Email Leads Playbook

CoTech Email Leads Playbook

A lot of this process has come from the CoTech gathering at Oxford in October 2025 in a session with Chris C, Dan, Laurie, Edith, Richard @ Outlandish, Katya @ Cookiewolf and Tommy @Creative Coop. Natasha @ Outlandish has been refining it for implementation in 2026.

Facts

Main inbox: contact@cotech.coop.
- Aliases: contact@cotech.uk, contact@coops.tech → all redirect to contact@cotech.coop.
Access: Webmail + IMAP. Webmail: https://webarch.email.
Logins: Any CoTech co-op can request a unique login for this inbox on the forum.
Forwarding: None configured (by design).
auto-responder acknowledgement with expected response time

Rules

All emails are answered from the shared inbox until specific co-ops are selected and looped in.
Once matched, follow-ups with the client can move to co-op specific email threads.
CC contact@cotech.coop wherever possible until project confirmation (for visibility/continuity).
Response time: Aim to acknowledge within 2 business days, substantive follow-up within 4 business days.

Inbox Team Process

All public CTAs direct to contact@cotech.coop.
Emails land in a shared inbox.
The Inbox is monitored by two people from different co-ops on a rota.
- Rota runs for two quarters; teams are staggered to overlap (e.g., Person1: Q1–Q2, Person2: Q2–Q3) to ensure continuity and shared learning.
- The two people on the rota decide between themselves how to organise their duties.
- Inbox team is expected to attend the monthly CoTech call
- Inbox team/rota organising has a standing agenda item at the monthly meetup.
This document is on the wiki and editable
Each email is triaged by the inbox team using processes to identify which of our four audience types the lead is
The inbox team responds accordingly.

Rota

Quarter 1 2026	Katja	Natasha
Quarter 2 2026	Katja	Natasha
Quarter 3 2026	TBC	Natasha
Quarter 4 2026	TBC	TBC

Triaging Process

Categorise each enquiry into one of four audience types:

Serious client
Free advice
Wants to join the community (individuals/allies)
Wants to join CoTech (co-ops/prospective members)

Follow this process

1️⃣ Is this a project inquiry?

Yes → Organise a short follow-up call. Find out as much of the following : Org details, Primary contact (name/role), summary of need, desired outcomes, budget (range is fine), timeline, any constraints/tech stack.
- After the call, ask yourself: Is this a serious project enquiry?
  - Yes → Follow steps for Audience A – Serious client
  - No → Follow steps for Audience B – Free advice
No → Go to Question 2.

2️⃣ Does this person want to join CoTech?

No → Do they want to join our community?
- Yes → Follow steps for Audience C – Wants to join the community
- No → Potentially CoTech isn’t the right place for them
Yes → Follow steps for Audience D – Wants to join CoTech

Steps for audience types:

a) Serious client:

Signals: representing an organisation, budget (or range), timeline, decision-maker, expects proposal/quote, problem/brief

Create a discourse forum post inviting EOIs with deadline - even if you think only one coop does the work (you can contact them directly as well if you think so)
Collect and triage EOIs.
Reply with matched co-ops and warm intros.
If no one responds, it’s at the discretion of the inbox team to respond to the client.

b) Free advice

Signals: Vague scope, no budget, “just exploring”, student/media queries, DIY advice.

Signpost to discourse forum and encourage them to start a thread and/or introduce themselves on the forum

c) Wants to join the community (individuals/allies)

Signals: “How do I get involved?”, interest in events, learning, collaboration, or community chat.

Signpost to discourse forum
Support them to introduce themselves on the forum

d) Wants to join CoTech (co-ops/prospective members)

Signals: Is a workers cooperative

Share membership criteria and process of workers.coop https://www.workers.coop/membership-2/ - email is solidarity@workers.coop
Share membership process for CoTech https://wiki.coops.tech/wiki/Main_Page#Joining_CoTech