First reply standard
Who replies to a new inquiry, how fast and with which words.
See it in use
A three-minute walkthrough. Alex, a first-time sales manager, fills in the Checklist and notes on a real situation with the team, then we see what changes a week later.
The story and the numbers are fictional training examples. Images and voices are AI-generated. Watch on YouTube
Nobody owns the first reply to a new inquiry, so answers come late, differ from person to person, or never come
Use it when: Inquiries arrive in several places and you cannot say who answers, how fast, or with which words.
Who it fits
If you still sell and inquiries reach you through the website form, a messenger, email and missed calls, try a quick test. Say who answers each channel, how fast, and with which words. If you cannot, start here.
The standard has four parts: reply time, owner, what the reply says, and a record. Leave one of them unwritten and the other three stop working.
It deals with new inquiries only. Deals that already sit in the pipeline and do not move are a job for Pipeline review in 45 minutes. And if you answer every inquiry yourself, quickly, and nothing gets lost, the written standard can wait.
How to use it in the first week
The first step needs 15 minutes. Do it on Monday if the week allows. In chapter 2, list your channels and give each one a reply time you can keep every time, busy days included. The times in the standard are starting values, so adjust them to your business.
While you are at it, switch on an auto-reply from one of the templates. Keep it, but do not count it: a first reply has to come from a person.
Over the next day or two, say by Wednesday, name an owner and a backup for every channel and copy those decisions into the First reply policy in Word.
Begin the Weekly control checklist on day one. On Friday, read off it the share of inquiries answered on time.
Look inside
REAL PAGES, ENGLISH EDITION
What you download
EXACT PACKAGE LIST| File | Format |
|---|---|
| Start here Which file to open first. | PDF · 1 p |
| The standard The rules and the reasons behind them, in plain language. | PDF · 22 p |
| First reply policy An editable policy to adopt as your own. | DOCX |
| First reply templates Ready messages for typical inquiries. | XLSX |
| Weekly control checklist A short check that the standard is followed. | XLSX |
Questions
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