Importance of Customer Insights

Time of day & day of week can have a big impact on open rates. Simply picking the right timing can give you a pretty meaningful boost on your sourcing efforts. Interestingly, our latest benchmarks show that Sunday specifically at 8pm, 6pm, and 11am all tend to perform quite well. Did you know that it varies pretty dramatically by role though?  - 💻  Engineering: Noon & 8pm on Sundays → highest open rates    - 📣 ‎ Marketing: 6pm & 8pm on Sundays → highest open rates    - 💰 ‎Sales: 5pm Sunday & 6pm Thursday → highest open rates    - 🔍 Recruiting & HR: 6am Wednesday → highest open rates As a best practice, always good to be A/B testing and figuring out what works best for your specific role/company. Especially since this sort of stuff changes every 1-2 years. One of the reasons being… as more recruiting, marketing, and sales emails all gravitate towards the new best send times, people’s inboxes start to get saturated then 😆 ‎

One of our customers called us, angry—and it turned into one of my favorite stories about proactive customer support… ever. 💡 The customer—a last‑mile delivery company for e‑commerce brands—had suddenly seen a 20% spike in service tickets overnight. They’d been leveraging Forethought's agentic AI, so what gives? Shouldn’t our AI agent be handling that traffic? They logged into our dashboard and saw Forethought’s deflection volume had surged 50% 🤯. In other words, our AI was catching (and resolving) an even bigger wave of conversations. “Was this a bot attack? Spam? Is your reporting wrong? What’s going on?” They called us, upset and confused—and rightly so. Our Head of Customer Success, Lindsay Fifield, hopped on Zoom and walked them through Discover, our supervisor agent for insight discovery in the multi‑agent system, which they’d just unlocked. Discover had already flagged a 50% jump in “Order Delivery Status” and “Pricing Inquiry” conversations. It summarized transcripts showing users—especially those with international shipments from China—worried about delayed deliveries and price increases. With Discover’s help, the customer pinpointed the source of the chaos: tariffs! 🤯 The government’s recent “reciprocal tariffs” announcement had customers panicking over hidden fees. Armed with these insights, they updated their product to address tariffs head‑on, embedding self‑service tools for pricing and delivery questions. The result? A swift drop in support tickets and a boost in customer satisfaction. I’m super proud of this story. We fumbled a bit—we really should have showcased Discover’s power sooner—but the biggest lesson is clear: great support isn’t just responsive—it’s transformative. When agentic AI becomes a strategic partner, every support conversation can fuel product innovation—and turn anger into opportunity. #CustomerSupport #AI #AgenticAI #ProactiveSupport #ProductInnovation #CustomerExperience #Leadership #SaaS #Tech #AIForGood

Aiming for an 8 figure exit? Here’s something most people miss—your email marketing could be the key to unlocking your brand’s full value. Why? Email isn’t just a sales tool—it’s an asset that makes your brand worth more. It creates loyal customers, steady revenue, and reduces your reliance on paid ads. That’s exactly what buyers want to see. Here’s why email matters: ✅Loyal customers = higher value. Buyers love brands with repeat customers because it means reliable income. A strong email strategy builds that loyalty. ✅Steady revenue = bigger offers. Email gives you consistent, low-cost sales. Buyers want to see predictable cash flow, and email delivers. Less reliance on ads = less risk. Ads, while necessary, are expensive and unpredictable. Email makes your brand more stable, which buyers are willing to pay more for. ✅High ROI = scalable growth. Email is one of the most profitable channels. A strong backend shows buyers your brand can grow efficiently. If your strategy focuses only on acquiring customers and ignores email, you’re leaving money on the table.

