How to Automate Client Communication Effectively

Automating Client Email Requests

Insight from Rameel Sheikh

Once upon a time, fresh new grad Rameel was on the account management team for Uber Freight.

I received 200 to 300 daily emails that required a response within the first 10 minutes of a customer reaching out.

I also helped with financial analysis, A/B testing customer experiences, and dashboard creation for leadership.

As you can imagine, these client communications were distracting (but of course, super important).

So, how do we balance quick responses with focus?

Don't be like me by manually doing everything.

Automate.

Let’s bring Zapier, ChatGPT and Slack (our favorite communication tool) into the mix.

Here’s how this automation works:

1. When a client e-mails support@[my domain].com, forward it to Zapier

2. ChatGPT (Zapier Action): Prompt: “Summarize the request the client is making in this email: [email contents]”

3. ChatGPT (Zapier Action): Prompt: “Write a brief e-mail response to the message below, letting the client know we are working on their request and suggesting anything the client might do to resolve the issue themselves.”

4. Slack (Zapier Action): Send a message to a public channel (#support): “New Support Request from [email address, pulled from Step 1] – [Reply from Step 2]. Potential Quick Response – [Reply from Step 3]

This ensures that your team is always:

• Up to date on support requests

• Rarely has to spend time opening their email (or a support ticket tool)

• Deciphering strange requests (the summary step handles that)

• Has a reasonable draft response ready instantly.

And if a team member wants to ignore support for a while, they can just mute the #support channel in Slack.