Texting a customer: new messages and replies in the Inbox

Every conversation with a customer lives in one place: the Inbox. That includes SMS and MMS, but the Inbox isn't SMS-only — email, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, WhatsApp, and your web chat widget (wherever a shop has those connected) all land in the same two-pane thread view too, so you're never checking five different places for one customer's messages.

Where to find it

Look for Inbox in the left nav — it's the chat-bubble icon, and it takes you to /app/inbox. That's the same two-pane conversation view whether you land there from the nav or from a customer's profile: a list of threads on the left, the open conversation on the right.

What a customer needs on file before you can text them

The one hard requirement: the customer needs a phone number or an email address on file. Either one is enough — you don't need both.

If a customer has neither, they show up grayed out when you go to start a new conversation, with a note that reads "This customer has no phone or email on file." Add at least one contact method on their profile first and they'll become selectable.

Sending a new message

1. From the Inbox, click + New Message at the top of the thread list.
2. Search for the customer by name, email, or phone number.
3. Pick them from the results. (Customers with no phone and no email won't be selectable — see above.)
4. Type your message in the field at the bottom and press Enter, or click the send button.

Replying in an existing conversation

Click a thread in the left panel to open it. Type in the message field at the bottom ("Type a message..."). Press Enter to send, or Shift+Enter to add a line break without sending.

When the AI is answering your customers

If your shop uses the AI receptionist, a bar sits above the message box in the conversation. Green means the AI looks ready to answer this customer's next message, amber means it's paused because someone took over, and grey means it's switched on but can't answer right now, with the reason. The bar checks the main things that can stop a reply, so in a few rare cases the AI can still stay quiet while it's green. Click Take over to stop the AI replying so you can answer yourself, and Turn AI back on when you're done. If you'd rather the AI step back in by itself when a customer is left waiting, turn on If nobody replies in Settings → AI receptionist (it's off by default). Sending a message to the customer also pauses the AI, but only once the message is accepted: a message that's refused, like a text to someone who opted out, leaves the AI as it was. See Setting up the AI receptionist for chat and calls for what each color means and why the AI might not answer.

Choosing where your reply goes

Right above the message box in a customer's conversation, the Replying by row shows which way your reply is set to go to this customer. Each chip is a way to reach them: Text and Email, plus Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp or Web chat when that customer has written to you there. The filled-in chip is the one your reply will use, and the line under it says exactly where it goes: who it's addressed to and which number or email address it leaves from, for example "from your shop number (305) 555-0100" or "from front@yourshop.com". The customer's phone number and email address are shown with the middle hidden (only the last four digits of a phone number, only the first letter and the domain of an email address), and people on your team who can't see customer contact details only see where the message comes from.

Two kinds of conversation look different. Someone who isn't a customer yet (the conversations under the Leads chip, like a website chat visitor) has no Replying by row until their contact details are saved and they become a customer. And a customer who has both a chat conversation and a text or email conversation gets Reply by buttons and a line saying where the reply goes, instead of the chips.

• Text and Email switch with one click. Click Email to write the reply as an email. A Subject box appears, starting from the conversation's own subject. Click Text to go back. The Email button next to the message box does the same thing. (When a conversation shows Reply by buttons, or email can't go out from the Inbox yet, that button opens your own mail app instead.) Your choice stays put when a new message arrives. If the channel you picked can't be used any more, the Inbox moves to the one that can and tells you in one line under the chips.
• Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp and Web chat answer in the conversation the customer started. You don't switch to them: your reply goes there when their most recent message came from there. If a customer has both a chat conversation and a text or email conversation, you'll see Reply by buttons instead of the chips, so you choose on purpose. Only pick the chat if you're sure it's the same person.
• Photos and the contact card go by text only. Email and the chat channels send words only, so switching to one of them removes any photos or contact card you attached. The Inbox warns you before you switch and tells you when it removes them.
• The first-text box resets. The "This customer asked us to text them" box (shown the first time you text a customer who hasn't texted your shop) starts unticked each time you change channel or customer, so you confirm it for each text.
• Web chat replies are saved to the visitor's chat. Your reply is saved to the visitor's chat on your website, and the line under the chips says when they were last there. Whether they see it depends on when they come back.
• Test Drive shops show "Test mode - messages to customers aren't delivered", because texts and emails to customers are saved and shown there but not sent.
• The row shows where a reply will go, not that it arrived. It checks everything it can see ahead of time. A few checks, like your plan's messaging limits, only run when you press send. If one stops the message, you're told why right away.