What users ASK for vs. what users NEED 👇🏻 As product builders, our goal is to help users achieve their goals. Solve their problems. So we can become essential to their workflow. So they become happy, loyal, PAYING customers. But we often fail to understand what their REAL needs are. Effective product design goes beyond surface requests. The classic product design iceberg illustrates this well. Above the water: "We need a dashboard with more graphs!" Below the water: "I want to feel confident in my strategy" "I'm worried about missing problems" "I need to prove my team's value" "I need to make faster decisions" "I want to look good in meetings" Here's what I've learned about user research: The surface request (feature) rarely tells the full story. Real needs hide deeper: • Emotional needs (confidence, trust) • Professional needs (status, growth) • Personal needs (time, peace of mind) That's why building exactly what users ask for often fails to solve their actual problems. The solution? Dig deeper with questions like: "What would that help you achieve?" "Tell me about the last time you needed this" "How are you solving this today?" "What's the impact of not having this?" Because great products don't just add features. They solve underlying needs. Reflect on your approach: • How well do you understand the deeper needs of your users? • Are you asking the right questions to uncover these needs? • How effectively are you addressing these needs in your product design?

Everyone's obsessed with send time for their email marketing. But most advice ignores how humans behave at night. Here’s the pattern I see in 100+ brands: Late night emails often open higher but convert worse. Why? Think about your own behavior at 11:47pm: • You scroll before bed • You check emails passively • You rarely take action You’re mentally checked out. So yes, the open shows up. But the sale doesn’t. This creates a false sense of success: → “Wow, we got 29% opens!” → But revenue per recipient is flat or down Solution: Test 2 send windows: • Prime engagement time (9-11am local) • Prime browsing time (10-11:30pm local) Then segment based on actual click-to-conversion rates. Not opens. Late night emails = mood scroll. Morning emails = move scroll. Big difference.

Stuff changes every day in the world of marketing, but over the past decade if you asked me to pick one channel that I’d focus on, it would always be email. Sure, building a big following on a social media channel can be effective. As can a huge TV spot, or a big outdoor campaign. But having someone’s email address (and their permission to get in touch) is a much more sustainable way to win new clients and customers. Here are 5 reasons why email still reigns supreme: 1. Social media channels come and go. Just look at Twitter… sorry X. Or Clubhouse, Or Snapchat, Or Myspace. If a social media channel disappeared overnight and you have no other way of reaching your followers, you’re likely to end up in a pretty tricky spot. With email, people can change platforms but you can still reach them. 2. People very rarely change their email address. Once you’ve got one and people start using it, it’s pretty hard to switch to a new email address. 3. Email is cheap. Yes, the more subscribers you have the more money you’re likely to spend on software but it’s still way cheaper than digital advertising. You can literally email people whenever you like and if you’ve done a good job of keeping people engaged, you’ll know that your message is highly likely to get in front of them. 4. The ROI is insane. I’m sure you’ve seen this before but studies show that the ROI of email is for every $1 spent, you’ll get $38 back. As with any stats, I’m sure it varies but from my own experience, the ROI we get on email can sometimes be higher than this. 5. Email works at every stage of the buyer journey. When done properly, you can use email all the way from initial awareness through to sale. If you’re not already building an email list. Start building one now. It takes time to grow but once you have a few thousand engaged subscribers it really does give you a strong and sustainable competitive advantage which you can tap into whenever you need to. P.S. If you enjoyed this content follow me, Naeem Alvi-Assinder for more useful stuff like this. I'm on a mission to help 1 million businesses unlock the power of brand. #emailmarketing #marketing #emailstrategy

