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How to reply to a first enquiry from a UK buyer with AI

Use AI to answer a new buyer's email with your prices, minimum order and lead time. Mark anything you can't answer yet, so you promise nothing by mistake.

· 3 min read · Rajesh Dhiman

A shop in Leeds finds your website. The buyer emails to ask for prices, your minimum order and how soon you can ship. They also ask about samples, and what the import duty will be.

You want to reply the same day, with everything they asked for.

AI can write this reply. But it can also make things up. It may offer free samples, or give a duty rate it guessed. Here is how to stop that.

What to give the AI

Give it the buyer's email, just as it came. Then give it your own details, one on each line:

  • Products: name, price and minimum order for each one
  • Price basis: exactly as you quote it, for example "FOB Mundra"
  • Lead time: for example "35 to 40 days after order confirmation"
  • Payment terms: for example "30% advance, 70% against copy of bill of lading"
  • Samples: only if you have decided. For example "2 free samples, buyer pays courier"

Leave out anything you haven't decided. The AI will mark it for you.

What to ask

Copy this into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Put your own details in the brackets.

Write a reply to this first email from a buyer.

The buyer's email:
[paste the buyer's email here]

My details (use only these):
- Products: [Cotton cushion cover, 45x45 cm | GBP 2.40 per piece | minimum 500 pieces]
- Price basis: [FOB Mundra]
- Lead time: [35 to 40 days after order confirmation]
- Payment terms: [30% advance, 70% against copy of bill of lading]
- Samples: [not decided]
- Sign as: [Meena Sharma, Sanjhi Home, Jaipur]

Rules:
- Answer each question in the order the buyer asked it.
- Use only my details. Do not offer a discount, a sample, a date or a certificate I didn't give.
- If I haven't given an answer, write [CHECK: what is missing] on its own line.
- Never give an HS code, a duty or tax rate, or say my goods meet any country's rules. For these, write [CHECK: ask your forwarder or customs broker].
- Copy the price basis as I wrote it. Don't explain it.
- British spelling. Friendly and short: under 200 words.
- End by asking for the next step: colours, quantities or a pro-forma.

What to check before you send

Put the reply next to your details. Check four things:

  1. Prices and minimums. Each one should match your list exactly. Look closely at the currency.
  2. Promises. Look for words like "free", "discount", "by" a date, or "certified". Remove anything you didn't give the AI.
  3. The price basis. "FOB Mundra" should not have changed to something else.
  4. Every [CHECK]. Fill it in, or delete the line. Never send an email with [CHECK] in it.

For the duty question, ask your freight forwarder or customs broker. Or tell the buyer their own customs agent can answer it. Don't guess.

Why this works

"Use only my details" keeps the AI to your own prices and terms.

[CHECK] gives the AI a way to say "I don't know". Without it, the AI fills the gap with something that sounds right.

And the rule about duty and HS codes keeps the AI away from answers that need an expert. A wrong duty rate in your first email can lose you the buyer's trust.

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