Connecting "unrelated" messages in Outlook, can this be done?

[britechguy]

This is not something I ever gave a first thought, and when my client brought it up today, I had no answer. There seems to be no obvious answer in Outlook and my web search mojo is not turning up anything, as likely as not because I have not hit on the right term for what I'm about to describe.

Say you get an email from a client asking for a proposal (in this case for machining parts, but the details don't matter), and as part of working that proposal you email one of your suppliers regarding raw materials for doing so. Is there a way to connect those two messages in Outlook so that when you look at one, it cross-references the other. And I don't mean among all the participants, but just in your own little Outlook world?

It does seem like something that could be very handy when one "big task" involves the juggling of many little tasks that you're handling in email.

Or even if there's another way this can be accomplished in the M365 ecosystem, e.g., in Teams, I'd love to hear about how that's done.

 

[Rigo]

This is not something I ever gave a first thought, and when my client brought it up today, I had no answer. There seems to be no obvious answer in Outlook and my web search mojo is not turning up anything, as likely as not because I have not hit on the right term for what I'm about to describe.

Say you get an email from a client asking for a proposal (in this case for machining parts, but the details don't matter), and as part of working that proposal you email one of your suppliers regarding raw materials for doing so. Is there a way to connect those two messages in Outlook so that when you look at one, it cross-references the other. And I don't mean among all the participants, but just in your own little Outlook world?

It does seem like something that could be very handy when one "big task" involves the juggling of many little tasks that you're handling in email.

Or even if there's another way this can be accomplished in the M365 ecosystem, e.g., in Teams, I'd love to hear about how that's done.

Maybe forwarding the request message to the supplier? Their answer would be in your thread of enquiry?

 

[HCHTech]

This is a job for a CRM software or a ticketing system, IMO. I don't think there is a way to do this in Outlook because Outlook is an email client.

In gmail, you could assign labels, but even that seems unwieldy.

 

[Markverhyden]

Tag it @britechguy! Link below though they don't say which version. Plus I have not way of knowing if the tag carries across multiple emails(responses). As expected my Outlook for Mac is different.

How to Tag and File Received Emails in Outlook | Standss.com

Learn how to monitor multiple send item folders in Outlook in this easy to follow step by step guide. Trusted software from a Microsoft Partner.

www.standss.com

Though once you start heading down that road I'm sure that there'll be more feature requests which may not be available in Outlook, even as an add-in. So I'd just start with Teams.

 

[britechguy]

I don't think there is a way to do this in Outlook because Outlook is an email client.

While the first of these is likely true, and the second is undoubtedly true, Outlook long ago ceased being only an email client. That was the main reason I asked. There are more features to Outlook than virtually anyone can keep active track of, just because no one uses 'em all.

@Markverhyden, thanks. I'm trying to avoid third-party solutions in this case. There's almost got to be something in Outlook and/or Teams that allows this kind of document management (probably across document types). I just have no idea what it is.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Outlook supports robust tagging features. @ and # do different things similar to how they work on Social Media, and the search indexer will use it.

THAT BEING SAID

@HCHTech has the correct answer, this is the job of a CRM or Ticketing system.

Outlook search has made terrific strides in recent years, but it's not good enough to pull that data up when you need it in most cases. Furthermore, this practice leads to mail hoarding and bad habits, email is NOT a filing system. CRM / Ticketing system IS a filing system, designed to hold and access data for decades.

@britechguy As you've said many times, tool to task. Outlook is not the tool for this task. Though if you stand on your head while holding things just right you can sort of make it look like it will work. The same holds true for the rest of M365 if I'm honest.

I've yet to find a ticketing system I'm objectively happy with, they're all crap... and they're all really powerful. A CRM is vastly more useful to a small business, as it helps track the entire sales and support process.

 

[HCHTech]

I've yet to find a ticketing system I'm objectively happy with, they're all crap... and they're all really powerful. A CRM is vastly more useful to a small business, as it helps track the entire sales and support process.

Agree - it doesn't help that there is so much overlap in functionality between RMM, CRM & PSA. Every software tries to be "the only one you will ever need!", usually failing at all tasks because of that. I wish there were clearer demarcations and more inter-software integrations so you could just pick one from each category and get on with it, but alas.

 

[britechguy]

A CRM is vastly more useful to a small business, as it helps track the entire sales and support process.

I'll bring this up, but I doubt there will be a bite.

The need I'm referring to is not a constant one, but occurs every once in a while. In the end, I'll probably suggest that folders be created for specific jobs, as that's the level of granularity involved, and that as messages come in related to that job that require "clustering" that they be moved to the respective folder.

This concept is already well understood in the shop as far as designs go, as they're filed under specific customer folders with specific job folders in those.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Agree - it doesn't help that there is so much overlap in functionality between RMM, CRM & PSA. Every software tries to be "the only one you will ever need!", usually failing at all tasks because of that. I wish there were clearer demarcations and more inter-software integrations so you could just pick one from each category and get on with it, but alas.

Don't for get ERP! The fusion of all of the above, and then some.

@britechguy the sooner a SMB gets into CRM the sooner they can stop wasting time finding things. I know it's a hard sell, but this is one of those huge steps the org must go through to transition away from the owner owning his own job, and the owner owning his own business. It enables the owner to work on the business, instead of working for the business.

I know this all too well because I too made the same mistakes, which is why Intouch was left to flounder while I toiled endlessly. There are only so many hours in the day, and the process must be defined so it can be delegated.

But yeah, we both know it's most likely going to be stuffed into endless folders in Outlook... causing searching and indexing problems... and creating a future time bomb for when they objectively run out of space.

 

[britechguy]

But yeah, we both know it's most likely going to be stuffed into endless folders in Outlook... causing searching and indexing problems... and creating a future time bomb for when they objectively run out of space.

Er, no. Because this client, like me, disposes of anything and everything that's not going to be needed for later review. He's good at "culling the herd" and not just in e-mail.

A very great many problems could be avoided in the cyber age if people took the approach to filing that they did during the paper age. Most material was disposed of, and promptly, when it was not going to be of any future use.

Hoarding data is as big a problem as hoarding paper, and sifting through loads of unnecessary data, even with search tools, is no easier than sifting through overflowing filing cabinets in a library-sized file room.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Er, no. Because this client, like me, disposes of anything and everything that's not going to be needed for later review. He's good at "culling the herd" and not just in e-mail.

A very great many problems could be avoided in the cyber age if people took the approach to filing that they did during the paper age. Most material was disposed of, and promptly, when it was not going to be of any future use.

Hoarding data is as big a problem as hoarding paper, and sifting through loads of unnecessary data, even with search tools, is no easier than sifting through overflowing filing cabinets in a library-sized file room.

That's wonderful, but it's also an indicator of more time. Manually managing data lifecycle is a significant time investment and a continuous cost. It still may be preferable to a more formal solution though, that's not a question I can answer from here. I only point it out because getting metrics in this space is difficult, and it's exactly the sort of thing that can consume a small business if it's ignored.

 

[britechguy]

@Sky-Knight

When I walk into a "one man show" that's been operating like clockwork for decades, and where the owner and employees seem happy with things as they are, I am more than happy to leave things that way.

He knows his business processes, far better than I ever can or should, and has expressed no interest in major shifts in same. We have lots of small machine shops in this area that are insanely busy, and successful, but if you walk into their spaces, including offices, other than the presence of a computer on the desk for certain things, it could just as easily be 1953 as 2023.

Some things just work, and will continue to work. And, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!