How to answer a reply to your email to a business

Read what they actually wrote

When a business replies to your first email it's tempting to send back everything at once, from the price list to a booking link. Read their reply twice first. Most replies ask one thing or tell you one thing, and the answer that works is the one that deals with that and stops. A property manager who writes "Do you do bond cleans in Redbank Plains?" wants to know whether you do bond cleans in Redbank Plains.

Replies tend to fall into a handful of kinds, and below are short example answers to each from made-up businesses. If you're still waiting for anyone to write back, our guide on following up a business email covers that part.

How fast to answer

Answer the same business day if you possibly can, and within an hour or two if the reply arrived during working hours. The person wrote back while your email was in front of them and they had a reason to think about you. By tomorrow they've moved on to the next thing, and an office manager who asked three cleaners the same question will often go with whoever answered first and answered sensibly.

That doesn't mean typing a proper answer with your thumbs from the top of a ladder. If you can't reply properly straight away, send one line saying when you will ("Thanks Jo, I'm on a job until three and I'll come back to you this afternoon") and then do it.

Interested, or a question

An interested reply nearly always comes with a question attached. They want to know if you cover their area, if you're insured, if you can work after hours or how soon you could start. Answer that question in your first sentence and in plain words. Then add the one thing they didn't ask but will need, and finish with a next step.

Here's a made-up commercial cleaner in Ipswich answering an office manager who asked whether they clean after hours, because the office can't have cleaners in during the day.

Hi Lauren,

Yes, nearly all our office work is after hours. Most of our clients have us in between 6pm and 9pm on weekdays, and we look after keys and alarm codes the same way your current cleaner would.

I'd want to see the office before I put a number on it. Would Tuesday at 5.30pm or Thursday at 7.30am suit for a 15 minute walk-through?

Thanks,
Priya

The answer is in the first word and it deals with the worry behind the question, which is who holds the keys. If they ask for your insurance or licence, send it that day. Our guide to the insurance and licences business clients ask for lists what usually comes up.

Suggest a time instead of sending a link

When someone sounds keen, the natural move is to send a booking link and wait. It feels efficient but it hands the work back to them, because now they have to click through, look at a calendar, pick a slot, type in their details and confirm. A busy person means to do that later and then forgets, and you're left wondering if you should chase.

Two specific times do the work for them. "Would Tuesday at 10 or Wednesday at 2 suit for a ten minute call?" can be answered in one word, and it makes the call feel small and real. Pick times that fit their kind of work. A property manager is often out at inspections in the morning, while a builder's site supervisor is easier to catch early before the site gets going. Once a time is agreed, send a short confirmation with the day, the time, who is ringing whom and your mobile number. If a visit makes more sense than a call, offer it the same way, and our guide to a first meeting with a business client covers what to do once you're there.

When they ask for a price

A price question is a good sign, but plenty of promising conversations go cold right here. Send a bare number and they compare it with what they pay now and that's the end of it. Refuse to give any idea at all and they assume you're either expensive or slippery.

The honest middle is a range taken from real jobs you've done, what moves it up or down, and an offer to firm it up after a look. Only give a range you would actually stand behind. Here's a made-up painter writing to a strata manager who asked roughly what a stairwell repaint costs, with brackets where your own figures go.

Hi Mark,

For a three-storey walk-up with two stairwells, our recent jobs have come in between [your lowest recent price] and [your highest] plus GST. Where it lands depends mostly on how much patching the walls need and whether the handrails are included.

I can give you a fixed price after a 20 minute look. Would Monday morning or Wednesday afternoon suit to meet on site?

Thanks,
Sam

For bigger commercial jobs, our guide on quoting for commercial work goes through building the quote itself.

"Send me more info"

This can be real interest or a polite way to close the conversation, and either way a brochure is the wrong answer. Write a short email that answers the questions people in their role usually ask, then ask one question back that tells you which kind of "more info" it was.

Hi Anna,

Happy to. We look after the grounds at a dozen or so complexes around Toowoomba on a fortnightly or monthly visit. Every visit ends with a short report and photos you can pass on to the committee, and our insurance certificate is attached.

Which of your complexes did you have in mind? If you tell me which one, I can say how often it would need us and roughly what that costs.

Thanks,
Ben

If they answer the question, it was real interest. If they don't, you've lost nothing and you can let it rest.

"Not right now" and "we already have someone"

"Not right now" usually means exactly that. Thank them and ask whether you can get in touch again at a particular time, and only write then if they say yes. Put the date in your diary so it actually happens.

Thanks Raj, that makes sense. Would it be all right if I got in touch again in February, before the end-of-lease rush?

Tom

"We already have someone" is common and it isn't a no forever. Their regular contractor will be booked out, sick or on holidays at some point. Don't say a word against whoever they use. Ask to be the name they try when that happens, and then leave it.

Good to hear you're well looked after, Claire. If your usual electrician is ever booked out, I'd be glad to be the one you try next. I can usually get to Albion within a day.

Tom

"Who are you, and how did you get my email?"

Answer this one plainly and without getting defensive. Say who you are, where you found their address and why you thought they'd want to hear from you, and then offer to stop.

Hi Nikki, fair question. I'm Dave, and I run a two-person locksmith business in Springwood. I found the maintenance address on the contact page of your agency's website and wrote because I do a lot of rekeying between tenancies. If you'd rather not hear from me, just say so and I'll take you off my list.

You need a true answer ready. Under section 16 of the Spam Act 2003 it's the sender who has to point to consent, and ACMA's guidance puts it simply: "it's up to you to prove that you have a person's consent." For most first emails to a business, that consent comes from an address the business published itself and an email relevant to its work, which our guide on whether cold emailing is legal in Australia explains. Keep a note of where you found each address. If you can't say where one came from, stop using it.

"No thanks" and "remove me"

A "no thanks" gets one light line back and nothing more. Don't pitch again or ask why, and don't make a speech about never writing again.

No worries at all, thanks for letting me know.

Priya

A request to stop is different, because the law puts a deadline on it. Section 18 of the Spam Act requires every commercial email to carry a working way to unsubscribe. Under clause 6 of Schedule 2, a withdrawal of consent takes effect at the end of 5 business days from the day they sent it, and ACMA's guidance says an unsubscribe request must be honoured within 5 working days. Treat any wording as a request to stop, whether it says "remove me", "unsubscribe", "please don't email" or "not interested, take us off your list". Do it the same day rather than leaning on the five days, and put the address on a do-not-contact list so it doesn't turn up in a later batch.

You don't have to reply to an unsubscribe. If you do, keep it to one line confirming it's done and don't slip another offer into it, because ACMA warns that messages sent to win back people who have withdrawn their consent can breach the spam rules.

Keep your details on every reply

A reply that talks about your services is still a commercial message, so leave your full signature and your unsubscribe line on it. Section 17 of the Act requires the message to identify who authorised it and how to contact them, and ACMA asks for your correct legal business name or your name and ABN. Our guide on what to put in a business email signature covers the rest. Curlew answers replies like these in your business name and passes anyone interested to you with the whole thread, if keeping up with replies between jobs is the hard part.