your personality if it doesn’t take another stab at it? And third, did you tell them what comes next? If it’s missing any of these three, I want you to edit.
Once you do it to one email, I want you to set aside 30 minutes and then I want you to tackle another until you have gone through every single email in your client experience and made sure that these three elements appear in every single email.
All right. If you need any additional help on writing creative client communication, I have something for you. Starting April 29th, I am doing a Systems Glow-Up: Email Edition.
So, if you would like to get in on the free 3-day Challenge, where I am going to be walking you through my framework and helping you create client experience emails that you are proud of, I would love it if you would join me. Go to coliejames.com/glowup
That’s G-L-O-W-U-P one word. All right. That’s it for this episode. See you next time.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- The quickest way to lose client trust (and attention) with email
- How to clarify your message with a single question: “What’s the purpose?”
- Easy ways to infuse your voice into every email (without sounding robotic)
- The power of previewing what’s next to eliminate confusion and back-and-forth
- Why vague emails lead to unnecessary client questions—and how to fix them
- A practical exercise to assess and upgrade your own CRM emails
The Three Ps That Make or Break Your Emails
Purpose: Why are you sending this?
Every email in your client experience needs to serve a function—period. When an email lacks clarity or direction, your clients stop paying attention. Worse, they start ignoring you. That’s why the purpose of your email should be crystal clear, even to you on the backend.
Colie’s tip? Title your emails based on their function inside your CRM—even if your clients never see those labels. “Send Proposal,” “Confirm Location,” “Deliver Gallery”—clear internal titles keep your automations clean and your workflow intentional.
If you can’t answer “what’s the point of this email?”—you probably shouldn’t be sending it.
Personality: Sound Like You in Every Email
This is where things get fun. Your emails should sound like you. Not some stiff version of you, not “business casual” you—just you. That’s how you take your emails from basic to brilliant.
I always say: write how you talk. Drop the formalities (unless they’re part of your brand—hey, accountants, do your thing). Your emails are an extension of your brand, so sprinkle in emojis, crack a joke, or use that Schitt’s Creek GIF if it makes sense. My emails are full of GIFs—of myself, of Disney moments, of anything that makes my clients smile.
Pro tip? Make your own GIFs! It’s super easy. Just grab your phone, record 6–10 seconds of you waving, clapping, whatever, then pop it into Canva or another tool to turn it into a GIF. It’s a small thing that makes your emails feel ultra-personal—even when they’re automated.
One of my favorite examples? I have an automated lead response email that says, “I’ll get back to you in about 48 hours—unless I’m currently at Disneyland riding Dumbo.” Y’all, the number of people who reply asking if I’m actually at Disneyland? It cracks me up. And that’s the point—it feels like a real conversation.
Preview: Tell Them What’s Coming Next
You’re doing everything right—and yet clients still ask, “What now?” or “Are my photos ready?” That’s a sign your email didn’t include a preview of what’s coming next.
Whether you’re sending a questionnaire or confirming a session date, every email should clearly communicate what the client should do now and what you’ll do next. Even something as simple as “Sit tight, I’ll follow up next week” keeps everyone calm, clear, and confident.
Clients want clarity. Give them a plan, and you’ll come across as more professional and organized without doing any extra work.
Your Challenge: Audit Just One Email
You don’t need to overhaul your entire CRM in a day. Just pick one email—your lead response, your booking confirmation, your session reminder—and ask:
- Does it have a clear purpose?
- Does it sound like me?
- Does it preview the next step?
Fix those three things, then rinse and repeat. One by one, your entire client experience will start feeling smoother, more professional, and a whole lot more “you.”
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