Read and reply to messages in your inbox
Use Conversations to answer client texts, emails and website chats from one screen, or leave a private note for your team.
Every text, email and website chat from your clients lands in one inbox. When you're done here, you'll be able to open any conversation, see who you're talking to, and reply on the right channel.
Before you start
- Time: 5 minutes.
- To reply by email, your workspace email needs to be set up. See Set up sending email for your workspace.
- To reply by text, your workspace needs a phone number that's approved for texting. See How phone and texting work in Flourivate.
Get to know the inbox
In the sidebar, under COMMUNICATIONS, click Conversations. The screen has three parts:
| Part | What's there |
|---|---|
| Left: the list | Every conversation, newest first. A small icon shows the channel: a message icon for text, an envelope for email, and a chat bubble with a purple Webchat badge for website chats. |
| Middle: the thread | The messages in the conversation you opened, with the reply box underneath. |
| Right: the contact panel | The person's details with View full profile, plus Response Metrics and Team Notes. |
Steps
- Open a conversation. Click it in the list. Opening an unread conversation may mark it as read.
- Check who it is. Look at the contact panel on the right. Click View full profile if you need their full record.
- Pick the channel. Under the thread, open the channel dropdown and choose SMS, Email or Chat. Reply on the channel the client used unless you have a reason not to. (Messenger and Instagram show in the list but are greyed out.)
- Write your reply in Type your message.... For texts, watch the counter under the box (for example 0/160). Longer texts are split into more than one message and cost more.
- Insert saved wording if you want. Click Templates to drop in a saved reply. See Reuse replies with message templates.
- Send it. Click the send button. It's labeled for the channel, for example Send SMS.
Your reply appears in the thread with the time it was sent.
Internal Comment is the only private option
Anything you send with SMS, Email or Chat goes to your client. To leave a note only your team can see, switch the dropdown to Internal Comment first. For notes about the person (not this conversation), use Team Notes > Add Note in the right panel.
Send a text later
- Write the text in the reply box.
- Click Schedule. A window called Schedule SMS to (and the client's name) opens.
- Pick the Send date and time. It uses your workspace time zone.
- Click Schedule message. Whatever is in the reply box is queued and sends on its own.
Reply to a website chat
Website chats show the purple Webchat badge. Reply the same way. If the visitor has left your site, the thread shows a notice that they're offline. They'll only see your reply if they come back to the page, so follow up by email or text if you have their details.
Check it worked
- Your message shows in the thread with its time and channel badge (for example SMS or Email).
- For email, the new card shows a status such as Sent, and later Read.
If something's off
- You can't find a conversation. Click All at the top of the list and set the channel dropdown to All Channels. Check you're on External, not Team Chat. See Find, filter and hand off conversations.
- A red "Email sending is not ready." notice. Your email setup needs attention. Follow its link, or see Find out why an email didn't send.
- A text won't send. The client may have replied STOP, or your number may not be approved for texting yet. See Collect text consent and handle opt-outs.
- Merge fields like {{contact.first_name}} show in the box. That's normal. They fill in with the client's details when the message sends. Make sure the contact actually has that detail saved.
- "Draft a reply" wrote something you don't like. It only fills the box. Edit or delete the text before you send.