The first reply to a new inquiry decides more than the proposal does. Reply the same day with a real answer and you are the professional one; reply on Thursday and you are the one they had forgotten. Owners search for "how to respond to new client inquiries email" because they know this, and because the inbox does not care.
Here are the templates for the two inquiries that matter most, a routine that makes same-day the default, and the two Library starters that draft the replies for you.
The routine
- Twice a day, inquiries first. Ten minutes at the start and the end of the day, before anything else.
- Every inquiry gets a reply today, even if the answer is "I have your request and will send a price by Thursday."
- Log it before you reply. A row in your leads sheet, so nothing exists only in the inbox.
- Ask for the next step in the reply. A call, a date, a visit. An answer with no next step is a dead end.
Template: a service inquiry (agencies, consultants)
Subject: Re: New website and monthly SEO
Hi Jordan, thanks for getting in touch. A new site plus monthly SEO for a three-person consultancy is squarely what we do, and your budget and timing are a good fit. Could we find 20 minutes this week for a call so I can hear what the site needs to do for you? Wednesday afternoon or Friday morning work on our side.
Template: a date inquiry (venues and event vendors)
Subject: Re: Saturday, November 14 for your reception
Hi Grace, congratulations, and thank you for thinking of us. Saturday, November 14 is available, and I have put a hold on it for you for the next 7 days while you decide. For 120 guests the main hall seats comfortably. Would you like to come and see it? We can show it most weekday evenings and Saturday mornings.
Check the date before you reply. A "let me check and get back to you" is the reply couples wait a week for and then book elsewhere.
Template: a graceful no
Hi Sam, thanks for reaching out. Fixing an ads account by Friday is not something we can take on well, so rather than do it badly I would point you to a specialist. If a longer-term project comes up, we would be glad to talk.
Tensor drafts the reply and logs the inquiry
Two Library starters do the logging and the drafting; every send is yours.
Log new leads and draft a reply (agencies): logs each new client inquiry in your leads sheet and drafts a reply that asks for a short call. Hand it the request, or turn on Start from new email so new inquiries start it within about a minute. The row carries the name, company, contact, what they asked for and the budget and timing it can read; the draft waits in your Gmail, in your words, ready to send the same day.
Answer event date inquiries (venues and vendors): checks your calendar for each date inquiry, holds a free date for 7 days and drafts the reply. It reads the requested date on your Google Calendar and adds one all-day hold when it is free; existing events stay unchanged. The draft, with the date already checked, waits in your mailbox. Nothing is sent by Tensor.
In both, the row and the draft are proposed for your OK until you set limits; then you read the draft, change a word, and send, which is what makes the same-day reply yours rather than a robot's. Every run leaves a receipt: the inquiry it read, the row or hold it wrote and read back, the draft it made.
What the starters do not do: quote a price you have not given them, promise a date without checking, or answer the phone. They work in Gmail, Google Sheets and Google Calendar today; Microsoft 365 comes later.
Where to start
- Tensor for marketing and B2B agencies and Tensor for event venues and vendors.
- Try it live: a sample inquiry answered on sample data, approved by you.
- Plans from $149 a month.
Related reading
- How to keep track of leads: a free Google Sheets lead tracker
- Lead follow-up that never goes quiet
- How to follow up on a proposal without nagging
See it in a demo
Watch Tensor read a sample inquiry, draft the reply and wait for your OK.