Is Your Email System Actually Working? Here’s How to Find Out
- Mar 10
- 2 min read
Most service-based business owners I work with fall into one of three camps when it comes to their email setup.
The first group hasn’t started yet. They know they should have a list, they’ve been meaning to set one up, and the whole thing feels just overwhelming enough to keep getting pushed to next month.
The second group has something set up like a platform, maybe a lead magnet, possibly a welcome email, but it’s mostly manual. If a new subscriber gets a follow-up at all, it’s because someone remembered to send one.
The third group set something up a while back and genuinely has no idea whether it’s still working. The forms are there. The platform is active. They’re sending a newsletter. But whether any of it is actually functioning? Unknown.
Last week I wrote about a client in that third camp: three years in business, nearly a thousand subscribers, and a welcome sequence that had never once triggered. She had no idea. She’d built it, checked it off, and moved on.
That’s exactly why I built this audit.
What the Audit Covers
Is Your Email Actually Working? is a free, scored diagnostic for service-based businesses. It takes about 10 minutes and covers five sections:
Platform & Setup: Is your tech configured correctly? Is your platform connected to your website? Are you compliant?
List Building: Are people actually finding your opt-in and making it onto your list the way you think they are?
Automation: Are your sequences firing automatically, or sitting in draft mode waiting for you to remember them?
Welcome Sequence: Are new subscribers getting a real introduction to you, or just a delivery email and then silence?
Consistency: Are you showing up often enough that people actually recognize your name when your email lands?
For each of the 20 questions, you mark YES (2 points), SORT OF (1 point), or NO (0 points). Total possible: 40 points.
What Your Score Tells You
32–40: Your system is solid. The opportunity is to refine with better segmentation, stronger sequences, smarter automation.
20–31: You have a foundation, but there are gaps. Something is leaking: probably automation, your welcome sequence, or consistency.
Under 20: You’re leaving a lot on the table. Email is one of the highest-ROI tools in your business, and right now it’s not working for you. That’s fixable.
Work through it honestly. The score gives you a clear picture and tells you exactly what to do next.