Why We Are Moving
The automation tools connect directly to Gmail. Everything — inbound triage, outbound outreach, and the shared log — runs through Google.
Gmail
Two inboxes — support and outreach — both connected to Zapier. All automated sending and receiving runs through here.
Google Sheets
The shared automation log. Every email processed — inbound or outbound — gets a row added automatically.
Google Drive
Stores the log spreadsheet and any supporting documents. Accessible by the whole team from any device.
How to Set It Up
Follow these steps in order. Steps 1 to 4 are one-time setup. Steps 5 and 6 take a few minutes each.
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01
Sign up for Google Workspace
Go to workspace.google.com and sign up for Business Starter at £5.20 per user per month. Use your existing domain such as justgym.co.uk. You will need to verify domain ownership — Google walks you through this during setup.
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02
Create two Gmail addresses
In the Google Admin console, create support@justgym.co.uk for all member and public enquiries, and outreach@justgym.co.uk exclusively for the B2B campaign. Keeping them separate means the automations never interfere with each other and the inboxes stay clean.
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03
Migrate existing emails
Export your current emails from your existing provider as MBOX files, then import using the Google Workspace Migration Tool. Historical emails stay searchable and accessible. Google provides guides for every major provider including Outlook, Yahoo, and most hosted services.
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04
Update DNS records at your domain registrar
Add Google's MX records so email routes to Gmail. Also add SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records at the same time — these protect your domain from being spoofed and help emails land in inboxes rather than spam. Propagation takes 24 to 48 hours. Google Workspace provides exact values and per-registrar instructions.
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05
Connect both Gmail accounts to Zapier
In Zapier, go to Connected Accounts and add both the support and outreach Gmail addresses. Zapier uses Google OAuth — no passwords are stored. Once connected, both automations will be ready to activate. If you have already connected a Google account to Zapier, you can add additional accounts from the same screen.
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06
Create the shared Google Sheets log
In Google Drive, create a new spreadsheet called JustGym — Automation Log. Add two sheets inside it: one named Inbound Triage and one named Outbound Outreach. Connect this spreadsheet to Zapier via Connected Accounts. Both automations will write rows to their respective sheets automatically.
The Shared Spreadsheet
One spreadsheet with two sheets — each automation writes to its own sheet.
Sheet 1 — Inbound Triage
Every support email processed by the inbound automation gets a row here, regardless of whether it was auto-replied or escalated.
| Column | Value |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Auto-timestamp |
| Sender Name | From email header |
| Sender Email | From email header |
| Subject | Email subject line |
| Email Body | Full plain text body |
| Response Sent | First 300 chars of reply, or N/A |
| Status | Resolved Automatically / Escalated to Human |
Sheet 2 — Outbound Outreach
Every business the outbound automation processes is logged here — sent, skipped, or no email found.
| Column | Value |
|---|---|
| Date & Time | Auto-timestamp |
| Business Name | From SerpAPI |
| Industry | From SerpAPI |
| Contact Name | From Hunter |
| Contact Email | From Hunter |
| Email Sent | Yes / No |
| Status | Contacted / No Email Found / Skipped |