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Follow up on an inquiry

Assign the response, name a real next action, and close the loop once it's answered.

Updated September 29, 2026 3 min read

A customer question can remain unanswered when nobody owns the response. Use this workflow to read the request, assign a clear next action and confirm the result, keeping the conversation and commitment visible to the team.

Conversations, the source context for a customer follow-up in the fictional Northline Roofing workspace.
Conversations, the source context for a customer follow-up. The real interface uses fictional demo data in this image; follow the steps below in your own workspace. Select the image to view it full size.

Record the next action

  1. Open the inquiry

    Find it in Leads and chat, or its thread in Conversations.

  2. Read what's already happened

    Read the latest message and check whether anyone has already replied, so you're not duplicating a response.

  3. Assign it, with a date

    Assign responsibility for the response and record a due date on the relevant task or opportunity.

  4. Write a real next action

    "Send the revised estimate to Lee by Thursday" tells the next person exactly what to do. "Follow up" does not.

Respond and verify

Prepare the reply using the customer's actual request and the business records linked to them, checking recipients, commitments, prices, and dates before you send it. Replying covers the send itself; check the resulting status afterward to confirm it went.

If the full answer will take longer, tell the customer what you're checking and roughly when you'll respond, and record that commitment so it shows up in the team's own work queue rather than only in your head.

For a Gmail draft prepared by the assistant, review the linked conversation, the saved contact address and the exact wording before approving it. Approval saves an unsent draft in Gmail. Open Gmail to review and send it yourself. The follow-up stays open with a next check until synchronization confirms the send and, later, the customer's reply.

Reviewing what's still open

Use Today to see due tasks and waiting decisions across the team. After a reply or a meeting, update the next action: close the task once the promised work is done, or record a new date and reason when it changes.

What to check

  • If delivery is uncertain, inspect the action result before sending anything again.
  • Draft preparation checks the saved contact address and communication status. Resolve a changed address or suppressed contact before requesting a new draft.
  • If the person has declined or asked to stop, record that decision and apply your workspace's stop controls before any further outreach.