💬 Business & freelancing · Guide
Reply Like A Shopkeeper
Fast, plain answers to the messages that turn into orders.
Reply Like A Shopkeeper
Fast, plain answers to the messages that turn into orders.
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A4 · this is a layout preview in the “Field Notes” design. When you generate, the studio writes every chapter in full, paints the cover and chapter art, and composes a downloadable A4 PDF with your name, bio and store link on it.
Enquiries are the quietest part of selling and the easiest to get wrong. Most go unanswered for days, or get a long friendly reply that never mentions the price. This guide covers the four questions you keep being asked, how to answer each one in a sentence, and how to keep the inbox from following you into the evening.
What's inside
- 1The Four Messages You Keep GettingSorting your inbox into availability, postage, custom work and timings, and noticing which one you dodge. After it you know exactly which replies are worth writing once and keeping.
- 2Answer The Question FirstPutting the yes, the no or the price in the opening sentence and letting warmth follow it. After it you can rewrite your standard reply so the answer is never buried.
- 3A Reply Bank You Can Paste FromBuilding four saved replies with a blank for the customer's name and the specific detail. After it you can clear a full inbox in one sitting without sounding automated.
- 4Quoting Custom Work Without A Long ConversationAsking three questions up front, quoting a range, and saying what a deposit covers. After it you can price a commission in two messages instead of ten.
- 5When To Ask For The OrderEnding each reply with a single clear next step, and the polite follow-up a week later. After it fewer conversations trail off after your answer.
- 6Setting Hours And Keeping ThemPublishing a response time, turning off notifications and using an away note during busy weeks. After it you can answer everyone properly without checking your phone at eleven at night.
A sample from chapter one
Answer the question first
Someone asks whether the blue bowl is still available. The temptation is to open with thanks, a few lines about the glaze and an apology for the delay in replying. Start with the answer instead: yes, it is, and here is the link. Warmth can follow in the next sentence. A buyer who has to read three lines to find out whether they can have the thing often does not bother.
Read your last twenty replies and underline the sentence that actually answers the question. If it usually sits third or fourth, you have a habit worth changing. Moving the answer to the top makes messages quicker to write as well as to read, which is the difference between clearing the inbox on a Tuesday evening and letting it build all week.
- Open with yes, no or the price, and put the pleasantries directly after it.
- Include the link and the next step in every reply, however short.
- Answer within one working day, and say on your profile that this is what you do.
- Keep four saved replies for availability, postage, custom work and timings, then edit the name and one detail each time.
Key takeaways
- Most enquiries are one of four questions you have already answered before.
- A reply that ends without a next step leaves the buyer to invent one.
- Published hours protect your evening better than any apology does.
The studio writes every chapter from this outline, paints the art and hands you a PDF you can sell the same afternoon.
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