Why info@ Emails Don't Get Replies, and What to Do Instead

A shared inbox is read by whoever has time: a receptionist, an office manager, sometimes nobody for a week. It collects booking requests, supplier invoices, spam and sales pitches in one place, and the person sorting it usually has one job: answer customers.

A cold pitch in that pile has to survive being skimmed by someone who isn't the buyer and has no reason to forward it. Most don't.

The main number on a Google Maps listing rings the front desk. That's correct for customers and a wall for anyone selling to the business. "Can I speak to the owner?" from an unknown caller is a request the front desk is trained to decline.

For email, role words give it away: info, office, contact, hello, admin, sales, support, bookings. A name-based address printed next to a named person on the site is direct.

For phones, the number on the listing and in the website header is almost always the main line. A direct line is usually printed beside a person's name on the about or team page.

In a one- or two-person business, the owner often reads the shared inbox themselves, so it isn't wasted. And when it's the only published contact, it's the honest one to use.

Write to it as what it is. Name the person you want to reach if the site names them, keep it short enough to forward, and make the reason specific to that business, so whoever reads it can see it's not a blast.

The direct contact, when it exists, is on the business's own website, next to the owner's name. loclay reads those pages for every business in a Google Maps search and keeps the two kinds apart: shared inboxes are labelled as business contacts, and an email or phone is credited to the decision maker only when it's published next to their name.

You can filter a search to "Direct email to the decision maker" and write to those first, then work through the shared inboxes and main lines with a different first line.