One inbox for every client message

How it works

• One inbox: a Google Sheet. One row per request: date, channel, name, contact, message, status.
• Email: a Make scenario watches a Gmail label, adds a row, replies to the client and pings you.
• Website form: your form sends its data to a Make webhook (a web address that runs your automation when something is sent to it). Same row, same reply, same ping.
• Instagram DMs: an instant reply set up inside Instagram's own tools (step 6), and an option to log them in the sheet too.

You still answer clients yourself. The automation makes sure nothing is lost and that every client hears back within seconds.

Prepare the sheet and the phone ping

• Create a Google Sheet called Client inbox with these column titles in row 1: Date, Channel, Name, Contact, Message, Status.
• Install the free ntfy app on your phone and subscribe to a topic with a long, hard-to-guess name, like inbox-yourname-7f3k9q. Anyone who knows the name can read it, so don't use a simple one.
• In Gmail, create a filter that puts client emails under a label called Clients (for example: emails sent to your contact address, or containing "quote", "booking", "price"). The automation only watches this label, so newsletters never get an auto-reply.

Scenario A: client emails

Create a free Make account and a new scenario with these modules:

• Gmail › Watch Emails, folder: the Clients label.
• A filter: continue only if the sender's address does not contain no-reply or noreply.
• Google Sheets › Add a Row in Client inbox: Date = now, Channel = Email, Name = sender name, Contact = sender email, Message = subject + the first lines of the email, Status = New.
• Gmail › Send an Email to the sender: your instant reply (text below).
• HTTP › Make a request: method POST, URL https://ntfy.sh/your-topic, body type Raw, content New email from {{sender name}}.

Set it to run every 15 minutes (the free plan's shortest interval) and switch it ON.

Hi {{first name}},

Thanks for your message, it's well received. I'll get back to you personally within [2 business hours].

[Your name]
[Your business]

Scenario B: your website form

• Webhooks › Custom webhook: click Add, name it, copy the address.
• A filter: continue only if the hidden website field is empty (a spam trap: bots fill it in, people don't).
• Google Sheets › Add a Row: Channel = Website form, then name, email, message from the webhook.
• Gmail › Send an Email to the email they entered: the same instant reply.
• HTTP › Make a request to ntfy: New form request from {{name}}.
• Webhooks › Webhook response, status 200, body {"ok": true}.

Then point your form at the webhook. If you don't have a form yet, paste this into claude.ai:

Create a single index.html file: a contact form for [my business], in [my colors].
- Fields: name, email, message. All required, with clear labels.
- Add a hidden field called "website", left empty (a spam trap for bots).
- On submit, POST JSON {name, email, message, website} to [MY WEBHOOK URL].
- If the answer contains "ok": true, show "Thanks! You'll get a confirmation email in a minute."
- Disable the button while sending. If the network fails, show a clear error message.
- Mobile first, accessible, no external libraries.

Already have a form (Webflow, WordPress, Tally…)? Most of them can send submissions to a webhook address: look for "webhook" in the form's settings.

Test it

• Send yourself an email that matches your Gmail filter: within 15 minutes, a row appears, you get the auto-reply and your phone pings.
• Send the form: the row, the email and the ping arrive within seconds.
• Send a newsletter-style email that doesn't match the filter: nothing should happen.

Instagram DMs

For the instant reply, use Instagram's own tools, free: in Meta Business Suite, open Inbox › Automations and turn on an instant reply for Instagram, with the same text as your email reply. Your Instagram must be a professional account linked to a Facebook Page.

Getting Instagram DMs into the sheet too is possible, but not on free tools: Make's Instagram app doesn't read DMs. DM tools like ManyChat can send each new DM to your scenario B webhook, on their paid plans. Meta's screens change often: if a menu has moved, search "instant reply" in Business Suite's help.