Write an auto-reply that confirms what was received, names a response time you can actually meet, says what happens next and gives a number for urgent jobs. Then put someone in charge of meeting that promise.

Thank you, we will be in touch

Someone fills in your quote form at nine on a Monday evening. Within seconds an email arrives: thank you for contacting us, we will be in touch shortly.

Then nothing until Thursday, when someone in the office works through the week's requests.

By Thursday the customer has phoned two other companies, one of which answered, and the job is booked.

The auto-reply did its narrow job. It proved the form worked. It also made a promise, shortly, that nobody had agreed to keep.

What a useful auto-reply says

The second is the one most replies leave out. Shortly means an hour to some customers and a week to others, and the business is judged against whichever the customer assumed.

Set a response time you can meet

The promise should come from how the business actually works, not from how it would like to.

If quotes are written by the owner after the day's jobs, the honest promise may be a reply on the following working day. If someone checks the inbox at ten every morning, it may be the same morning.

Write the time as the customer will read it: by noon tomorrow, within one working day, on Monday for requests sent at the weekend.

A modest promise kept every time does more for trust than a fast one kept on good days.

Change the reply when the business is closed or short-handed: holidays, the week between Christmas and New Year, a week when the only estimator is away.

A promise of one working day means little if nobody is in for five.

Say what happens next

Many quote requests stall because the customer does not know what they are waiting for.

Tell them. Someone will call to ask a few questions. Or a price will come by email for straightforward jobs, and a visit will be booked for larger ones.

If you will need something from them, such as measurements, photographs or access to a building, ask in the auto-reply so they can gather it before you call.

A worked example

A piano mover with two trucks and a crew of four moves uprights and grands between homes, schools and churches, often up stairs that general movers decline.

Its website form sent an automatic reply that said only thank you and we will be in touch. The owner wrote every quote, usually two or three days later, after the day's moves.

Customers moving house at short notice did not wait. Several who did wait phoned to ask whether the form had worked, despite the reply.

The new auto-reply promises a call with a quote within one working day, says that moves in the next three days should be booked by phone, and gives the number.

It also asks for the two things the price depends on: the number of steps at each end and a photograph of the piano where it stands.

The office manager now quotes standard moves the same day from the owner's rate sheet, and passes only the awkward ones to the owner.

Meeting the promise

An auto-reply that promises a time is a commitment, so somebody has to own it.

Name the person who checks quote requests and when, and name who covers when they are away. A shared inbox that everyone can see and nobody is responsible for is where requests go to wait.

Check at fixed times, at least twice a day. Requests that arrive in the evening deserve an answer first thing in the morning, while the customer is still deciding.

And when the full answer will take longer, say so within the promised time. A short message saying the job needs a site visit, with a proposed day, is still an answer.

Keep a simple record of when each request arrived and when it was answered. A month of those two columns shows whether the promise is being kept, and which days it slips.

The page after the form

The confirmation page that appears after someone presses send should say what the auto-reply says.

Some people never see the email: it lands in a spam folder, or they mistyped their address. The page is the one message everybody reads.

Put the response time, the next step and the phone number there too, in type large enough to read on a phone.

Check that it arrives

Auto-replies are often set up once and never looked at again. Fill in your own form every few months, from a Gmail address and from a work address.

Check that the reply arrives, that it stays out of spam, that the details are copied correctly and that the phone number and response time are still true.

Give it a plain subject line, such as the business name and the words quote request received, so it is easy to find later and is not mistaken for a newsletter.

An auto-reply still promising an answer within the hour from someone who left last spring is a promise nobody is keeping.

The counter-case

A business that answers every request within minutes, because someone is always at the desk, needs only a short confirmation. The real reply does the rest.

Some trades get requests so varied that no single next step fits. Then the auto-reply should promise only the time and the call, and leave the rest to the conversation.

And an auto-reply can be too long. Five paragraphs of company history before the response time will not be read.

For most businesses, a few plain lines with a real time, a next step and a number, followed by a reply that keeps the promise, are what the form needs.

Rewrite it this week

  1. Read your current auto-reply as a customer would.
  2. Replace shortly with a real response time.
  3. Say what happens next in one sentence.
  4. Name who checks requests and when.
  5. Add the phone number for urgent jobs.
  6. Match the confirmation page to the email.
  7. Test the form every few months.

Step four is what makes the rest true. The wording costs nothing to change, but the promise only holds if one named person checks the requests at set times and someone else covers when they cannot.

What the form itself should ask for is covered in a quote form that asks for photos.

Frequently asked questions

What should a quote auto-reply say?

What was received, when the customer will hear back as a real time, how, what happens next, a phone number for urgent jobs, and who will reply.

Why is shortly a problem in an auto-reply?

Because customers read shortly differently, from an hour to a week. The business is judged against whatever the customer assumed, so name a real time instead.

How fast should I promise to reply?

As fast as the business can manage every time, not on good days. A modest promise kept consistently builds more trust than a fast one sometimes broken.

Who should check the quote requests?

One named person at fixed times each day, with someone else named to cover when they are away. A shared inbox with no owner is where requests wait.

Should the confirmation page repeat the auto-reply?

Yes. Some people never see the email because it lands in spam or they mistyped their address, so the page should carry the response time, next step and number.

How often should I test the auto-reply?

Every few months, from a Gmail address and a work address, checking that it arrives, stays out of spam and still promises things that are true.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Auto-reply still says we will be in touch?

Send it to us. We will rewrite it around a response time your business can keep.

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