Answering customers in Inbox

This guide is for you if your job is to read customer messages and write back inside ScaleFlow. It is not for people who only set up the system.

You will learn: where to find your chats, how the screen is laid out, how to work with automatic AI replies when your company turns them on, and when you should write instead. If you need every button explained, open Inbox Usage after this page.

Simple words we use in ScaleFlow

• Inbox — The screen where all customer chats from Facebook, Zalo, WhatsApp, Telegram, and so on show up in one place (after your company connects those apps).
• Conversation — One back-and-forth chat with one customer.
• Reply — A message the customer can read.
• Internal note — A message only people inside your company can read. Good for “I tried this…” before you send the chat to someone else.
• Ticket — A small “job card” for a problem that is not finished in one message (for example a refund that needs checking). See Ticket Usage.
• AI Assistant — Smart helpers that can suggest text, shorten a chat into a summary, or even answer the customer automatically if your boss turned that on. Details: AI Assistant.
• Assigned to me — Chats that are yours to answer right now.
• Unassigned — New chats waiting for anyone on the team to pick them up.
• Stage / lifecycle — A label for “where this customer is in the journey” (for example New or Paying customer). Your company chooses the names. You do not need to be an expert—just pick the stage your boss asks you to use.

What you actually do each day

1. Open Inbox.
2. Open chats that are yours, or pick a new one from Unassigned if your team works that way.
3. Read the full chat from top to bottom.
4. Write a Reply to the customer, or add an Internal note for your team.
5. If the problem needs work after this chat, create or update a ticket.
6. If someone else should answer next, hand the chat to them using the controls at the top of the chat.

Before you start

1. Sign in to ScaleFlow.
2. Click Inbox on the left.
3. On most days, first click Assigned to me so you see your chats.

How the Inbox screen is split (three parts)

Think of three columns:

• Left — Folders and lists such as Assigned to me, Unassigned, and your company’s stages.
• Middle — The list of chats. You can search and filter here when the list is long.
• Right — The open chat, the box where you type, and information about the customer (and tickets).

Step 1 — Choose which list to open

Pick the list that matches what you need to do right now:

List name	Plain meaning
Assigned to me	Chats you are responsible for. Start here on a normal day.
Assigned to my team	Chats owned by your group. Use this if your boss tells you to watch the team list.
Mentions	Chats where someone tagged you or asked for you.
Unassigned	New chats nobody owns yet. Open one when you are free and your process says you can “pick up” work.
All	Everything. Often long; your boss may use it more than you.

If there are too many rows, use the search box and filters:

Step 2 — Open one chat and read everything

1. Click one row in the middle list.
2. Scroll up and down in the chat. Check if a computer (AI) already answered. Those messages are still worth reading—sometimes they need a human fix.
3. Look at the right side for the customer’s name, tags, stage, and any Tickets already open.

Step 3 — Write to the customer or to your team only

• Reply tab = goes to the customer.
• Internal note tab = your team only. Use it before you pass the chat on, so the next person knows what you did.

Before you press Send on a Reply, ask yourself:

• Do I understand what they want?
• Am I using true company information (from training, internal docs, or approved answers)? If you are guessing, say you will check or hand to a specialist.
• If something is unclear, is one short question better than a long wrong answer?

Step 4 — When the computer (AI) helps you

Your company may turn on tools that write drafts or answer the customer without you. You are still responsible for what the customer reads.

• If Smart Assistant (automatic answers) already wrote something, read it carefully. Fix wrong facts or tone before you add your own message.
• If you only get suggested text you can edit, treat it like a first draft—not the final word.
• Always handle yourself (or with a senior colleague): angry customers, money back, legal topics, health topics, and anything that needs private account or order details only staff should see.

How your boss turns these tools on or off: AI Assistant.

Step 5 — Give the chat to the right person (or back to AI)

At the top of the chat you can change who “owns” this conversation next.

Common actions:

• Give it to yourself — You will answer the next message.
• Give it to a coworker or a team — Add an internal note first: what happened and what you need them to do.
• Give it back to AI — Only when your company rules say it is safe, and the customer does not need a human for sensitive topics.

When you—not the computer—should answer

You should step in and write as a person when:

• The customer is very upset.
• It is about money, refunds, lawyers, or private personal or order data.
• They ask to speak to a person.
• The automatic answer is wrong, empty, or could upset someone if sent as-is.
• The job will take several days or several people — use a ticket so nothing is forgotten.

When you need a ticket

Use a ticket when the problem is bigger than one quick message (lost package, broken product, refund in progress, IT fix, and so on).

1. Create or open a ticket from the right panel if your login allows it. How: Ticket Usage.
2. Write the important facts in the ticket or in an internal note so the next shift does not start from zero.
3. Tell the customer what will happen next and when they can expect news—only promises your company allows you to make.

Example (your screen may look a little different):

Working well with teammates

1. Before you send a chat to someone else, leave an internal note: what you tried and what you need next.
2. Read the newest messages before you answer so two people do not say opposite things.
3. If the customer was speaking to you and now someone else will help, your company may want you to say that kindly in one sentence in your next Reply.

How to sound in messages

• Short, clear, polite sentences.
• Say what you understood before you give a long solution.
• Do not promise money back, exact dates, or special deals unless your boss says you can.
• One clear next step is better than five half steps.

Story from start to finish (example)

1. A customer writes on Facebook: “I want to cancel my order.”
2. The automatic assistant asks for an order number (only if your company turned that on).
3. The customer says they were charged twice.
4. The system may open a ticket and/or send the chat to you.
5. You read the whole chat and check Tickets on the right.
6. You add an internal note for finance if needed.
7. You reply to the customer with the real next step. You update the ticket until the problem is closed.

Good habits

• Clear Assigned to me before you take new chats from Unassigned, unless your boss uses a different rule.
• Close or finish a chat only when your company’s process says it is done.
• If your company cares about reports, keep stages and tags up to date the way they trained you.

Other guides to open next

• Inbox Usage — Explains each part of the Inbox screen in detail.
• AI Assistant — How automatic replies and drafts work.
• Ticket Usage — How to create and work tickets.
• Channel Integration — Where customer messages come from (for curious readers).