Symptoms#
- Messages landing in spam despite previously good placement
- Bounces mentioning policy, authentication, or reputation
- Provider dashboards showing a drop in reputation or authentication pass rate
Diagnosis steps#
- Confirm the configuration is live: query DNS from an external resolver and check the sending platform's settings page.
- Send to a seed mailbox and read the full headers, especially Authentication-Results.
- Compare the domains in From, Return-Path, and DKIM d= for alignment.
- Check provider dashboards (Google Postmaster Tools, Microsoft SNDS) for reputation and error rates.
- Review recent changes: new vendors, DNS edits, list imports, volume spikes.
Likely causes#
- Field-mapping drift after either platform changes schema.
- Duplicate contacts created by inconsistent email casing.
Fix and re-verify#
- Decide the system of record for each field.
- Sync bi-directionally only for fields that both sides change; otherwise one-way.
- Push email engagement (replies, meetings booked) into the CRM timeline.
- Suppress marketing to contacts in active sales conversations.
Frequently asked questions#
Which CRM integrates best with email automation?
Depends on your stack. HubSpot bundles both; Salesforce and GoHighLevel rely on connectors. The key is a single contact identifier.