Automations that understand customer replies
Build Concierge workflows can now understand what a customer is replying to by looking back at recent conversations. That means short replies like “Yes” or “Please go ahead” can trigger the right next step automatically.
Customers do not always reply with the full story.
They might say:
“Yes”
“Can we move it?”
“Please go ahead”
“I’m not available tomorrow”
For a person, those replies are easy to understand because they can look at the messages that came before.
Now, Build Concierge workflows can do the same.
With Recent Interactions, workflows can access a contact’s recent communication history across email, SMS, WhatsApp and phone interactions.
That means an automation can understand what the customer is replying to, connect the message to the right job, quote, visit or request, and take the next step automatically.
- No manual checking.
- No asking customers to repeat themselves.
- No vague replies sitting in an inbox.
Want to see this in your own processes?
What is Recent Interactions?
Recent Interactions is a workflow action that lets Build Concierge look back at recent communications with a contact.
Until now, most automations could only work with the information available in the latest message or starting action.
That meant every interaction was treated on its own.
So if a customer replied with: “Yes”
The workflow might not know what they were saying yes to.
- Was it confirming an engineer visit?
- Approving a quote?
- Agreeing to follow-on work?
- Responding to an appointment reminder?
Recent Interactions gives the workflow the missing context. Instead of only reading the latest reply, the workflow can look at what has already been discussed and make an informed decision.
Why customer replies need context
A lot of service admin happens because customer replies are short, unclear or missing key details. Someone in the office often has to:
- Open the customer message.
- Work out what they are replying to.
- Search for the right job, quote or appointment.
- Check the previous conversation.
- Update the job management system.
- Add notes.
- Notify the right team.
It is not complicated work, but it still takes time. When your team is busy, those small checks can slow down job updates, delay scheduling and create more back-and-forth with customers.
Recent Interactions helps remove that manual step.
Examples of Recent Interactions in practice
Confirming an appointment
A workflow sends a WhatsApp message to a customer:
“Your engineer is due tomorrow for job 12345. Please reply to confirm if this still works for you.”
The customer replies:
“Yes.”
Before, someone may have needed to check the message history, find the job reference, open the job and mark the appointment as confirmed.
With Recent Interactions, the workflow can look back at the recent message, understand which job the customer is confirming, and update the job automatically.
- No asking the customer to repeat the job reference.
- No manual checking.
- No delay in updating the job.
Rearranging a visit
A customer receives an appointment reminder and replies:
“I can’t do tomorrow. Can we move it?”
On its own, that message does not include the job number, appointment time or site details.
With Recent Interactions, the workflow can understand which visit the customer is talking about. It can then flag the job for rescheduling, add the customer’s message to the job notes, or notify the scheduling team.
Instead of sitting as a vague reply in an inbox, the message is connected to the right job straight away.
Approving a quote
A customer is sent a quote and later replies:
“Please go ahead.”
Without context, someone may need to check which quote they are approving.
With Recent Interactions, the workflow can look back at the previous conversation, understand what the customer is approving, and trigger the next step.
That could mean updating the job, notifying the team or moving the work forward automatically.
Giving your team instant context
Recent Interactions can also be used to create a quick AI summary of recent customer communication.
For example:
“Customer was contacted about tomorrow’s visit and confirmed availability by WhatsApp. No further action needed.”
Or:
“Customer asked to rearrange their appointment. They have not provided a preferred date. Follow-up required.”
That gives your team the context they need without searching through multiple messages.
Could your team save time by automating replies like these?
Ready to stop checking every customer reply manually?
When should you use Recent Interactions?
Use Recent Interactions when a workflow needs to understand what happened before the latest message.
It is especially useful when customers reply with short or unclear responses, such as:
“Yes”
“That’s fine”
“Can we move it?”
“Please go ahead”
“I’m not available then”
These replies often make sense to a person, but only because they can see the earlier conversation.
Recent Interactions gives your workflow that same context, so it can work out what the customer is referring to and decide what should happen next.
You may want to add Recent Interactions to workflows that handle:
- Appointment confirmations
- Reschedule requests
- Quote approvals
- Follow-on work responses
- Customer reminders
- Job update replies
- Messages that need to be linked back to a job
If the workflow is confident, it can take the next step automatically.
If it is not confident, it can flag the message for a team member to review.
That means you can automate more customer replies without losing control.
Already using workflows?
Speak to us about where Recent Interactions could add more context to your existing automations.
How the workflow works
A Recent Interactions workflow follows the same logic your team would usually follow manually.
Every workflow needs a starting point, one or more actions, and sometimes a condition if the process involves a decision.
A simple workflow could look like this:
1. Starting action
A customer replies by WhatsApp, SMS or email.
2. Recent Interactions
Build Concierge looks back at recent communication with that contact.
3. AI understanding
The workflow works out what the customer is referring to.
4. Condition
The workflow checks what type of reply it is.
5. Action
Build Concierge updates the job, adds a note, flags a request or notifies the right team.
A simple condition in practice
Imagine a customer replies to an appointment reminder.
The workflow checks the recent conversation and understands that the reply relates to tomorrow’s engineer visit.
Is the customer confirming the visit?
Outcome 1: Yes.
Mark the appointment as confirmed and update the job notes.
Outcome 2: No, they want to rearrange.
Flag the job for rescheduling and notify the scheduling team.
Outcome 3: Unsure.
Create a task for the team to review.
The principle is simple: if your team would normally read the conversation before deciding what to do, the workflow can now use 'Recent Interactions' to help make that decision automatically.
Simple replies can unlock big time savings. When workflows understand the context, they can connect the message to the right job and trigger the next step automatically.
The benefits of Recent Interactions
- Turn simple replies into next steps
Replies like “Yes” or “Please go ahead” can trigger the right action. - Reduce manual checking
Stop searching conversations to understand what a customer means. - Update jobs faster
Connect confirmations, changes and approvals to the right job. - Ask customers fewer repeat questions
Customers do not need to resend job references or explain the same request again. - Keep communication joined up
Use context across email, SMS, WhatsApp and phone interactions.
In simple terms
Your customers can reply naturally. Your workflows can understand the context. Your team can spend less time joining the dots manually.
Ready to try Recent Interactions?
Get in touch with the Build Concierge team to see how this could work in your customer communication workflows.
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