If a customer unsubscribed from your marketing emails, you'll see a heads-up under the chips when Email is selected, and you're asked to confirm before sending. A one-to-one reply like a receipt, a quote or an answer to their question is still allowed; a promotion is not.

Why a channel is greyed out

A greyed-out chip means that channel can't be used for this customer right now. Click it to read why, with a link to the page that fixes it where there is one. When the channel your reply is on can't be used, the send button stays off and the reason is shown in the row. The usual reasons:

• They opted out of texts. They replied STOP, or the number is on the do-not-text list. The row explains how texts can come back on (usually only the customer can do it, by texting START). Use Email in the meantime.
• No phone number or no email address on file. Add one on the customer's page (the Open customer link takes you there).
• Your shop has no texting number of its own yet. SalesThumb doesn't text from a shared number, so texting stays off until your shop's own number is approved. Click Set up texting to go to Settings → Texting.
• Your email isn't connected. When SalesThumb requires each shop to send from its own connected email, Email stays off until you connect one (Connect your email). Otherwise a one-to-one email still goes out, from the shared SalesThumb address, and the line under the chips says so. If the Inbox can't check your email connection just now, Email pauses for a moment and says so; try again shortly.
• The WhatsApp 24-hour window has closed. WhatsApp only allows a free-form reply within 24 hours of the customer's last message. After that, send one of your approved templates to restart the conversation. Messenger and Instagram work the same way: once 24 hours have passed since the customer's last message, they need to message you again first.
• Their latest message came on another channel. You can reply on Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp or Web chat only while it's the customer's most recent message. If their newest message came on WhatsApp, Text and Email stay off until they text or email you. If their only conversation with you is a chat, replies stay on that chat.
• Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp isn't connected. Reconnect it under Settings → Integrations (Reconnect). Until then a reply there wouldn't reach the customer, so the Inbox keeps it off instead of letting it look sent.

Attaching a photo

Click the image icon next to the message field to attach a photo before you send. Add an optional caption in the text field if you want one. It goes out as an MMS via Twilio.

Quick replies

Click the sparkle icon to pull up Quick replies. This popover is pulled live from your shop's own SMS template library — the same one you build and edit at Settings → Notifications — filtered to whichever of your templates are active. Pick one and it drops into the message field, with merge fields like the customer's first name and your shop name already filled in, so you can edit it before sending. If your shop hasn't set up any SMS templates yet, this popover shows an empty state with a link straight to Settings → Notifications to add some — it's not a fixed built-in list, so an empty template library means an empty Quick replies popover.

Getting an AI-drafted reply

Click AI reply (the wand button, right after Quick replies) to open Suggest reply. SalesThumb reads the conversation and drafts 2-3 short reply options grounded in what the customer actually said. Tap one and it fills the message field — it never sends on its own. Every draft is labeled "AI draft — review before sending," so read it over and edit before you hit Enter.

This is available on Growth plans and up. On Basic or Starter the popover comes back empty ("No drafts yet — tap Regenerate to try again") — that's the plan limit, not a glitch. The AI reply button is greyed out if your shop has turned off auto-suggested replies in Settings → AI Assistant, and if live AI is temporarily unavailable (for example, your shop's AI allowance for the period is used up) you'll get generic starter replies instead of conversation-aware ones.

Fixing the spelling in a message you typed

AI reply writes a reply for you. Fix spelling and Improve are different: they work on the message you've already typed. Both buttons appear in a row just above the message box once you've typed at least 3 characters.

Click Fix spelling and SalesThumb corrects the spelling, grammar, punctuation and capital letters in your message, then puts the corrected version back in the box. An Undo link appears next to it — click it to get your original words back. Undo goes away as soon as you type anything else, so it can never wipe out new typing. Nothing is sent: read the message over, then press Enter.

