Auto-replies for new enquiries, with messages to copy.

What an auto-reply has to say

The customer has just sent a message into silence. The auto-reply has four jobs, and nothing else belongs in it:

• It arrived. Say so in the first line, with the customer's first name if your tool can add it.
• When a person will reply, as a time: "by 2pm today" or "by 10am tomorrow".
• One useful next step: what to send for a quote, the booking link, or what to have ready.
• The faster route, if the matter is urgent.

Sign it with a person's name or the team's, and send it from an address someone reads, so a customer who replies with a photo or a correction reaches a person.

Compare two versions for a cleaning company. The usual one: "Thank you for contacting us. Your enquiry is important to us and we will respond as soon as possible." The useful one: "Hi Jordan, thanks for your message. Leanne will reply with a price by 2pm today. If you can, reply with the number of bedrooms and bathrooms and she can price it straight away. Spruce Cleaning." The second tells Jordan when to expect an answer and gets the quote moving before anyone has opened the email.

Pick a reply time you keep

The reply time is the only promise in the message, so base it on your slowest normal day, not your best. If enquiries usually get a reply within an hour but a busy Saturday pushes that to evening, promise the evening.

Write two versions and let your tools pick between them by the clock:

• In hours: "by 2pm today", or "within two hours" if your form tool cannot insert a time.
• Out of hours: "by 10am tomorrow", or "on Monday morning" for anything that arrives on a Friday evening.

Then check it. Once a month, look at ten recent enquiries and when each one got its first reply from a person. If you keep missing the time, change the promise or change who answers.

How fast you reply decides more than the wording

Someone who wants a cleaner, a plumber or a venue may contact several at once, and the first business to answer their question has the advantage. The auto-reply buys you a little patience. It does not count as the answer.

What makes the real reply faster:

• A notification on the phone of the person who answers, as well as the email to a shared inbox.
• One named owner for each enquiry, so nobody assumes someone else has it.
• A short first reply from a person, even before the full answer: "Got it, I'll price this tonight."
• A reminder when an enquiry passes its promised time with no reply.

That last one is the job of enquiry follow-up automation: it routes each enquiry to the right person and chases the ones nobody has answered. The auto-reply is the first step of the same workflow, as set out in the first automations to set up.

Website form auto-replies

A website form can usually send a confirmation email to the person who filled it in. Look for a confirmation or autoresponder email in your form tool's settings. Then make the thank-you message on the screen after the form say the same thing, so the two never disagree.

• In hours: "Hi [first name], thanks for your message. It reached us, and Amy will reply by [time] today. If anything changes in the meantime, reply to this email. Fernside Physio."
• Out of hours: "Hi [first name], thanks for your message. We are closed now, and Amy will reply by 10am tomorrow. To book a first appointment straight away, use the booking page on our website. Fernside Physio."
• For a trade: "Hi [first name], thanks, we have your request. Dan will call you by [time] to talk it through. If you can, reply with a photo of the problem, as it helps him bring the right parts. Dan Ellis Plumbing."

Send the confirmation from an address on your own domain, set up so other mail servers can check it is really yours. A confirmation that lands in spam is worse than none, because the customer thinks you ignored them. Why business emails go to spam covers the records that fix it.

Email auto-replies

For an address that receives only enquiries, such as hello@ or enquiries@, an automatic reply can go to every new message. For an inbox that also gets supplier invoices and replies from existing customers, reply only to the enquiries.

In Gmail, the vacation responder replies to the first message from each person, and again only if they write after four days. It skips spam and mailing lists, and can be limited to your contacts. For enquiries, Gmail's templates work better: turn templates on in the Advanced settings on a computer, save the reply as a template, then create a filter for messages to your enquiries address and choose Send template.

In Outlook, automatic replies go to each sender once while they are switched on, with a separate message for people outside your organisation.

• In hours: "Hi, thanks for your email. It is with the team, and Priya will reply by 4pm today. If you are sending documents, reply to this message with them attached. Marsh and Reed Accountants."
• Out of hours: "Thanks for your email. The office is closed until 9am, and Priya will reply by midday. If you have a filing deadline today, say so in the subject line and we will read it first. Marsh and Reed Accountants."

