SalesThumb sends quotes, invoices, receipts, warranty PDFs, and review requests by email. By default these go through our shared sending infrastructure. If you want to send from your own domain (recommended for any shop sending >100 emails/day), wire up SendGrid.
Why a custom sending domain
- Brand consistency: emails come from "quotes@yourshop.com" instead of "info@roffik.com"
- Deliverability: dedicated reputation. Spam folders less likely.
- Reply handling: customer replies go to your inbox, not ours.
Step 1 — Create a SendGrid account
Sign up at sendgrid.com (free tier covers 100 emails/day, paid starts at $19.95/mo for 50k). You'll need a credit card on file even for the free tier (anti-abuse).
Step 2 — Domain authentication
In SendGrid: Settings → Sender Authentication → Authenticate Your Domain. Enter your domain (yourshop.com — NOT a subdomain). SendGrid generates 3-5 DNS records (CNAMEs) to add at your DNS provider.
Add the records at your DNS host (GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap — wherever your domain is parked). Wait 5-30 minutes for propagation. Click "Verify" in SendGrid.
Result: SendGrid can now send email "from" your domain with proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC alignment. Inboxes won't flag it as spoofed.
Step 3 — Create a SendGrid API key
Settings → API Keys → Create API Key. Permission level: "Restricted Access" → enable "Mail Send" only. Copy the key (you'll see it once).
Step 4 — Wire SalesThumb to SendGrid
Settings → Integrations → SendGrid → Paste API key. Pick your verified sending domain. Save.
Now go to Settings → Branding → Sending email. Set:
- From address: quotes@yourshop.com (or hello@, or whatever fits)
- Reply-to: same address (so customer replies land in your inbox)
- From name: your shop name as you want it displayed
Step 5 — Warm up the sending IP
A brand-new sending domain has zero reputation. If you blast 5,000 emails on day one, half will land in spam. Warm up gradually:
- Week 1: Send max 100 emails/day from the new domain (mostly transactional — quotes, receipts)
- Week 2: Max 300/day, start adding follow-ups
- Week 3: Max 1,000/day, start review-request emails to opted-in customers
- Week 4+: Send normally
SalesThumb's outbound is mostly transactional (one-to-one to a real customer who's expecting it). Transactional email is generally welcomed by inboxes, so warm-up is gentler than for marketing senders.
Deliverability monitoring
Settings → Email → Deliverability report shows:
- Open rate (target: >40% for transactional)
- Bounce rate (target: <2%)
- Spam complaint rate (target: <0.1%)
If bounce rate spikes, customer email addresses are likely stale. SalesThumb suppresses any address that hard-bounces — won't try to send again until you mark it as fixed.
If spam complaint rate spikes, you're probably sending to customers who don't remember opting in. Pull back the volume and audit your consent capture.
Common issues
- "Domain not verified" — DNS records haven't propagated. Wait 30 min, re-verify.
- "From address doesn't match domain" — your sending email must be at the authenticated domain. quotes@yourshop.com works if yourshop.com is authenticated.
- "Bounce rate too high" — usually means stale list. Pull obvious dead addresses (e.g. employees who left).