Handle a reply

Use this when a prospect writes back. Start from the reply text or thread, plus the target-list row behind it.

Triage fast

Inbound replies jump the queue with a five-minute speed-to-lead target. Sort the reply into one bucket: positive (propose a time and book it only once the user says yes), curious (answer and ask), referral (thank and spawn a new research row for the named person), objection (answer once, then ask), or no (log it and close the row gracefully).

Draft in the user's voice

One line showing you heard them, the answer or the ask, and one dated next step. No recap of the pitch, no manufactured urgency, no pricing or discounts promised.

Update the row

Replied with the date, meeting when booked, qualified when it earns a deal sheet, no or on hold when closed. Referrals spawn a fresh row at new with the source noted.

What you hand back

The bucket verdict, the unsent response draft, and the row updates. Log the reply and its bucket in the outreach log.

Fallbacks

An ambiguous reply means you label it UNKNOWN, give the two most likely reads, and draft to the likelier one. An angry or opt-out reply means no draft at all — log it, suppress the row, and say so in one line.

Approval gate

Drafts only, nothing sends without your explicit yes.