Email has become the universal communication medium for businesses worldwide. Based on recent surveys, the average office worker sends and receives over 120 emails per workday, with office inboxes continuing to swell each year.
While email provides a convenient way to share information and collaborate, important details often get buried across scattered inboxes and chains of messages. Precious time gets wasted trying to dig up key information from emails after the fact.
This guide will explore how intelligent email parsing software can solve these problems. You‘ll learn:
- The mounting email challenges facing businesses
- How email parsing works to extract critical data
- Key features to evaluate in parsing tools
- Leading software options with pros and cons
- Implementation best practices for maximizing value
- Real-world use cases that showcase parsing benefits
If your business depends on email, this guide will help you identify the best email parsing software to alleviate inbox overload and unlock hidden insights. Let‘s dive in!
The Email Data Dilemma: Stats on Overwhelmed Employees
To start, let‘s examine some revealing statistics that demonstrate businesses‘ email challenges:
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Knowledge workers spend 28% of their workweek reading and responding to emails on average. That equates to over 2.5 hours spent on email daily. (McKinsey)
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64% of employees report being overwhelmed by the volume of emails they receive. (Atlassian)
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Professionals say they are unable to find key information sent over email when needed at least once per week. (Bluehost)
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78% of an organization‘s historical business data is contained within old work emails. (Veritas)
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Employees take up to 15 minutes on average to refocus after checking email. (Microsoft)
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Businesses can achieve a median ROI of $100K per year by making email management more efficient. (Nucleus Research)
As you can see, the typical office worker struggles enormously trying to handle overflowing inboxes. Valuable productivity gets sacrificed just to keep email volumes under control.
Important details like contacts, calendar events, and customer requests are constantly communicated over email. But digging through chains to find the exact information you need later is incredibly tedious.
There has to be a better way.
Introducing Email Parsing: Automated Extraction of Critical Details
This is where intelligent email parsing enters the picture.
Email parsing software uses machine learning and natural language processing to automatically scan the contents of your inboxes. It extracts only the most essential data points based on rules you define – such as contacts, dates/times, locations, support ticket details, prices, keywords, and more.
This extracted information gets organized into structured datasets that you can immediately leverage across your business systems and processes. No more wasted hours manually reviewing and tagging emails.
Here are some examples of how parsed email data can be used:
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Populate CRM – Contact details from emails get added directly to your CRM profile records.
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Create calendars – Auto-populate calendars with events extracted from email body text and calendar invites.
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Segment contacts – Group contacts based on traits identified by the parser like industry, lead score, job title.
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Trigger workflows – When certain keywords are detected, workflows launch in your CRM, support desk, etc.
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Track campaigns – Identify top performing offers and outreach by analyzing parser campaign data.
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Improve forecasting – Incorporate meeting schedules, closed deals, and lead details from parsed emails.
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Personalize messaging – Tailor outreach using parsed intel on the prospect‘s role, location, past interactions and more.
Without ever opening another email manually, your sales, marketing and customer support teams can stay on top of critical details. The benefits are transformative.
Next, let‘s explore the key capabilities to look for in an effective email parsing solution.
Key Email Parsing Features: A Checklist for Evaluation
There are a wide range of email parsing tools available today, from simple plug-ins to advanced AI-driven systems. Here are 12 must-have features to look for when choosing a parser for your business:
1. Integrations – The parser should easily integrate with your existing systems like your CRM, marketing automation platform, help desk system and more. This enables seamless transfer of parsed data.
2. Multi-Source – Look for parsing from all your company inboxes such as Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, shared team inboxes, POP/IMAP accounts. Unified data is best.
3. Attachments – Intelligently parsing attachments like PDFs, DOCs, XLS for the text details and data within.
4. Real-Time – Instantly parse emails as they hit your inbox to enable immediate use of extracted info.
5. Conditional Parsing – Beyond standard data types, set up customized rules to capture irregular data formats unique to your business.
6. Machine Learning – Lean on AI and NLP techniques that continually improve parsing accuracy over time based on ongoing Email analysis.
7. Custom Fields & Tags – Define proprietary fields and tags to meet your specific tracking needs beyond standard parsing data.
8. Data Exporting – Seamlessly export parsed contact, calendar, message and other data to platforms like your CRM, marketing automation system etc.
9. Email Tracking – View email open rate data to see who‘s engaging with your outreach.
10. Email Management – Maintain inbox cleanliness by unsubscribing from junk, sweeping irrelevant content into separate tabs.
11. Email Productivity – Receive AI-driven suggestions and reminders to stay on top of priority emails and send timely replies.