Making a message better

Click Improve and SalesThumb rewrites your message up to three ways in a popover: Friendlier, Shorter and More professional. You may see only two, because a rewrite that fails SalesThumb's checks (see below) is left out, and if fewer than two pass, none are shown and a note says so. Nothing in your message box changes until you click the one you want. Don't like any of them? Click Regenerate for a new set. Pick one and it fills the box (with an Undo), and you still review and send it yourself. In an email conversation the rewrites are written as emails; everywhere else they stay short, like a text.

What SalesThumb checks, and what it can't

Both buttons work only from the words you typed. They don't read the rest of the conversation or the customer's record.

Every answer from the AI is checked before it can reach your message box. SalesThumb looks at the numbers, prices, dates and times, links, email addresses, phone numbers, placeholders such as [Name], spelled-out numbers, days and months, and names you typed with a capital letter partway through a sentence, and it drops any answer that changes, removes or adds one of them. It also drops an answer that switches between English and Spanish or adds words like "free", "discount" or "refund" that you didn't write, and Fix spelling drops an answer that changes or adds too many words. When an answer is dropped, your message stays as it was and a short note says why.

Those checks look for specific things. They don't understand what your message means, so they can't catch every change: for example, an answer that turns "we are not open today" into "we are open today" can get through. Read the result before you send it. When the AI changes your message, a note beside the buttons says "AI-edited - review before sending."

Plans, allowance and limits

Fix spelling and Improve are available on Growth plans and up. On a lower plan, clicking either button shows an upgrade note instead (your browser's normal spell-check underline still works on every plan). Each run uses your shop's AI allowance, the same allowance the AI receptionist and the other AI tools draw on, and they run only when you click, never as you type. To protect that allowance, each person can only run them so many times a minute and your shop only so many times a day, and once your shop has used about 85% of its AI allowance for the 30-day period, both buttons pause so your AI receptionist can keep answering customers. They come back on their own as the allowance frees up. If you reach a limit or they're paused, a short note says so and your message stays unchanged. The small dot on each button is green when AI is ready and amber when it isn't (when they're paused, or when live AI is unavailable). Tap the button and the note beside it tells you why (for Improve, the window that opens tells you); on a computer you can also hover over the button. If live AI isn't available right now, for example because the allowance for the period is used up, the buttons tell you so and leave your message alone.

Frequently asked questions

Q: How do I see where my reply will go before I send it?

A: Look at the Replying by row right above the message box. The filled-in chip is the channel your reply will use (Text, Email, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp or Web chat), and the line under it says where it goes: who it's addressed to and which number or email address it leaves from, for example "from your shop number (305) 555-0100". Phone numbers and email addresses are shown with the middle hidden.

Q: Can I switch a reply from text to email?

A: Yes. Click the Email chip (or the Email button next to the message box) and write the reply as an email. A Subject box appears, starting from the conversation's own subject. Click Text to switch back. Photos and the contact card go by text only, so switching to Email removes them and the Inbox tells you when it does.

Q: Why can't I text this customer?

A: The Text chip is greyed out and the send button stays off. Click the chip to read why. The usual reasons are that the customer opted out of texts, there's no phone number on file, or your shop's own texting number isn't set up yet. The row links to the page that fixes it where there is one.

Q: Why is Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp missing or greyed out?

A: Those chips only appear when the customer has written to you there, and you can reply on one only while it's the customer's most recent message. WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram also only allow a free-form reply within 24 hours of the customer's last message. For WhatsApp, send one of your approved templates after that. For Messenger and Instagram, the customer needs to message you again first.

Q: Does the Replying by row promise my message is delivered?

A: No. It shows which number or address your reply is set to go from and to, and whether the channel can be used right now. A few checks, like your plan's messaging limits, only run when you press send, and if one stops the message you're told why. Shops in Test Drive show "Test mode - messages to customers aren't delivered" because texts and emails to customers are saved there but not sent.

Q: Will the AI answer again if I forget to turn it back on?

A: Only if you turned on If nobody replies in Settings → AI receptionist. It's off by default, so the AI stays quiet in a conversation you took over until you click Turn AI back on. When it's on and a customer's message that arrived after you turned it on waits the time you picked with no reply from your team, the AI answers it. Its text, email, Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp message starts with an "Automated reply from" line, and a website chat reply shows the AI label.

Need help? Email info@roffik.com.