Work
AI automation for customer replies
Groups the questions customers already asked and turns them into replies you edit and send yourself.
Level: Augment.
Trigger
When a customer asks something you have answered before
Setup
about 25 min (estimate)
Before you start
- An AI chat — https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-custom-instructions
- Gmail templates — https://support.google.com/mail/answer/14864208
Steps
Copy the questions, not the identities
Take recent customer messages. Delete names, addresses, order numbers, and anything that looks like a payment detail.
Group only what you pasted
Paste the cleaned messages. Custom instructions: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-custom-instructions
Group the customer messages I paste into the questions they actually ask. Count how many messages sit in each group. Ignore a topic that is not in the paste. Do not write a reply yet. Do not invent an order status.
Write replies in your voice
For the groups you recognise, ask for a short reply you would actually send. Edit anything that promises a date or a refund you do not offer.
Write a short reply for each group I keep. Use plain sentences. Do not promise a refund, a date, or a replacement I did not mention. Leave a blank where I need to add the detail. Do not tell me to send it.
Save them where you reply
Turn on Gmail templates and save each reply you edited. Do not turn on a filter that sends a template by itself. Templates: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/14864208
Send it yourself
When a matching question arrives, insert the template, fill the blank, read it, and send it. A complaint about safety or money stays out of the template.
Add a question that came back
Once a month, paste the new questions that the templates did not cover. Add one template only if the question showed up more than once.
Example output
From the messages you pasted - Shipping time. Eight messages. - How to return an item. Five messages. - A stain after washing. Two messages. Template, shipping: We post on the weekday after you order. You will get a message when it leaves. Not sent. You still press send.
Power move
Paste the questions people already sent. The groups come from those messages. A question that was not in the paste does not get a template.
What to check
- Every template answers a question that was in the messages you pasted.
- Names, addresses, and payment details were removed first.
- Nothing was sent by the chat, and you can still edit the template.
What it can't do
It does not send the reply, take a payment, or issue a refund. Remove names, addresses, order numbers, and payment details before you paste. You read every reply before you save it. A safety complaint is yours to handle, not the template's.
Privacy
Paste only the text a chat tool needs. Leave out passwords, account numbers, and identity numbers. The steps link to each tool's own help page when a setting matters.