> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.allgoodhq.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting Started with Email Reply Management

> Go from zero to a working inbox in a few steps.

Mary reads every reply that lands in your marketing inbox, sorts it into a category, and takes the action you've told her to take — automatically, 24/7. Here's how to go from zero to a working inbox in a few steps.

<Tip>
  We recommend reading the entire guide before starting any of the steps.
</Tip>

## Step 1a: Connect your inbox

Start working with your IT team to point your marketing Reply-To email addresses at allGood. This step may take time so we recommend kicking this off as soon as possible.

* Docs: [Hosted Mailbox + Custom Domains](/integrations/email/hosted-mailbox)

## Step 1b: Set up your integration user

At the same time, begin the process for setting up your integration user. Depending on your organization structure, you may also need to work with your IT team for this. While your IT team is setting up the hosted mailbox, start the set-up in allGood — once you have the integration user, go ahead and connect it in allGood.

* Docs: [Marketo Integration](/integrations/marketo) · [HubSpot Integration](/integrations/hubspot) · [Salesforce Integration](/integrations/salesforce/erm)

## Step 2: Hop into allGood and start with what's already built

**Review the Default Categories.** Every workspace comes with 7 out-of-the-box categories, already trained and ready to run — no setup required: Unsubscribe, Out of Office, Spam, Bounce, Sales Request, Left Company, and Other. Each one comes with sensible default actions already wired up, so you get value from day one.

* Read: [Email Reply Management, Ready on Day One](https://allgoodhq.com/blog/email-reply-management-day-one)
* Docs: [Categories](/use-cases/erm/categories)

**Migrating off Drift Email?** You don't need to rebuild anything. Connect your Drift account and allGood automatically reads your existing setup and recreates it — every rule, route, and action — as a working allGood configuration.

* Read: [Drift Email Is Ending. Migrating to allGood Takes Minutes.](https://allgoodhq.com/blog/drift-to-allgood-migration)
* Docs: [Migrating from Drift](/use-cases/erm/drift-migration)

## Step 3: Make it yours (optional)

The defaults cover the common cases, but you can rename categories, edit their definitions, or add your own for whatever your team sees in its inbox. A clear definition is the single biggest lever for accurate classification.

* Read: [Best Practices for Writing Category Definitions in ERM](https://allgoodhq.com/blog/erm-category-definitions)
* Docs: [Setting Up or Altering a Category](/use-cases/erm/setting-up-or-altering-a-category) · [Data Extraction](/use-cases/erm/data-extraction)

## Step 4: Turn categories into automations

Every category can trigger real actions in your MAP or CRM — updating a record, adding someone to a list, forwarding a hot lead to sales.

A few ideas to get you started: suppress leads while they're out of office, auto-create a new contact when someone leaves their company, or log the reason behind every unsubscribe.

* Read: [3 Email Reply Automations You Can Build in allGood](https://allgoodhq.com/blog/build-with-erm)
* Docs: [Marketo Actions](/use-cases/erm/marketo-actions) · [HubSpot Actions](/use-cases/erm/hubspot-actions) · [Eloqua Actions](/use-cases/erm/eloqua-actions) · [Salesforce Actions](/use-cases/erm/salesforce-actions)

## Step 5: Test before it touches real replies

Once you've finalized your configuration and before live emails start flowing through (be sure to coordinate with IT on this), use our Test Suite to validate your set-up.

The Test Suite lets you check categorizations and extracted fields against real reply examples — so you catch a broken definition in testing, not in your inbox.

* Read: [Introducing the Email Reply Management Test Suite](https://allgoodhq.com/blog/erm-test-suite)
* Docs: [Test Suite](/use-cases/erm/test-suite)

## Keep an eye on things

Once you've finished testing and you're happy with your set-up, give IT the green light to start sending emails into allGood.

Once live, the [Messages](/use-cases/erm/messages) view shows every reply Mary has processed, the category she assigned, and her reasoning for the call — the fastest way to spot-check a category after a change.

## Go deeper

<Card title="ERM Overview" icon="book-open" href="/use-cases/erm/overview">
  The full technical rundown of how an email gets processed, start to finish.
</Card>

<Note>
  Have any more questions? Reach out to [support@allgoodhq.com](mailto:support@allgoodhq.com)
</Note>