A few days ago I came across a story on Reddit that made me stop in my tracks.
A small business had spent 7 monthschasing Microsoft 365 support tickets because their emails kept bouncing back.
Seven. Months…
Invoices went missing. Prospects thought they were being ignored. They reckon the issue cost them tens of thousands in lost opportunities.
The worst part? The root cause wasn’t Microsoft at all. It was something much simpler.
What Went Wrong
Their email setup was missing some vital “digital stamps of approval” — SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.
In plain English: these are the trust signals that tell mail servers, “Yes, this email really is from us.” Without them, your emails can be treated as suspicious and blocked or sent to junk.
But instead of checking the basics like whether those records were set up, the business spent months chasing support tickets. Time they couldn’t afford to lose. Instead of checking the basics early, they pinned all their hopes on vendor support — and the silence dragged on for months.
Why This Matters for Local Businesses
For small and mid-sized firms, email is the lifeblood of business. It carries invoices, orders, proposals and contracts.
When email fails, it doesn’t just cause headaches. It damages your reputation and your cash flow.
Every missed email is a missed opportunity.
3 Quick Checks to Protect Your Business
Here are three things you can do today to avoid a 7-month nightmare:
- Check your records – Ask your IT provider to confirm SPF, DKIM and DMARC are set up for your domain.
- Test deliverability – Send test emails to Gmail and Outlook and see if they land in the inbox or spam.
- Don’t wait on tickets – If a problem drags on, escalate early or get an independent check from an MSP.
It’s cheaper to prevent than to repair.
Local Solution and a Clear Yes or No
At PiBlu, we’ve seen how small configuration errors can spiral into big business losses. That’s why we offer a simple Email Health Check — it takes less than 30 minutes and could save months of frustration.
Need a fix? We’ll recommend plain-English steps you—or we—can take.
We’ll check your records, run test emails, and give you a clear yes/no answer on whether you’re safe, with easy fixes if not.
Final Thought
Email is still the backbone of business communication. Get it right, and it quietly does its job in the background. Get it wrong, and the silence can cost you.
👉 If you’d like peace of mind that your email is working for you — not against you — just drop me a DM or give us a call: 0161 388 8188.
Until next time!
