Stop Wasting Your Most Important Emails
If you run a business in Brisbane—whether you’re a sparky in Coorparoo, a lawyer in the CBD, or you run a boutique shop in Paddington—you are sending out emails every single day that you are probably ignoring.
I’m talking about the "boring" emails. The receipts. The booking confirmations. The "your order is ready" notifications. In the marketing world, people call these "transactional emails." To you, they are just part of the paperwork.
But here is the reality: Most of what you read online about marketing is rubbish. People tell you to post on Instagram three times a day or write long newsletters that nobody reads. Meanwhile, your customers are opening your invoices and receipts at a rate of nearly 100%.
Think about it. When was the last time you ignored a receipt for something you just paid for? Never. You open it to check the price, make sure the details are right, or just for your own records.
If you aren’t using those emails to get your next job, ask for a review, or sell a related service, you are leaving money on the table. This guide is about how to fix that without spending a fortune or wasting hours on a computer.
Why These Emails Make You More Money
Most business owners think marketing is about finding new people. That’s expensive. It costs a lot of money to get someone who has never heard of you to pick up the phone.
It is much cheaper and easier to sell to someone who just bought from you. They already trust you. They’ve already given you their credit card details.
When you build a customer list that actually works, these automatic emails do the heavy lifting for you. While you’re out on a job or sleeping, these emails are building your reputation and setting up the next sale.
The Trust Factor
In Brisbane, word of mouth is king. But before someone tells their mate about you, they need to feel like you’re a professional outfit. If a customer gets a messy, plain-text email that looks like it was written in 1995, they don't feel great about the premium price you charged.If they get a clean, professional confirmation that says "Thanks, we've got your order, here is what happens next," they feel like they’ve made a good choice. That trust leads to referrals.
What Should Be in These Emails?
You don’t need to be a graphic designer. In fact, if you make these emails too "flashy," they can look like spam. You want them to look like they come from a real local business, but with a clear purpose.
1. The "What Happens Next" Step
The biggest mistake I see Brisbane businesses make is leaving the customer hanging.If someone books a pest inspection, don't just send a date and time. Use that email to say: "Hi, we’ll be there at 9 AM. Please make sure the dog is tied up and we have access to the garage."
This saves you time. You won't have to call them on the morning of the job because the gate is locked. It makes your business run smoother and saves you money on wasted petrol and time.
2. The "While You Wait" Offer
If someone just bought a new set of tyres from your shop, they are in "buying mode." In your confirmation email, you could offer them a wheel alignment at a discount if they add it before they arrive.This is how you turn enquiries into sales without having to do a hard sell over the phone. You’re just offering something helpful while they are already thinking about their car.
3. The Review Request
Google reviews are the lifeblood of local Brisbane businesses. If you have 50 five-star reviews and your competitor has 5, you get the phone call.Don't wait a week to ask for a review. Put a link in the final receipt. Say: "I'm a local business owner and your feedback helps me keep the lights on. Could you spare 30 seconds to leave us a review?"
The Cost of Getting This Wrong
I’ve seen dozens of businesses in South East Queensland use "free" tools that end up costing them thousands. They use a system that sends emails that end up in the spam folder, or worse, have another company’s branding all over them.
When looking at your options, you need to consider email platform costs carefully. If your invoice goes to spam and the customer doesn't pay you on time, that "free" tool just cost you your cash flow.
Practical Steps: What to Do First
You don't need to overcomplicate this. Start with these three emails:
1. The Thank You/Receipt: Add a link to your Google Reviews page and a "refer a friend" discount. 2. The Booking Confirmation: Tell them exactly what to expect. If you're a tradie, tell them to clear the work area. If you're a professional service, tell them what documents to bring. 3. The "How Did We Do?" Follow-up: Send this 24 hours after the job is done. This is where you catch unhappy customers before they leave a bad review, and encourage happy ones to tell their friends.
A Real Example: The Morningside Plumber
We worked with a plumber in Morningside who was sick of chasing late payments. His invoices were just boring PDFs attached to a blank email.We changed his email to include a clear "Pay Now" button, a list of other services he offered (like hot water system checks), and a simple note saying he offered a discount for repeat customers.
Within a month, his "late pays" dropped by 30% and he booked three extra hot water jobs just from people seeing the offer in their receipt. He didn't have to spend a cent on extra advertising. He just used the emails he was already sending.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Being too "Salesy": This isn't a junk mail flyer. Be helpful first, sell second. Broken Links: If your "Review Us" button doesn't work, you look like an amateur. Check your links on your phone. Too Much Text: People skim. Use big buttons and short sentences. Ignoring Mobile: Most of your customers in Brisbane are checking their emails on an iPhone while they’re at lunch or on the bus. Make sure your emails are easy to read on a small screen.
How Long Until You See Results?
This isn't like SEO where you have to wait six months to see a change. You can update your email templates this afternoon and see the impact on your next job.
If you start asking for reviews in your receipts today, you’ll likely have new reviews by the end of the week. If you add a "refer a friend" offer, you could have a new lead by Monday.
Is This Worth Your Time?
If you are doing more than 10 jobs a week, yes.
If you’re just starting out and only have one customer a month, you can probably just send these manually. But once you have a bit of volume, you need to automate this. It’s like having a secretary who works 24/7 for a few dollars a month.
Final Thoughts
Most Brisbane business owners are so busy "doing the work" that they forget to look at how they communicate with their customers.
Your receipts and invoices are the most opened emails you will ever send. Stop treating them like boring paperwork and start treating them like a tool to grow your business.
If you want help setting this up so it runs on autopilot, we can help. At Local Marketing Group, we focus on the stuff that actually rings the till, not fancy jargon that doesn't lead to sales.
Ready to grow? Contact us at Local Marketing Group and let’s get your emails working as hard as you do.