In this article
A greeting is an automatic reply sent the first time somebody writes to you. You choose who gets it, and after how long a silence a returning customer counts as new again.
It has one job: to answer instantly when you cannot, without pretending to be you.
What you will be able to do
- check_circle Send an automatic first reply to new enquiries.
- check_circle Keep it away from friends and existing customers.
- check_circle Set the silence after which it fires again.
- check_circle Write one that does not annoy anybody.
The greeting fires on an inbound first message, and only on one.
waving_hand Buy time, honestly
Somebody writing to a business for the first time wants to know two things: that the message arrived somewhere real, and roughly when a person will answer. A greeting can give both in one line and nothing else it says matters as much.
Which is why the usual version fails. "Thank you for your message, we value your enquiry" answers neither question, and the customer now knows a machine replied and a person did not. Silence would have cost less.
A good one names a time. "Thanks — this is an automatic reply. I read messages between nine and six and will answer today." That is honest about being automatic, sets an expectation, and buys you the hours you actually need.
Four settings
The third one is the setting nobody notices until it misfires.
edit Three sentences at most
group Narrow it deliberately
history_toggle_off When a customer is new again
attach_file A price list, once
Admit it is automatic, name the hour a person answers, and ask for the one detail you always need.
settings Setting one up
- Open greeting messages in the business settings Separate from away messages.
- Write three sentences Automatic, when you answer, what to include.
- Set the audience to non-contacts And exclude regulars you have saved.
- Choose the silence period By your own customer cycle.
- Attach a price list if you have one And keep it current.
- Message yourself from another account To see what a customer actually gets.
This page answers the first message automatically. The curriculum step is what comes after volume grows: routing enquiries, keeping a history per customer, and the point at which a bot handles what a greeting cannot.
At a glance
- 1Greeting message
Auto-reply to first-time messages.
- 2Exclude contacts
Don't greet friends and existing customers.
- 3Be honest
Say it is automatic and when a person will reply.
Updated