A failing eCommerce brand with zero assets can still be worth millions. How? 💰 It's not based on their social media followers. When I say that a customer database is the single most valuable asset to an eCommerce brand, people think I mean the potential of monetising it. Immediately. That's very valuable for sure, but does that make it the most valuable asset in the business? No. A well maintained database of engaged contacts can be more valuable than the brand itself. Imagine a failing eCommerce brand: Sales are slow 📉 Acquisition is expensive 💸 Cash is running out 💰➡️0️⃣ Let me keep going: The product is good, but not unique 🧩 They don't own an office, so they don't have 'real' assets 🏢❌ Fulfilment is outsourced, so there's no warehouse or stock either 📦🔄 Nobody wants to buy a brand for their followers anymore, because of how the algorithms are changing 📱🔁 But they have a customer database. If it's well maintained, active and engaged - it can be worth a lot. And I mean A LOT. 💯 Thousands of customers receiving, opening & clicking on messages coming from a trusted source is what any eCommerce brand dreams of. ✉️👆 Okay, so what is the actual value? This can be evaluated based on an estimated CPA required to build this database from scratch. The value would be higher if the customers on the database are profiled, the information about them enriched through regular dialogue, and disciplined testing and experimenting has been put in place. So the value of such a database is not just the $$$ estimated based on how much you'd have to spend on advertising to acquire it again, but also increased by the knowledge of WHAT TO DO to monetise it: What to send to them 📨 Where to send it 📍 When to send it ⏰ What makes them tick ⚡ So yes, the most valuable asset in the eCommerce business is the customer database. 💾 Agree? Disagree? #valuation #dtcexit #ecommerce #startup #growth

These are the best times to send your emails: (based on data from 100,000+ emails) When you send your email matters more than you think. I analyzed all my data to find the best times. Here’s what I found. The best days to send emails: - Tuesday: Highest open rates. - Wednesday: Engagement peaks mid-week. - Thursday: Strong performance before the weekend. The worst days to send emails: - Monday: Inbox overload. - Friday: People are winding down. - Weekends: Low engagement as people disconnect. The best times to send emails: - 8-10 AM: People check their emails first thing. - 2-4 PM: Afternoon lull, perfect for catching attention. But there is no one-size-fits-all rule. Because industry matters a lot too. Tech companies engage more in the morning. Traditional industries could work better in the afternoon. So testing is what truly matters. Don’t get stuck thinking mornings are the only way. Also try sending emails at unconventional times. So remember: - Test different times - Track your metrics - Adjust your timing Your reply rates will climb. What timing works best for you?

Here are the best times to send your emails. (based on data from 70,000+ B2B emails) When you send your email matters more than you think. I analyzed all my data to find the best times. Here’s what I found. The best days to send emails: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Engagement clearly peaks midweek. The worst days to send emails: - Monday: Inbox overload. - Friday: People are winding down. - Weekends: Low engagement as people disconnect. The best times to send emails: - 8-10 AM: People check their emails first thing. - 1-3 PM: Afternoon lull, perfect for catching attention. But there is no one-size-fits-all rule. Because industry matters a lot too. Tech companies engage more in the morning. Traditional industries respond better in the afternoon. So testing is what truly matters. Don’t get stuck thinking mornings are the only way. Also try sending emails at unconventional times. So remember: - Test different times - Track your metrics - Adjust your timing Your reply rates will climb. What timing works best for you?

A lot of popular health insurance policies in India these days offer peripheral benefits. These benefits are built into the product, used in sales pitches and do not come with extra cost. The most common of such benefits are Unlimited restoration 500% No Claim Bonus Air Ambulance Wellness Benefits including Gym Memberships, rewards for active lifestyle etc. Have you ever thought about whether you will be able to utilise any of these benefits?  Insurance companies, from their experience and know-how of the market, understand that consumers are not likely to utilise any of these features. Not even one in a million. (My guesstimate). Hence, these are not the real benefits which you might utilise. They are good to have but don’t use them as a base filter while selecting your health insurance policy. However, if you notice, insurers usually ask you to pay extra for some other benefits such as Consumable benefits (Non-medical Items) - 10 - 20% of the claim amount in each claim No zonal copay - Zonal copay can be 15 - 20% if you take treatment in a higher zone. Room Category Upgrade - Huge dent in the pocket if you take treatment in a higher category room Instant Cover for PEDs - Make or break point if a claim arises during the waiting period These benefits impact the most claim amounts, insurance companies understand that. Hence, if you want to include them in your policy, it becomes expensive.  But these must-have benefits make your health insurance policy comprehensive. Hence, we at Algates Insurance recommend having them. When you buy a health insurance policy, first look for features that provide maximum utilisation. Others can come later and can be avoided if they come at extra cost. #healthinsurance #healthinsurancebenefits