What you'll get
- 3 copy-ready blocks
- 2 tables
- 8 min read
- Sort the replies
- Draft an answer
- Log the reply
How to use it
- Step 1: Read the six routes in the reply handling playbook, or keep them to hand. The prompts use the same six.
- Step 2: Remove email addresses and phone numbers from the replies before you paste them (Part 1).
- Step 3: Run the sorting prompt in Part 2 on one week of replies.
- Step 4: Draft answers with Part 3 only for the replies the sort marked as clear.
- Step 5: Log each reply with Part 4, then follow the ten-minute routine in Part 5.
Replies are what outbound exists to produce, and a busy week buries them. This pack gives you three prompts that do the slow part: reading each reply, putting it in the right pile, drafting a first answer and writing down what the reply tells you. A person still checks every draft and sends every message. The assistant never sends anything and never decides when someone is asking you to stop.
Part 1: Before you paste anything
Replies are messages from real people. Treat them with care.
- Take out email addresses, phone numbers and signatures. The assistant does not need them to sort a reply.
- Give each reply a short ID and the account name. "R1, Northfield Logistics" is enough.
- Check what your tool does with the text you paste, using your plan's current help. If you are unsure, sort by hand.
- Anyone who has asked you to stop is handled by a person, today, before any prompt is run. Add them to your suppression list first.
Part 2: The sorting prompt
Paste the prompt, then the replies under it, one after another, each with its ID.
Sort the replies
You are helping me sort replies to my outbound emails and messages. I sell [what you sell] to [who buys it].
Below are replies, each with an ID and an account name. For each one, give me a table row with:
ID | Account | Route | The words that decided it | Clear or Unclear
Routes
1 Yes: they want to talk.
2 Maybe: they ask for more information.
3 Not now: they say later, or name a time.
4 No: they decline.
5 Referral: they point to someone else.
6 Stop: they ask us to stop, or they are angry.
A Automatic: out of office, bounce or auto reply.
Rules
1. Use only the words in the reply. Do not guess what a person meant beyond them.
2. In "The words that decided it", quote the exact words. Keep the quote short.
3. If a reply fits two routes, or you are not sure, mark it Unclear and name the two routes.
4. Any reply that mentions stopping, removing, unsubscribing, legal or data protection is route 6, whatever else it says.
5. If a reply names a date or a person, copy it exactly into the quote. Do not change it.
6. Do not write replies. Sorting only.
Replies:
[Paste the replies here]Rule 4 is the one that matters most. A wrongly sorted "no" costs a week. A wrongly sorted "stop" costs trust.
Part 3: The drafting prompt
Use this for one reply at a time, and only when the sort marked it Clear. Paste the reply, its route and, if you have it, the last message you sent.
Draft an answer
Draft a reply for me to review. I will edit it and send it myself.
Route: [1 to 5]
Their reply: [paste the reply]
My last message: [paste it, or write "none"]
What I can offer: [one line, for example "20 minutes on Thursday or Friday morning"]
Rules
1. Use British spelling and plain words. No more than 80 words.
2. Answer what they asked and nothing else. Do not pitch.
3. For route 1, offer two times from "What I can offer". For route 2, ask which one question they most want answered. For route 3, thank them, name the month they gave and promise silence until then. For route 4, thank them and close. For route 5, thank them and offer a short note they can forward.
4. Do not invent facts, figures, customer names or results. If a fact is missing, write [ADD: what is missing] and stop.
5. Do not promise a number of meetings or any result.
6. No exclamation marks.Read the draft aloud. If it sounds like a form letter, rewrite the first line in your own words.
Part 4: The log prompt
A reply tells you more than its route. This prompt turns it into one line for your account notes.
Log the reply
From the reply below, give me one log line with four parts:
Account | Route | What they actually said (a short quote) | Next action, with a date.
Also list, as separate lines, anything the reply tells us about the account:
- Timing: any month, quarter or event they mention.
