Alexis Kestler
As a long-time Google Workspace power user and former Gmail product analyst at Google, I‘ve tested every integration under the sun to create the optimal customized business environment.
Many solopreneurs and small business owners are shocked when I demo my souped-up Gmail setup – complete with shared inboxes, task pipelines, CRM and email automation capabilities rivaling dedicated SaaS platforms.
You likely already depend on Gmail or Google Workspace for the basics:
| Calendar | Contacts | Docs |
But are you tapping into the full potential?
Why Start With Gmail and Google Workspace
Before we dig into third-party enhancements, let‘s review core benefits of choosing Google‘s business solutions in the first place:
Cost – At just $6 or $12 per user/month for basic and business tiers respectively, no platform matches Google Workspace value.
Compliance – Google upholds top-tier security certifications like SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR across data centers worldwide.
Adoption – 1.5+ billion Gmail consumer users creates low learning curve for teams getting started together.
With that foundation established, let‘s explore how plugins supercharge capabilities.
Core Use Cases and Integrations
Through hands-on testing of over 50 add-ons in recent years, I‘ve filtered down to the absolute best utilities across four key categories:
| Task Management | Team Inboxes | Email Tracking | Email Automation |
For each area, I evaluate multiple criteria:
| Ease of Use | Mobile Optimization | Supported Integrations | Security |
Let‘s explore top picks across categories…
Task Management: Gmelius
For seamless task and project coordination without leaving Gmail, Gmelius is my top choice based on UI and broad app integration support.
I advise clients to structure projects in Gmelius as follows:
| Main Task | Checklist of sub-tasks | Assign sub-tasks to individuals | Set due date for deliverables |
Gmelius essentially adds robust project management through a sidebar within regular Gmail view.
Benefits include:
- Real-time comment collaboration
- Custom labels and statuses
- Email automation based on events
- Calendar sync
- iOS/Android apps
They claim over 200 supported app integrations including Salesforce, Slack and Asana.
For lean teams that live in Gmail, Gmelius enables structured coordination without added complexity.
Shared Team Inboxes: Hiver
Email remains most businesses‘ primary communication channel. And shared inboxes ensure multiple representatives provide timely, consistent customer support.
Hiver is my shared inbox platform of choice based on ease of use, organization features and automation capabilities.
Core features include:
- Single unified inbox with complete conversation history
- Assign conversations to agents with @mention
- Custom status labeling system
- Smart assignment rules based on workload, keywords, times of day etc.
- Robust analytics dashboard for insights like average response times and agent productivity
Hiver essentially enables enterprise-grade shared inbox management without added overhead for smaller teams.
You can literally be up and running with a shared inbox from Gmail in under 5 minutes.
In my experience, the conversation assignment automation and status workflows alone can save 1-2 hours per agent per day.
Email Tracking: Streak
When it comes to tracking email outreach effectiveness from Gmail, Streak is the most powerful free solution:
Core tracking features include:
- Open & click notifications
- Email follow-up reminders
- Tracking by campaign with custom labels
- Activity timeline of all interactions with each contact
- Mobile app
Streak essentially transforms Gmail into free lightweight CRM.
For sales teams, the customizable pipeline view mirrors full platforms without added complexity:
Monitoring email engagement signals and automating follow-up workflows with Streak creates transparency and accountability around lead outreach right within Gmail.
Email Automation: Mixmax
Communicating at scale while personalizing messages is impossible without automation.
Mixmax is my automation tool of choice based on ease of building sequences, scheduling flexibility and broad app integrations.
Core features include:
| Sequences | Surveys | Meeting Schedulers | Email Tracking |
I typically advise structuring automations in Mixmax as follows:
- Welcome sequence after signup
- User onboarding drips
- Webinar promotion series
- Event reminder sequence
- Expiration notice series
Advanced features like dynamic content insertion take things to the next level.
And the ability to track opens, clicks and replies provides accountability whether sending one-to-one emails or large blast campaigns.
Bottom Line
Hopefully this analysis convinces you that Gmail and Google Workspace can serve as complete business hubs rivaling dedicated (and more expensive!) software solutions.
The key is smartly integrating platforms like:
| Gmelius | Hiver | Streak | Mixmax |
I advise all clients to begin with 14-day free trials of each based on use case priority.
You‘ll be amazed just how much firepower exists right within your existing Gmail account!
What other Gmail extensions are you relying on? I‘m always hunting for new solutions so please share below!
