Why Your Business Needs Professional Email: Stop Using Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo Now!

Should I Use a Free Personal Email Account for My Business?

As a small business owner, using a Gmail account for your business might seem like a smart, cost-effective decision. After all, it seems to offer lots of benefits:
•    It's free
•    Easy to set up
•    Everyone uses it, right?

Picture this: you’re Ralph, the proud owner of Ralph's Bait and Tackle. You decide to use [email protected] for all your business communications because it’s quick and convenient. In this post, we’ll see why it’s not the best decision even for small businesses, and how transitioning to professional email services like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 (M365) can truly benefit your business in the long run.

Why You Should Use Business Email – Not Personal Email

1. Professional Appearance

First impressions matter. When you send an email from a generic email address like [email protected], it doesn’t convey the same level of professionalism as a custom domain email like [email protected]. A professional email address is an extension of your brand and helps establish credibility with clients and partners. Consumers strongly prefer businesses with branded email addresses – a recent survey revealed that only 39% of customers trust businesses using “free” email like Gmail.

Imagine receiving a business card for "Ralph's Bait and Tackle," but the card is dominated by the "Coma-Cola" logo because they provided the cards for free. Ralph thought it was a great deal, but who is really being advertised here? Similarly, a generic email address advertises the email provider more than your business.

2. Inadequate Customer Support

Free services come at a cost. Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo offer limited customer support for free accounts. Gmail alone has over 1.8 billion users – can you imagine the workforce needed to give timely support to free users? So, if our friend Ralph encounters issues or loses emails, he’ll be stuck without timely assistance, leading to significant disruptions in business operations.

In contrast, services like Google Workspace and M365 come with dedicated support teams. They provide timely and efficient customer support, ensuring that your email services run smoothly and any issues are resolved quickly. Even better, if you have a qualified IT company managing your business email tenancy, you’ll have access to their support right away.

3. Control of Company Data

Data security and control are paramount. With free email services, your data is stored on their servers, and you have limited control over it. This can pose significant risks, especially if sensitive company information is involved.

Professional email services offer better data control and security features. You can manage access, set permissions, and ensure that your company's data is stored and handled according to industry standards and regulations.

Centralized Management vs. Private Ownership: The key difference between a free Gmail account and a company Gmail (Google Workspace) lies in resource ownership. Business email through M365 and Google Workspace gives you the highest control over employee accounts. Personal Gmail is owned by the individual user, which means the company has no access rights to employees’ personal email accounts or their contents.

Imagine as Ralph’s business grows he hires some employees. Ralph has them interacting with vendors and customers using their personal Hotmail and Gmail accounts. Invoices, purchase orders, and other business-related documents are sent and received through these accounts. But what happens when a staff member leaves the company? All the files, data, and contacts in their personal Gmail account will leave with them. Now Ralph is in a bad spot with no way to control, protect, or reclaim his business data.

With Google Workspace or M365, all files and data can be transferred by the administrator (Ralph) to a new employee’s corporate email account if needed, protecting the security of any business information in the original account. In the case of a disgruntled employee, their access to the company email can be shut down quickly, quietly, and safely.

4. Easily Recoverable Backups

Data loss can be catastrophic. Free email services may not offer robust backup and recovery options. If Ralph accidentally deletes important emails or if his account is compromised, recovering his data can be challenging, very time-consuming, and sometimes impossible.

On the other hand, professional email services like Google Workspace and M365 provide advanced backup and recovery options. Ralph can easily recover deleted emails and restore his data, ensuring that his business operations are not disrupted. If you use an IT partner to manage your account, they may offer even more robust backup solutions and spam protection for your tenancy.

Additional Benefits of Professional Email Services

• Productivity Apps: M365 subscriptions include industry-standard tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, along with powerful collaboration tools such as Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. These applications allow for seamless document creation, data analysis, presentations, and communication, all integrated within a single platform. Similarly, Google Workspace offers robust tools like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Gmail, complemented by Google Meet for video conferencing and Google Drive for cloud storage. These tools enable real-time collaboration, easy sharing, and efficient management of business tasks and projects. And just to emphasize this point – the administrator retains control over all the documents and content created using these impressive tools even after an employee leaves the company.
• Enhanced Security: M365 and Google Workspace offer advanced security features, including mandatory 2-Step Verification (2SV) for all users, ensuring that your business data is protected against unauthorized access. Imagine if one of Ralph’s employees refused to enable 2SV on their personal Gmail account because it is a hassle. As a result, the account is compromised, and a hacker successfully uses the data to impersonate Ralph’s company and scam some of his clients. That would be a reputational disaster for Ralph’s Bait and Tackle and a preventable one if he had used Business Email with proper security enforcement.
• Improved Storage: M365 and Google Workspace accounts provide significantly more storage than personal Outlook or Gmail accounts.

Business Email vs. Gmail  - A Clear Winner!

Transitioning to a professional business email service is an investment in your company’s future. It enhances your professional image, provides reliable customer support, ensures better control over your data, and offers robust backup solutions. Just as Ralph's Bait and Tackle should use business cards that promote their brand rather than Coma-Cola, your business should use email services that enhance your brand's credibility and security. Contact allCare IT to make the switch today to Google Workspace or M365 and see the difference it can make for your business.