Sending a mail is no guarantee that it reaches the recipient's inbox. To stop spam, mailboxes such as Gmail, Outlook or those of internet providers filter incoming mail automatically. Sometimes normal mails are also treated as spam.

Have you ever considered sending text messages instead of e-mails?


In short

  • Is the mail "delivered"? Then Fuga has done its job. If the client can't find it, it is usually in their spam.
  • Is the client's address blocked? Check the address and unblock it.
  • Do you want to be sure your client gets the reminder? Send it by SMS.


First check: was the mail delivered?

Go to Analyse => Reports => Show all reports => Communication => Sent e-mails via Mailgun. Enter the client's e-mail address in "To (email)" and untick "Failed only". More about this report: Mailgun.

  • Is the mail "delivered"? Then it arrived in the client's mailbox (Gmail, Outlook, ...). If the client still can't find it, it was stopped there, usually by the spam filter. Fuga has no influence on that.
  • Does the client use Gmail? Ask them to search in "All Mail" and to look in the Promotions and Updates tabs. Gmail sometimes puts mails there automatically, outside the inbox.
  • Do you see a failed attempt? Check whether the same mail was still delivered later. Mailgun tries again by itself, and every attempt is on a separate line. If the mail really failed, the reason is shown next to it. Often the address is wrong or blocked, see below.
  • Is the mail not in the report? Check that there is an e-mail address on the client record and that the client's communication preference is set to e-mail.


How to lower the chance that your mails end up in spam

  1. Ask your client to add the e-mail address Fuga uses for your practice to their contacts, or to mark the mail in the spam folder as "not spam".
  2. Adjust the content of your templates. Spam filters look closely at the content of a mail. Keep the text short and personal, don't use too many links or images, and avoid words in capitals, lots of exclamation marks and typical advertising words.
  3. Use your practice name as sender name, not an e-mail address. Spam filters find an e-mail address as sender name suspicious. Go to Settings => Practice data => General tab and enter your practice name in "Public email address label (e.g. practice name)". Leave the "Public email address" field as it is: your clients' replies arrive there.

More info from Mailgun


Blocked e-mail addresses

If a mail could not be delivered, for example because the address does not exist or the mailbox is full, or if the recipient marked your mail as spam, that address is blocked and Fuga no longer sends mails to it. This protects the reputation of all Fuga mails: when many mails go to wrong addresses, Gmail, Outlook and other mailboxes treat all Fuga mails as spam more quickly.

So check your clients' e-mail addresses regularly. In the Suppressed e-mail addresses report you can see which addresses are blocked and, after checking, unblock them. Read how here.


Other reasons why mails don't arrive

  • Your practice is new in Fuga: the Fuga address of your practice is then new as well. Gmail, Outlook and other mailboxes trust a new sender less, so in the first weeks mails end up in spam more often. This improves as your clients open your mails and mark them as "not spam".
  • Mails you send from your own mailbox do arrive? Fuga does not send from your own mailbox, but from your practice's Fuga address (for example info@yourpractice.fuga.eu). For the recipient's mailbox that is a different sender, judged separately. Sending Fuga mails through your own Gmail or Outlook account is not possible.
  • Many mails in a short time can look like spam, so they get stopped or delayed.
  • The recipient may have rules or filters in their mailbox that move or block certain mails.
  • Sometimes the cause is not at your practice, for example a temporary outage at Gmail or Outlook, or a sender that is temporarily suspected of spam. You can't do anything about that yourself.


An SMS does arrive

Do you read all your e-mails every day? Probably not. But do you read all your text messages? An SMS almost always arrives and never ends up in a spam folder. That makes it the best channel for appointment and treatment reminders.

With Fuga SMS you can send SMS without your own account with an SMS provider. To send reminders by SMS:

  1. Switch on Fuga SMS in Settings => Practice preferences => E-mail & SMS.
  2. For treatment reminders, switch on Automatic via sms in Settings => Practice preferences => Treatment Reminders.
  3. Set your clients' preferences to SMS in bulk via Consultation => Show all actions => Change communication preferences.