Answer customer emails faster without sounding like a robot

By the end of this guide, the AI inside your email program drafts replies in your company’s voice. Your team reads, fixes and sends them. You decide which emails it may touch and which it may not.

Most customer emails are one of ten or so types: “Where’s my order?”, “Can you send me a quote?”, “I need to move my appointment”, “Your invoice is wrong”. You already know the answers. The slow part is typing them politely, again, in the right language. That is the part to hand over.

What you need

• One of these:
  • Microsoft Outlook with a Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licence (CHF 17.00 per user per month on annual billing, excl. VAT, on top of your Microsoft 365 plan; Microsoft’s Swiss site also lists a promotional CHF 14.57), or
  • Gmail through Google Workspace. Google says “Help me write” is included in all Workspace plans.
• Your tone sheet. Use this week’s template (Template of the week). Filling it in takes about 30 minutes.
• Time: about 1 hour to set up, then 10 minutes a day for the first two weeks to check drafts.
• Skill level: no technical skills needed.

Steps

1. Pick the emails AI may draft (20 minutes)

Open your inbox and scroll through the last 50 customer emails. Sort them into three piles on a sheet of paper:

• Green: AI drafts, a person checks and sends. Order status, opening hours, appointment changes, sending documents, thank-yous.
• Amber: a person writes, AI only polishes. Complaints, price negotiations, anything with health, legal or salary details.
• Red: no AI. Legal threats, staff matters, anything the customer marked confidential.

Write the green list on the tone sheet. This is the list your team works from.

You should end up with a list of five to ten email types. If green is empty, AI drafting won’t save you much.