Sales Leaders: Are Your Emails Bouncing, Landing in Spam, or Getting Blocked? Here’s What You Need to Know

If you lead a sales team at a fast-growing startup or small business, you know how critical email is for reaching prospects and announcing new products. But what happens when your carefully crafted campaigns never make it to the inbox? Are your emails bouncing, landing in spam, or even getting your domain blocked before a message is delivered? 

A Sales Leader’s Real-World Lesson 

I’m Sammy, Business Development Manager at Fluid IT. When I took on a sales leadership role at my previous startup, we were a small team with limited resources. Each of us juggled multiple responsibilities. One of my first tasks was to launch an email marketing campaign to announce our new product. 

I was used to sending lots of outbound emails, but large-scale email marketing was new to me. I sent out a campaign to 5,000 contacts, only to find my account quickly flagged and shut down. Nearly every email bounced or was blocked, and we were marked as spam. 

The main reason for this was that our email domain was not authenticated and did not comply with DKIM and SPF parameters. These are essential email authentication protocols that help ensure your messages are legitimate and secure. Without them, our emails were flagged as suspicious by recipient servers, which damaged our sender reputation and deliverability. 

Why Email Authentication Matters 

Email authentication protocols like SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) are crucial for modern email marketing. SPF verifies that your emails are coming from authorized servers, while DKIM ensures your message content has not been tampered with in transit. Without these protocols, your emails are far more likely to be blocked, bounced, or sent straight to the spam folder. 

High bounce rates, spam complaints, and failed authentication can quickly degrade your domain’s reputation. This makes it even harder to reach your audience in the future. In fact, a bounce rate above 2 percent is a red flag for most email providers and can result in your domain being blacklisted. 

The Cost of DIY Fixes 

At my previous company, I spent countless hours and a significant amount of resources trying to troubleshoot these issues. I was forced to learn about DNS records, authentication, and compliance the hard way. All the while, my sales and marketing efforts were stalled. 

How Fluid IT Makes the Difference 

Since joining Fluid IT, I have seen firsthand how much easier this process can be when you have the right IT partner. Our team handles domain authentication, DKIM, SPF, DMARC compliance, and all the technical details behind the scenes. This means your sales and marketing teams can focus on what they do best: building relationships and closing deals, instead of firefighting email issues. 

Many fast-growing startups and small businesses do not realize that these IT services are included in a comprehensive managed IT plan. Instead, they end up buying solutions separately, such as mobile device management, file management, and licensing, often paying a premium for each service. With Fluid IT, you get an entire suite of services, including email compliance and security, as part of your partnership. 

Don’t Let Technical Issues Derail Your Sales 

If you are a sales leader struggling with email deliverability or worried about compliance, you do not have to go it alone. Fluid IT can ensure your domain is properly authenticated, your campaigns are compliant, and your emails reach the inbox instead of the spam folder. 

Let’s make sure your next campaign gets the attention it deserves. 

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