Create a Rule-Only template to auto-respond to messages based on their content. How useful! 

This help file will guide you through how to set it up in your eDesk account.

Before you start

 
  • You’ll need to have access to Templates in your Settings in order to view, create and edit templates. If you don’t have access, you can request it from an Admin user within your business.  

Note: to find out more general information regarding Templates in eDesk, click here.
 

Practical Example:

When a customer message contains an enquiry about bespoke orders, eDesk responds automatically to say that somebody will be in touch to discuss their requirements.


Our Rule Only template will do the following when messages arrive containing specific keywords:

  • automatically respond with a prewritten message that thanks the customer for their message and lets them know a member of our Team will be in touch within a few hours.

To learn more about Rule-Only templates, click here.

02 How to set it up?

First, we’ll set up a rule that asks eDesk to check IF the body of the incoming message contains the keywords:

  • “how much” OR “do you” OR “is it possible” OR “need” OR “are you able” OR “do you”
    AND
  • “quote” OR “bespoke” OR “custom”

And THEN automatically perform the following action: 

  • auto-respond with the template.
We’ll call this template Autoresponse Bespoke Enquiries.

Step 1: Create the template and write the message that will be sent to the customer.
 

  1. In Settings → Smart Tools → Templates, click + Add Template and select Rule-only from the menu.
  2. In the Template section, enter Autoresponse Bespoke Enquiries and tick the Active Template checkbox to make it active once it’s saved.

    Note: Leave the Template Type field unchanged.
    Template Name and Type fields
  3. In the Message and Language section, select English from the Language menu and enter text to say that somebody will contact the customer into the Message field:
    Message and Language fieldsNote: We don’t want to attach the invoice so don’t click the Attach Invoice checkbox, and we will set up the conditions in the Rule Only tab, so leave the Usage Conditions section unchanged too.

Step 2: Ask eDesk to delay the response for between 1 and 5 minutes.

 
  1. For this example, you don’t need to set anything up in the Date & Time Conditions and Date & Time Conditions - One Off sections; just leave these unchanged.
  2. Some marketplaces block auto-responses, but you can get around this by asking eDesk to delay sending your message for a few minutes. In the Autoresponder Options section, set the following:
     
    • Delay: Set the minimum delay to 1 minute and the maximum delay to 5 minutes.  This tells eDesk to send the response between 1 and 5 minutes after receiving the customer’s message. 
    • Frequency: set the frequency to Once every 24 hours so that if the customer responds with further questions, eDesk won’t send this template again for 24 hours.
    • We want this template to be used for all customers, so we will leave the Exclude fields blank. 
    • We don’t need to add a signature at the bottom of the response so we won’t tick Include the channel signature.

      Autoresponder optionsNote: We’ll use a rule to configure the other conditions for this template so we will leave the Change Message status field in the Misc section unchanged, and we don’t want to make this template an AI template, so you can ignore the AI Settings tab.

  3. Click Create Template to save the new template.
    The new template is added to the list in Settings → Smart Tools → Templates.

Step 3: Set up the rule to look for messages that are asking about bespoke services.

 
  1. Now we’ll set up the new rule that will control when eDesk uses this template. We’ll call this rule Autoresponse Bespoke Enquiries but it can have any name. Go to Settings → Smart Tools → Message Rules, click + Add Message rule.
  2. In the General section:
    • enter the name Autoresponse Bespoke Enquiries.
    • tick the Active checkbox to make the rule active once saved.
    • tick the Stop processing further rules if conditions are matched checkbox. 
      We want to send the Autoresponse Bespoke Enquiries template and only this template in response to any messages with the keywords, even if the message happens to match other rules too.
    • leave the Do not show ‘Rule matched’ note in ticket thread checkbox unticked. We want our Agents to see that eDesk has answered this.
    • tick the Only use once per ticket checkbox. We don’t want eDesk to auto-respond with this template to more than one message from a customer for the same ticket.
      General section  
  3. In the Conditions section, set up these conditions:
    Message body MATCHES REGULAR EXPRESSION how much|do you|is it possible|need|are you able|do you
    AND
    Message body MATCHES REGULAR EXPRESSION quote|bespoke|custom

    Conditions fieldsNote: the | symbol in eDesk is the same as using an "OR" condition.

Step 4: Bind the template to the rule.

 
  1. We will now bind our Autoresponse Bespoke Enquiries rule-only template to the rule so that eDesk sends the template when the rule conditions match the customer message.
    In the Actions section, set up the following:
    • Assign to tags: No assigned tags.
    • Tag assignation mode: Apply all.
    • Assign ticket owner: No assigned owner.
    • Mention users: No mentioned users.
    • Mention user mode: Apply all.
    • Changed ticket status: Don’t change status.
    • Webhook URL: None
    • Bind an Autoresponder: Autoresponse Bespoke Enquiries
      Rule actions section
  2. Click Create Rule to save the rule. That’s it! The rule and template are active and so eDesk will now send the Autoresponse Bespoke Enquiries template as an autoresponse when a customer message arrives that matches the conditions in the rule.

Further Readings


To learn about auto-responding to messages during busy times with eDesk, click here.

To learn about auto-responding to common queries with eDesk, click here.