Technology is great—until it’s not. Think about all the ways that email has changed your personal and professional life. You’re able to share news—both big and small—with friends, family, and clients. It’s instant contact and instant updates, particularly important in the fast-moving world of sales. But what happens when

But what happens when email gets the best of you and your work life? That can lead to unproductive days, lost sales, and unhappy clients. That’s why it’s important to manage and master tools that can make email work both harder and smarter for you.

Email Tools for Efficiency and Productivity

Fortunately, many social media platforms understand the importance and durability of email, and have created tools or extensions that help you maximize its use. LinkedIn, for example, has a free extension that gives you a user’s details from the site. So when you spend your time using email as a client contact, you already know information about that client—their likes, dislikes, and experiences.

Email is tricky, too, because it’s hard to parse all the details about what’s happening when someone opens and email (and what they do with it). Engagement tools can help you better understand all that data; Yesware, for example, provides details about who is clicking on what and what attachments may have been opened.

For many people, staying on top of an inbox is a tremendous struggle, especially if email volume increases. But many emails don’t have to be dealt with immediately, which is why tools like Boomerang are so useful. This Gmail tool archives emails, but reminds you or returning to them on a specified date—almost like email becomes your to-do list as well as a way to keep in touch with future and current clients.

How else can email work harder and smarter for you? Find out with the helpful tips and tools in this graphic.  Many thanks to our friends at Salesforce.com for this helpful infographic.

Via Salesforce