Zapier Silver Solution Partner, based in Bury
Example Zapier workflow: enquiry to drafted reply
In short: this example Zap uses AI by Zapier to sort each new enquiry in Gmail, log it in a Google Sheet and save a draft reply. The owner reads every draft and presses Send. Complaints get no draft.
The story
Example workflow, not a client job. Picture a small plumbing and heating firm in Bury. The owner is on a job all day, and new enquiries land in Gmail between calls: a boiler service request, a quote for a new bathroom, an unhappy customer, and a pile of spam. Replies often wait until the evening, and by then, some may have rung someone else. Nothing reaches a customer until a person has read it. With this workflow, each new email is read and sorted soon after it arrives: an AI step (AI by Zapier) decides which type of email it is. New jobs and quote requests are logged in a Google Sheet (an online spreadsheet), and a polite reply is written and saved as a Gmail draft, with a Calendly link (an online booking link) where it fits. The owner gets a short alert by text, email or Slack (a team chat app), whichever they already use, with a summary and a link to the draft. They check it and press Send. Emails sorted as complaints never get an automatic draft: they go straight to the owner. Spam is labelled and ignored.
The steps
Trigger
- A new email arrives in Gmail and gets the label "Enquiries" (a Gmail label is a tag on an email; a Gmail filter adds it to mail sent to the contact address). The Zap (an automated workflow in Zapier) checks for new mail on a timer and starts soon after.
Agent decisions (the AI step: AI by Zapier, or a Zapier Agent)
- The AI step decides which type of email it is: new job, quote request, complaint or spam. If it is not sure, it marks the email "needs a person" and treats it like a complaint.
- It pulls out the details: name, email, phone, postcode, what the job is, how urgent.
Actions
- Spam: add a "Spam - checked" label in Gmail. No reply, no alert. Logged in the Sheet with type only, so the owner can spot mistakes.
- Complaint or needs a person: add a row to the Google Sheet (or a Zapier Table, a simple database inside Zapier), and send the owner an alert. No draft reply is written. A person handles every email sorted as a complaint.
- New job: add a row to the Sheet. Write a reply that thanks the customer, confirms what they asked for, and offers a Calendly link to book a visit.
- Quote request: add a row to the Sheet. Write a reply that asks for the details needed to quote (photos, postcode, timescale).
- Save the reply as a Gmail draft in the same thread. It is not sent.
- Send the owner an alert with the type, a short summary and a link to the draft. The owner picks one: Slack (a team chat app), a text message (SMS by Zapier, to the owner's own confirmed UK mobile), or an email to the owner's own address (Gmail).
Human check (before ANY customer email)
- The owner reads the draft in Gmail, edits it if needed, and presses Send. If the sort or the draft is wrong, the owner deletes the draft and replies by hand. The workflow never sends an email to a customer by itself.
Optional extras (only if the client wants them)
- A Trello card (a card on an online task board) for each new job.
- A simple Zapier Interface (a basic web page built in Zapier) that shows the day's enquiries from the Table.
Diagram
Zap starts soon after
and pulls out the details
AI by Zapier / Zapier Agents
Spam ↓
Logged in Sheet, type only
No reply, no alert
Complaint, or not sure: needs a person ↓
Alert to owner: Slack, text or email
No draft - a person handles it
New job ↓
Reply written with Calendly booking link
Quote request ↓
Reply written asking for photos,
postcode and timescale
summary + link to draft
owner reads and edits the draft
Approve ↓
Wrong ↓
Questions
Does it send emails to customers by itself?
No. Each reply is saved as a Gmail draft. The owner reads it, edits it if needed, and presses Send.
What happens to a complaint?
Emails sorted as complaints never get an automatic draft. They go straight to the owner. If the AI step is not sure, it treats the email like a complaint.
Which Zapier products does it use?
Zaps, AI by Zapier or a Zapier Agent, and SMS by Zapier, if you want alerts by text. Zapier Tables and Zapier Interfaces are optional.
Which apps does it use?
Gmail, Google Sheets, Calendly and Slack. Trello is optional.
Is this a client job?
No. It is an example workflow, not a client job.
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Related pages
Zapier automation in Bury and Greater Manchester