Conversation workflow

Use this guide when you are working a conversation from triage to resolution.

Conversation anatomy

A conversation can include the sender, subject, customer details, status, preview, unread count, attachments, tags, assignee or relationship labels, internal comments, drafts, pending sends, and messages.

Recommended handling flow

1. Scan the thread

   Read the latest message, subject, customer identity, attachments, and previous activity.

2. Decide reply or comment

   Use a reply for external communication. Use an internal comment for teammate context.

3. Choose the state

   Keep it open when action is needed, waiting when you need a response, resolved when done, and spam when it should leave the normal queue.

4. Save or send carefully

   Drafts preserve unfinished replies. Scheduled sends should be reviewed from the scheduled section.

5. Create durable follow-up

   Relate the thread to a record, note, task, or other resource if future work depends on it.

Status guidance

• Open or needs reply: The team still needs to act.
• Waiting: The team is waiting for the customer or another external step.
• Resolved: No more action is needed right now.
• Drafts: A response exists but has not been sent.
• Scheduled: A response is queued for later.
• Sent: The outbound message was sent.
• Spam: The thread should not be handled as a normal conversation.

Collaboration rules

• Do not put internal context into a customer reply.
• Do not mark a thread resolved if a teammate still has a pending task.
• Do not use waiting as a catch-all archive. Waiting should mean there is a reason to return.
• Use related resources when the thread changes a customer record, deal, list, or task.

Agent handoffs

Inbox can be useful agent context. For example, an inbound qualification agent can read new messages, summarize buyer context, and prepare a handoff. Keep human approval in place for external messages or record changes that need review.

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