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Inquiry auto-reply

Turn on an automatic reply to new inquiries, per inquiry form or studio-wide, edit its wording, send yourself a test, and know which reply fires for which lead.

Updated September 2, 2026

An inquiry auto-reply is the email a couple gets within moments of inquiring, so they know you received it. Hailo has two ways to send one, and both are off until you turn them on.

Reply Applies to Where you turn it on
Per-form auto-reply Leads that arrive through one of your inquiry forms That form's builder, under Settings > Embed forms
Studio auto-reply Leads you add by hand or import The onboarding wizard's auto-reply question

A form lead only ever gets the form's reply. A lead added any other way only ever gets the studio reply. If you also build a Lead created automation of your own, it runs for everyone and takes the place of the studio reply.

Note

Both replies go out through your connected mailbox. With no mailbox connected they save but do not send. Connect Gmail first.

Turn on the per-form auto-reply

  1. Open Settings > Embed forms and open the form.
  2. Scroll to step 3, Want to auto-reply to the lead via email?
  3. Click the switch next to Send the lead an auto-reply. The pill next to it changes from OFF to ON, and the hint reads "Currently active" and that every new inquiry triggers the email below. Off, it reads "Currently off" and that no auto-reply will be sent.
  4. The Auto-reply subject and Auto-reply body fields appear. The subject starts out as "Got your inquiry" with a thanks; the body starts out as a short note saying you got their message and will be in touch within 48 hours, signed "[Your name]". Rewrite both in your own voice and replace "[Your name]".
  5. The form autosaves ("Changes save automatically").

Merge tags work in both fields, so Hi {{first_name}}, fills in the couple's name. See Merge fields.

If no mailbox is connected, a note above the switch reads "Email sender not connected." and explains that the auto-reply will save but will not send until you connect Gmail, and that leads still land in Hailo immediately.

Send yourself a test

Click Send myself a test under the body. Hailo sends what is on screen right now, including unsaved edits, to your studio email, rendered for a sample couple named Alex and Sam, with "[Test]" in front of the subject. If both fields are empty you see "Write a subject or message first, then send a test."

Turn on the studio auto-reply

The onboarding wizard asks whether Hailo should reply to new inquiries. Say yes there and the studio auto-reply is on for leads you add by hand or import. To change the answer later, run the wizard again from Settings. See Onboarding wizard.

The studio reply sends the email template named Inquiry auto-reply, and it is sent once per lead.

Edit its wording

The starter Inquiry auto-reply template is read-only, so you edit a copy of your own:

  1. Open Templates > Email templates > Browse.
  2. In the Starter library band, find Inquiry auto-reply and click Duplicate. You see "Duplicated to: Inquiry auto-reply" and the builder opens on your copy.
  3. Edit the Subject line and Body, click Save, then click Send myself a test.

Keep the name as it is. The studio reply looks the template up by name and uses your copy ahead of the starter version, so your wording is what new leads receive from then on. The starter version stays in the library as a fallback.

Use an automation instead

The Instant inquiry reply starter automation sends Inquiry auto-reply the moment a lead lands and, two days later, Discovery call invite. It runs for every new lead, form or not, and replaces the studio reply. Form leads with the per-form reply switched on would get both, so pick one approach per form. See Starter automations.

If it didn't work

  • The lead came in but no reply went out. Check which kind of lead it was. A form lead needs that form's switch ON; a hand-added or imported lead needs the studio reply on. Then check that a mailbox is connected under Settings > Integrations.
  • "The Inquiry auto-reply template is missing". Open Templates once and the starter library is restored.
  • The couple got two replies. The form's reply and an Instant inquiry reply automation both fired. Switch one off.
  • The test never arrived. Your studio email is blank, or the mailbox is not connected. Both messages name the fix: add the email under Settings > Your details, or connect Gmail.
  • Build an inquiry formCreate an inquiry form, design it, choose what happens after a couple submits, set a per-form auto-reply and put it on your website or share the link.
  • Email templatesBrowse the starter library, make your own copies, and use the builder to write a template with a lifecycle phase, mood, recipient, merge tags and a live preview.
  • Starter automationsEvery ready-made automation on the Automations page, grouped by stage, with its trigger, waits and the exact templates it sends.
  • Build an automationUse the visual editor to wire a trigger to actions, waits and branches, configure every block, and set the automation Live.
  • The onboarding wizardWalk through every step of Hailo's first-run setup, know which fields are required, and finish or skip the rest from Settings later.
  • Connect GmailSend proposals, invoices, questionnaire links and auto-replies from your own Gmail address, test the connection, and fix a connection that stopped sending.
Still stuck? Send a note from the contact page and a real person at Hailo answers. Include the studio name you signed up with and, if it is about a specific screen, what you clicked.
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