12. Mobile Access – Manage and leverage parsed email data on-the-go via well-designed mobile apps.
Solutions offering these email parsing essentials provide the most complete functionality for extracting and harnessing data from company inboxes.
Next let‘s explore some leading options and their pros and cons.
Comparing Top Email Parsing Software Packages
Now that you know what capabilities to look for in email parsing tools, let‘s compare some of the top options available based on reviews and popularity:
1. MonkeyLearn
MonkeyLearn is one of the most well-rounded AI-powered parsing solutions available today.
Pros:
- Great accuracy with machine learning and NLP
- Broad integrations with email platforms, CRMs, support tools
- Easy to use with intuitive interface
- Affordable pricing starting at $49/month
Cons:
- Limited attachment parsing
- No native email productivity features
- Additional fees for team members and advanced features
Overall, MonkeyLearn hits all the main parsing needs while remaining easy to use. The machine learning engine consistently improves its data extraction accuracy over time.
2. SaneBox
SaneBox takes an intelligent approach to both email parsing and overall inbox management.
Pros:
- Automatically cleans and organizes inbox
- Strong parsing capabilities for key info like contacts and dates
- Helpful productivity prompts and schedule summaries
- Reasonable per user pricing at $7/month
Cons:
- Light attachment and conditional parsing features
- Mobile and integrations require premium plan
- Mixed reviews on clutter reduction capabilities
For those seeking an all-in-one parser and inbox assistant, SaneBox delivers ample value. It helps keep your inbox clean while pulling critical data from emails.
3. Parseur
Parseur is a sales-focused email parser helping extract and qualify leads.
Pros:
- Excellent for capturing prospect contact details and company intel
- Lead scoring and nurturing features
- Native CRM integrations like Salesforce
- Generous API access options
Cons:
- More limited for non-sales email parsing uses
- Requires bulk uploads rather than real-time parsing
- Can get pricey for larger teams at $25+/month per user
For qualifying and converting leads from email, Parseur is purpose-built with the salesperson in mind. Useful if email is your main lead source but lacks options for support, marketing, etc.
4. Email Hunter
Email Hunter specializes in identifying, verifying, and capturing key details on email contacts themselves.
Pros:
- Verifies inactive emails and finds alternate contacts
- Tracks email engagement and events
- Strong role and company change detection
- Free plan available
Cons:
- Very sales-centric
- Limited parsing beyond contact details
- No attachments, calendar, or custom field parsing
- Premium plan expensive at $99+/month
Overall Email Hunter excels at keeping your email contact list cleansed, updated, and actionable to support sales prospecting. But light on other parsing capabilities.
5. HubSpot
The HubSpot CRM includes built-in email parsing and syncing functionality.
Pros:
- Tight integration as both parser and CRM
- Strong contact, company, and deal data extraction
- Helpful email productivity features
- More affordable premium plans starting at $50/user/month
Cons:
- Locked into HubSpot‘s stack
- Light on calendar, attachments, and custom parsing
- Mixed reviews on parsing accuracy
- Upsells required for more advanced features
For HubSpot CRM customers, the baked-in parsing and syncing delivers convenience. Limitations exist but valuable for keeping HubSpot data in sync.
Honorable Mentions
Beyond these leaders, Outreach, Chili Piper, and Mixmax offer more parsing and email productivity combinations worth considering for sales teams. Superhuman and Polymail also provide parsing as part of premium personal inbox assistants.
The key is matching the strengths of the parsing solution to your particular business needs – whether that‘s collecting prospect details, tracking campaign metrics, or powering support workflows.
Building vs Buying: Should You Build In-House vs Use a 3rd Party Parser?
A key decision to evaluate is whether to build your own custom email parsing solution in-house or leverage an existing third-party software platform. Let‘s compare the pros and cons of each approach:
Building a Custom Parser In-House
Pros:
- Tailored specifically to your data needs
- Tightly integrated into your existing infrastructure
- Ongoing internal support for enhancements
Cons:
- Requires significant development resources and expertise
- Long setup time and ongoing maintenance overhead
- Harder to match third-party accuracy and features
- Difficult to adapt to future needs at scale
Leveraging a Third-Party Parsing Platform
Pros:
- Fast setup and time to value
- Ongoing feature enhancements and platform upgrades
- Machine learning provides high and improving accuracy
- Free trials available to test capabilities
Cons:
- Less customization flexibility
- Monthly subscription fees
- Potential integration and support challenges
Unless you have robust software development capabilities internally already, third-party parsers tend to provide faster time-to-value. And it‘s challenging for in-house solutions to match the machine learning capabilities leading to accuracy gains over time.
That said, for some organizations with advanced technical teams and highly unique parsing needs, a custom solution could make sense. The decision requires carefully weighing your resources, timelines, and quality expectations.
