A Lead Replied — What Do I Do Next?

A reply arrived. Swokei has classified it and stopped further follow-ups. Now it's your move. Here's what to do depending on the type of reply, with templates for common scenarios.

First, check the reply in Inbox

Go to "Inbox" in the sidebar. Unread replies are highlighted. Click on the reply to open the full thread. In the right-side CRM panel, you'll see Swokei's classification: Interested, Not interested, Question, Auto-reply, or Unsubscribe. If the classification is wrong, click the dropdown and correct it.

If they're interested: responding quickly matters

Interest fades. Reply within hours if possible. Here's how to handle the most common questions:

"Tell me more" or "What does this involve?"

Keep it short and specific, not a brochure:

"How much does this cost?"

Give a range, not a fixed quote. Committing to a number before understanding scope underprices you:

"When can you start?" or "Let's book a call"

Make it frictionless with a calendar link or two specific times:

After the first exchange: document it in CRM

Once you've had your first real conversation, record it in Swokei so you have a complete history:

1. In the reply view, look at the CRM panel on the right.
2. Set the Deal stage dropdown — "Call booked" if you've scheduled something, "Proposal sent" if you're sending a quote, "Contacted" if you're still early.
3. Type notes about the conversation in the Notes field — what they said, their budget, timeline, concerns.
4. If you discussed a rough figure, enter it in the Deal value field.
5. If a call is booked, click "Add meeting", fill in title/date/time/link, and click "Save meeting".

Everything saves automatically. You'll find this lead later in the CRM view with full context intact.

If they asked a question (engaged but not committed)

A question reply means they're interested enough to engage but haven't decided. Answer their specific question directly and propose one next step:

Then set the deal stage to "Contacted" and add a note with what they asked so you remember the context later.

If they're not interested

Reply graciously with no pushback or hard sell:

Then in Swokei, verify the classification is set to "Not interested" and click "Mark as answered" to clear it from your active inbox. No further action needed — Swokei has already stopped follow-ups.

If it's an auto-reply (out of office)

Read the auto-reply to see when they're back. Add a note: "Out of office until [date] — follow up when they return." If the follow-up sequence hasn't finished, let it continue and they'll get the next email when they're back. If the sequence is done, set a reminder in your calendar to manually check in when they return. Mark the reply as answered to clear it from your inbox.

If they asked to unsubscribe

Swokei auto-stops follow-ups on unsubscribe requests. Verify the classification shows "Unsubscribe", then reply politely: "Of course — no problem at all. You won't hear from me again." Mark as answered.

Ambiguous replies and what they usually mean

If Swokei marks a reply as Unclassified, read carefully and set the classification yourself. Common ambiguous replies and how to interpret them:

• "Who are you?" — Treat as Interested. They engaged and want context.
• "We already have someone for that" — Not interested. Move on.
• "Can you send more info?" — Interested. Respond quickly.
• "How much does this cost?" — Interested. They're evaluating, not rejecting.
• "Not right now" — Not interested. Treat as No, but consider re-targeting in 6 months.

Replies to old emails in the sequence

Swokei syncs replies regardless of which email triggered them. Whether they reply to your initial email or a follow-up from weeks ago, it appears in the same reply thread in Inbox. Handle it exactly the same way — the reply is the signal, not which email in the sequence prompted it.