Instagram and Facebook messages

In Meta Business Suite's inbox, an instant reply answers someone the first time they message you, and an away message answers when you are not available. Both work for Instagram business accounts connected to Business Suite, as well as Facebook Pages. Messages there are chattier than email, so keep each one to two sentences:

• Instant reply: "Hi, thanks for messaging Copper Lane Hair. A stylist will reply here within the hour while we're open, or you can book any service with the link in our bio."
• Away message: "Thanks for your message. We're closed now and will reply from 9am. To book tonight, use the link in our bio."
• Away message for a gym: "Thanks for messaging Forge Fitness. The team is back at 7am. If you want to try a class, the timetable and booking link are in our bio."

Anything beyond the first reply, such as answers to common questions or comment replies, is covered in Instagram and Facebook message automation.

Quote requests

A quote request needs one thing an ordinary enquiry does not: the details you need before you can price it. Ask for them in the auto-reply, and say when the quote will arrive:

• Cleaning company: "Thanks, Jordan. To price your end-of-tenancy clean, we need the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, whether the oven needs doing and the date you hand back the keys. Reply with those and Leanne will send the quote by the end of tomorrow."
• Builder: "Thanks for your enquiry about the loft conversion. We price these after a visit. Reply with two times that suit you next week, and a photo of the loft hatch and stairs if you can. Tom will confirm the visit by Friday."
• Wedding venue: "Thank you for your enquiry about the Old Granary. We hold dates for a short time while you decide, so tell us your date, guest numbers and whether you need the ceremony room as well, and our events manager will reply with availability and a quote by Thursday."

Once the quote is out, the next message is a follow-up, and quote follow-up messages has the words for it.

More messages by trade

• Dental clinic, new patient: "Thanks for getting in touch with Willow Lane Dental. Our reception team will reply by 4pm today with the next new-patient appointments. If you are in pain or have swelling, please call us instead so we can see you sooner."
• Law firm: "Thank you for contacting Kestrel Law. A member of our team will call you by the end of the next working day to arrange a first conversation. Please do not send documents yet. Contacting us does not make us your lawyers, and we cannot give advice until we have agreed to act."
• Salon, colour client: "Thanks for your message. New colour clients need a patch test at least a day before, and you can book both online. A stylist will reply to your question by 6pm."
• Garage: "Thanks, we have your booking request. We will confirm the time by 11am. If a warning light is on, let us know whether it is red or orange when we call."

Clinics and law firms should ask for as little as possible in the first message. Health and legal details belong in a call or a secure form, not an email thread.

Out of hours, weekends and holidays

Out-of-hours replies need the day and time a person is back, and, for trades with emergencies, the route that answers tonight:

• Weekend: "Thanks for your message. The office is closed for the weekend, and we will reply by 10am on Monday. For a gas leak, call the gas emergency line. For a burst pipe, call our out-of-hours number on our website."
• Holiday: "Thanks for your message. We are closed from Friday the 23rd and back on Tuesday the 3rd, when we will reply in the order messages arrived. Existing bookings are not affected."

Set a reminder to switch the holiday version off. An auto-reply that says you are away when you are not costs you enquiries without anyone noticing.

What happens after the auto-reply

The auto-reply made a promise, so the first reply from a person has to arrive by that time and pick up from where the customer left off. Open with their name and their question, answer it, and ask one thing if you need it. If the enquiry is going to take longer, say so before the promised time passes.

We set this up as part of automation: the reply goes out at once in the owner's own words, the enquiry lands with the right person, and anyone who has not had a reply by the promised time shows up on a list for the owner. Messages that need a judgement wait for a person.

Mistakes that make an auto-reply worse than none

• Sending from a no-reply address, so a customer's answer bounces.
• Promising "as soon as possible", or a time nobody keeps.
• Copying the customer's whole message into the confirmation. Bots fill in forms with links and junk, and a confirmation that repeats their text sends it to whatever address they typed. Stopping contact form spam explains this.
• Adding offers or a newsletter sign-up. That turns a reply into marketing, which in many places needs the person's permission.
• A holiday reply left on after the holiday.
• Two auto-replies to one message, one from the form and one from the inbox.
• Health or legal questions answered in the automatic text.

Test it like a customer

• Send an enquiry from a personal Gmail address and from an Outlook address, and check both inboxes, including spam.
• Send one at 9pm and one at the weekend, and check the out-of-hours version arrives.
• Reply to the auto-reply and see where your reply lands.
• Read it on a phone. If the reply time is not visible without scrolling, move it up.
• Message your Instagram account from a personal account and read what comes back.

Do it again after any change to your form, your inbox or your opening hours.