- People: any name or job title they mention.
- Reason: any reason they give for a no or a not now.
Use only the words in the reply. If a part is not in the reply, write "Not said".
Reply: [paste the reply]
Today's date: [date]"Not said" matters. Without it the assistant will fill the gap with a sensible guess, and your notes will start recording things nobody said.
Part 5: What the assistant never decides, and a ten-minute routine
Keep this list where the team can see it.
| Never left to the assistant | Why |
|---|---|
| Whether someone has asked to stop | A person reads it and suppresses the whole account |
| Sending anything | A person sends every message |
| The tone for a Tier 1 account | You know the history, it does not |
| What a vague reply really means | Ask the person a clear question instead |
| Dates and names | A person checks them against the reply |
The routine, for a Monday morning:
- Strip the personal details and paste the week's replies into the sorting prompt. (2 minutes)
- Read the table. Fix any route you disagree with. Handle every route 6 first. (3 minutes)
- Draft answers for the clear replies. Edit each one and send it. (4 minutes)
- Log the week with the log prompt and add the lines to your account notes. (1 minute)
If a week has more replies than that, the routine still holds. Only the minutes change.
Worked example (illustrative, not a real company)
Quaywise sells warehouse software. Sam Carter pastes five replies from the week into the sorting prompt, with email addresses removed. All names and replies are invented.
| ID | Account | Route | The words that decided it | Sam's check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Northfield Logistics | 1 | "Happy to talk, Thursday?" | Agrees. Answers the same morning |
| R2 | Calder Cold Chain | 3 | "Come back after the January audit" | Agrees. Diary note for February |
| R3 | A third account | A | "I am out of office until Monday" | Agrees. No answer needed |
| R4 | A fourth account | 5 | "Dana Whitfield handles this" | Agrees. Adds Dana to the thread log |
| R5 | A fifth account | 6 | "Please remove me from your list" | Suppressed before anything else was run |
Sam worked on R5 first and removed the whole account. He drafted answers for R1, R2 and R4, changed one opening line in each and sent them himself. The log lines for R2 and R4 went into the account notes with the dates.
Five mistakes to avoid
- Pasting contact details. The assistant does not need them to sort a reply, so do not give them.
- Letting the assistant judge a stop request. One line in the prompt flags it, then a person reads it. Do not skip the person.
- Sending the draft as it comes. A draft is a first pass. The reader on the other side is a senior person who knows your last message.
- Sorting without the quote. If the table does not show the words that decided the route, you cannot check it in seconds.
- Treating the sort as the whole job. The reply is the start of a conversation. The log and the next action are what move the account.
Why this works on named accounts
Common questions
Can AI answer replies for me automatically?
The prompts here do not do that, and we would not advise it for named accounts. Each reply comes from a person at a company you chose. A person should read it and send the answer.
How accurate is the sorting?
It varies with the tool and the replies, and we do not give a figure. That is why the prompt asks for the quote that decided each route and a Clear or Unclear label. Check the Unclear rows by hand and spot check the clear ones for the first few weeks.
Does this work for LinkedIn and call notes?
Yes for LinkedIn replies, which are text. For calls, type two lines of what was said and sort those. The same six routes apply.
More from the Academy
Reply-Handling Playbook
For teams that work hard for replies and then improvise with them.
You leave with a six-route sorting rule, a script per route, a one-working-day standard and the log that stops good replies dying in the inbox.
Fact-Check AI Research Prompts
For anyone who sends AI-researched claims to real buyers.
You leave with three prompts (extract the claims, demand the sources, cross-examine the brief), the risk tiers and a five-minute routine per account.
Sales Objection Bank
For sellers who hear the same objections weekly and improvise every time.
You leave with 25 objections in six groups, a plain reply for each and the three-step pattern that makes any reply work.
Outbound Cadence Planner
Turn the 17-day pattern into a dated touch calendar for one account, on the buyer's working days. Runs in your browser.
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