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After-hours enquiries: what to send when you can't pick up.
Some of your website enquiries will arrive in the evening or at the weekend, once the customerA lot of people fill in a contact form in the evening or at the weekend, once their own working day is done. If nothing comes back until Monday, some of them will have booked someone else.#x27;s own working day is done. If nothing comes back until Monday, they may have booked someone else by then. Here is how to cover those hours honestly, with templates you can paste in today.
1. Why the gap matters
Speed of reply is one of the few things that reliably affects whether an enquiry turns into a conversation. In a study published in Harvard Business Review, researchers looked at 1.25 million sales leads received by 42 US companies and found that firms that tried to contact a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to have a meaningful conversation as firms that waited even an hour longer.
Source: Oldroyd, McElheran & Elkington, “The Short Life of Online Sales Leads”, Harvard Business Review, March 2011.
You can't be on call every evening, and you shouldn't have to be. But an enquiry that lands at 8pm on a Friday and hears nothing until Monday morning has waited about 60 hours. A short, honest reply in the first minute closes most of that gap without you lifting a finger.
2. What an after-hours reply should do
- Say it is automatic and that you are closed. No pretending.
- Say exactly when a person will reply. “By 9am tomorrow” beats “as soon as possible”. Then keep the promise.
- Separate emergencies from everything else. If you take urgent call-outs, give the number and say what counts as urgent. If you don't, say so kindly.
- Ask the questions you'd ask anyway. Then the morning starts with the answers instead of a round of back-and-forth.
- Offer a booking link if you have one. Some customers would rather pick a time than wait for a call.
3. Templates you can copy
Change the bracketed parts. Keep each one short enough to read on a phone.
Any trade or service, evenings
Hi [first name], thanks for your message. This is an automatic reply, because it's outside our hours right now.
I'll read it properly and get back to you by [9am tomorrow / Monday morning].
To help me give you a real answer straight away, reply with:
1. [Question one, e.g. what the job is]
2. [Question two, e.g. how soon you need it]
3. [Your suburb or zip code]
Prefer to pick a time to talk? [booking link]
Thanks, [your name]
[Business] · [phone]
A template. Swap the bracketed parts for your own details.
Trades with an emergency line
Hi [first name], thanks for getting in touch. This is an automatic reply because we're closed right now.
If this is an emergency ([burst pipe, no heating in freezing weather, sparking outlet]), call our after-hours line on [number]. [After-hours call-outs are charged at [rate].]
If it can wait until morning, reply with a photo and a line about the problem, and I'll be in touch by [time].
[Your name], [Business]
A template. Swap the bracketed parts for your own details.
Weekends
Hi [first name], thanks for your message. We're closed for the weekend, and this reply is automatic.
I'll be back on [Monday] and will reply to everyone in the order they came in. If you book a time here, you'll be first on my list: [booking link].
[Your name], [phone]
A template. Swap the bracketed parts for your own details.
Real estate agents
Hi [first name], thanks for your interest in [property address]. This is an automatic reply, and I'll call or email you personally by [time].
In the meantime, you can see the open-home times and book a private viewing here: [booking link].
If you're buying, it helps to know whether you're pre-approved yet. If you're renting, when you'd like to move in. [Your name], [phone]
A template. Swap the bracketed parts for your own details.
4. First thing in the morning
Go through the night's enquiries before your first job. Call the urgent ones, reply to the rest in the order they came in, and use the answers they sent back to your questions. A customer who heard from you at 8pm and again at 8am has had better service than most.
5. Doing it automatically, only for enquiries
Your email's built-in holiday reply answers everything, including suppliers and newsletters, and only between the dates you set. A LeadLoop reply is set up on your website form, so it answers new enquiries in wording you approve, every evening and weekend, with nothing to switch on or off.
The Starter setup is a one-time $49 with no monthly fee: one instant reply on one existing form or inbox. The full LeadLoop setup adds a text alert to you for urgent enquiries and a follow-up for the ones that go quiet.
More: How to reply to a website enquiry (templates). Pages for your trade: plumbers, electricians, HVAC, roofers, pest control, landscapers, cleaners, painters, real estate agents.
FAQ
Common questions
Should I reply to enquiries at night?
You don't have to answer in person. A short automatic reply that says when you will answer, asks your two or three questions and gives an emergency number if you have one covers most of what a customer needs until morning.
Is it fine to say the reply is automatic?
Yes. Saying so plainly is more honest than a note that pretends to be personal, and customers mostly care that they heard back and know what happens next.
Can I set this up in Gmail or Outlook on my own?
Partly. Gmail's vacation responder and Outlook's automatic replies are built for holidays: you choose a start and end date rather than a nightly schedule, and they reply to every email, not only enquiries. They are a reasonable stopgap for a weekend away.
What should an after-hours reply never say?
A price you haven't worked out, or a time you can't promise. Say when you will reply and stick to it.