Most founders and marketers book strategy calls with me thinking they have an email execution problem.

But what they usually have is an experience problem.

A couple of weeks ago, the founder of an early-stage emotional wellness app reached out after getting disappointing results from their beta and focus group emails.

The open and click rates were painfully low — even though 300+ people had applied to be part of their beta program.

His team’s hypothesis?

Email’s dead.

Or at least it’s not the medium their target audience is using.

The founder had a different take.

“I don’t think email is dead,” he said on our call. “I just think we’re doing it wrong.”

Not only was this music to my ears, but he was also right.

Diagnosing the problem

So we jumped on a 30-minute call to figure out what was going on.

I asked the one question I ask on every call: Walk me through your user experience.

Here’s what we uncovered:

• The gap between application submission and the first email was too long. ​
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  The acceptance email was going out after 5 days. Applicants who didn’t make it were not getting any email.
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• Their most engaged applicants were left hanging without a single message.​
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  After submitting the form, applicants were redirected to a landing page, but received no emails on what to expect next, not even a copy of their application.
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• And when they did get an email? ​
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  It was trying to do three jobs at once — announce their acceptance, get them to join the Discord group, and download the app.

Not only are those three separate emails, but there’s a deeper issue at hand.

Receiving the acceptance email 5 days after submission created an emotional mismatch.

Since their app is an emotional wellness app, it’s important to take the emotional state of their users into account.

And emotional states keep changing.

By the time the focus group and beta applicants received their acceptance email, they had moved past the emotional state they were in when they filled out the application form.

They likely also didn’t recall their responses, which deepened the disconnect.

So seeing the acceptance email after 5 days barely got any reaction.

Solving the problem

Having understood the existing user experience, it was time to recreate their email experience.

We talked through:

• Triggering emails immediately after someone fills out the form (not 5 days later).
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• Sending nurture emails in the days that follow, focused on pain points, urgency, and benefits.
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• Personalizing email copy based on the reasons someone applied so we’re continuing a conversation they started in the application form.

All this in less than 30 minutes.

Wanna know something funny?

We hadn’t even touched the actual emails yet.

(All I’d just seen was a quick view while the founder was sharing his screen.)

Here's what most people don't realize:

Bad email performance isn’t always an email problem.

More often than not, it’s a user experience problem.

Fixing the user experience behind your emails

When I work with SaaS clients, I’m not just fixing their emails — I’m improving the user experience.

We uncover the real issues behind low open rates, poor conversions, or underperforming flows.

Then we build a plan that’s aligned with how their users think, feel, and make decisions.

And it all starts with a simple 30-minute conversation.

Curious what you’d uncover on a call like this?

​Find a time on my calendar.​

— Samar