In general, leveraging an established SaaS email parsing platform tends to be the most effective route. The rest of this guide focuses on maximizing value from third-party parser implementations.
Implementing Your Email Parser: A 6 Step Plan
Once you‘ve selected the right email parsing software for your business, following a structured implementation plan is key to driving adoption and value. Here are the recommended steps:
1. Connect Email Accounts
First integrate your shared team inboxes, support lines, sales contacts, and any other sources you wish to parse. Don‘t miss key stakeholders‘ mailboxes.
2. Set Up Users
Determine who needs access to the parsed data – sales, account managers, support reps, marketing staff? Get user accounts configured with appropriate access permissions from the start.
3. Customize Parsing Rules
Now it‘s time to define your ideal parsing plan. Set up rules to extract important details from email bodies, attachments, headers and more based on your specific needs.
4. Integrate Software Systems
Make sure to configure any integrations with your CRM, email platform, calendar, or other systems to enable syncing of parsed data. API hooks may be required for real-time transfers.
5. Test and Refine
Once setup is complete, monitor initial parsing results. Identify any errors or missed data. Then refine your rules and integrations accordingly. Accuracy improves over time as the platform learns.
6. Train Internal Stakeholders
Conduct training to show employees how to best utilize the parser and view/export parsed datasets. Drive adoption through change management.
With the right preparation and rollout, your teams can quickly leverage parsed email intelligence to enhance workflows, reporting, and decision making.
Maximizing the Value of Your Email Parser
With your parser implemented, focusing on high-value applications is next. Here are 12 real-world use cases to consider:
Sales Prospecting
- Populate CRM with parsed contact/company details to eliminate manual data entry
- Create targeted lead lists by filtering contacts based on parsed traits
- Craft highly personalized outreach leveraging parsed data
- Prioritize hottest leads based on parsed interactions and lead scores
Email Marketing
- Segment contacts based on parsed traits to deliver targeted campaigns
- Create dynamic content using parsed data like company, role, location
- Gauge campaign effectiveness by analyzing parser email open and click rates
Customer Support
- Auto-log support tickets in help desk systems based on parsed requests
- Set up workflows to auto-respond to common questions identified by parser
- Route parsed requests to right reps based on keywords, products, etc.
Market Research
- Gather intel on competitors from parsed communications and attachments
- Identify upsell opportunities based on parsed customer usage patterns
- Monitor partnerships, hiring trends, and other insights from executive emails
Event Planning
- Auto-populate calendars with parsed event dates, times, locations
- Extract RSVP responses from email replies to gauge attendance
- Create smart follow-ups based on event attendance from parsed emails
Forecasting and Reporting
- Factor upcoming meetings, closed deals, and lead details from parser into forecasts
- Create reports on email productivity using data like response times
- Analyze support and sales trends based on parsed communications data
The applications are nearly endless. Just be sure to match high-value use cases to your organization‘s top priorities and challenges.
With an optimized implementation focused on high-impact applications, your productivity, efficiency and decision making can advance to the next level, thanks to automated email data extraction.
Key Takeaways on Selecting the Best Email Parser
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Email overload has become a massive challenge reducing employee productivity and organizations‘ ability to capture insights from messages. Intelligent parsing software provides a powerful solution.
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Leading email parsers utilize AI to automatically scan inboxes and extract actionable details like contacts, dates, attachments, keywords and more based on customized rules.
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Ideal parsing solutions offer robust integrations, multi-account support, attachments parsing, real-time functionality, conditional logic, machine learning, custom fields/tags, and secure data exporting capabilities.
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Top performing parsers like MonkeyLearn, SaneBox, and Parseur provide excellent accuracy combined with ease of use. For sales teams, Email Hunter and HubSpot also deserve consideration.
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While building in-house is an option, third-party commercial parsers enable faster implementation and provide higher quality results at scale.
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Follow best practices like connecting accounts, setting permissions, customizing rules, integrating with other software, testing, and training employees to drive parser adoption.
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Consider high-value applications across sales, marketing, support, research, events, forecasting and reporting to maximize parsed email data benefits.
Next Steps: It‘s Time to Conquer Your Email Challenges!
Email overload results in an enormous loss of productivity for employees and missed opportunities for businesses due to buried insights sitting in scattered inboxes.
Intelligent email parsing finally provides a way to eliminate these problems!
Now that you know how to assess and implement an effective parsing solution for your organization, it‘s time to get started. The benefits for productivity, efficiency and visibility into email data are immense.
Most leading email parsing tools offer free trials, so you can quickly experience benefits first-hand at no cost. Pick one that aligns best to your needs and start parsing today!
