Operational Email Guidelines

Overview

Operational emails are intended for sharing important information specific to a customer or based on a specific customer's activity. If you are not sure whether a communication is operational, consider whether your customer would be surprised if you said that the email was sent manually by their CSM or Account Manager. If the customer would be surprised, then it is probably not an operational email.

Note: Users can add the cc list to the email by selecting CC checkbox, which is enabled while sending only Operational Emails in JO. Currently, only 3 email recipients can be added to the cc list. 

Operational Emails

Following are a few examples of operational emails:

• Welcome email to a new customer
• Reminder email for an upcoming renewal
• Email with a report embedded with their usage data
• Email with a request for feedback for a specific action such as logging a support ticket
• The customer has exceeded the fair limit of usage of your service and is subject to pay more to continue the service
• Announcements of downtime or disruption or scheduled maintenance

Note: 

• You can send a maximum of 50,000 operational emails across all the programs in new communication usage limits, whereas it is 5000 per program in old communication usage limit.

• The new communication usage limits are currently applicable only to new customers who have purchased packages or add-on after July 29, 2023. The existing customers will continue with the old communication usage limits.

Non-operational Emails

Examples of non-operational emails that should contain an unsubscribe option:

• Email regarding your upcoming user conference
• Email regarding a new product offering
• Generally, any email sent to a large number of customers.
• Email to contacts or email addresses who are not paid customers

Note: Gainsight recommends that you send the communication as a non-operational email if it is not obvious which category applies.

Open and Click Rate Data

You can also analyze the open and click rates, and compare them to other emails to determine which category these communications fall under. With the following examples, Gainsight strongly recommends that the following emails must come from (from address) the customer success or account manager:

• Annual NPS® survey
• Email regarding new product release or upgrade.
• Terms and conditions have changed for the customer.