Two separate things live under messaging, and it helps to keep them apart:
- The inbox — conversations. You write, the customer replies, it threads.
- Templates — your own words injected into the emails the app sends by itself. Nobody types those; you author them once.
The inbox
Open it from the envelope in the top bar. The badge counts unread threads, and it refreshes on its own while you work.
One thread per customer. Writing to a customer who has never been written to starts the thread; writing to one who has adds to it. There is no "which conversation was that in" — there is one, and it holds everything.
Threads are filtered by All, Unread and Archived, with live counts from the server rather than from whatever page you happen to have loaded.
- Archive files a thread without deleting it, and it comes back the moment the customer replies.
- Mark all read clears the badge when you've triaged rather than answered.
You can attach files — images, PDFs, spreadsheets, documents, up to 10 MB each.
Note
A customer with no email address on file can't be messaged, and the app says so rather than failing quietly. Add the address on the customer record first.
Replies come back in
Customer replies are delivered back into the thread automatically. They don't land in somebody's personal mailbox and they don't get lost in a forward — the whole exchange stays in one place, visible to everyone on the team.
A reply the system can't match to a thread is logged rather than dropped, so it can be found.
Messages on an order
An order has its own conversation panel, so the exchange about this job sits with the job. It's the same machinery — the customer's replies still thread — but the context is the order rather than the customer as a whole.
Suggested replies
Where it is enabled, a sparkle in the composer drafts a reply from the thread so far, which you then edit and send. It writes into the box; it never sends anything. If you don't see the control, it isn't switched on for your account.
Templates: your words on the app's emails
Included in GrowthGarageFlow sends a set of emails on its own — the estimate, the "we got your answer" acknowledgement, the "vehicle is ready", the payment reminder. They are well-structured and correct, and they sound like software.
Templates fix that. Under Settings → Messaging each of these carries an editable message that appears above the structured content. You are writing the human paragraph at the top, not rebuilding the email.
| Template | Rides on |
|---|---|
| Estimate Ready | The estimate you send from an order. |
| Estimate Response Received | Confirmation after a customer responds. |
| Order Status Update | Any status change other than completed. |
| Vehicle Ready for Pickup | The completed-order email. |
| Payment Reminder | Invoice reminders. |
| Appointment Confirmation | Booking confirmations. |
| Appointment Reminder | The pre-visit reminder. |
Warning
The two appointment templates are the whole email; the other five are an intro block. So the appointment ones ship switched on with sensible default text, and the other five ship switched off — installing a feature should never change what your customers receive until you decide it should.
That is also the answer to the most common question about this screen: nothing you see here is being sent until you turn it on.
Merge tags
Write {First Name} and it becomes the customer's first name. The tags are
case-insensitive and the available set depends on the template:
| Tag | Available on |
|---|---|
{First Name}, {Last Name} | All |
{Shop Name} | All |
{Vehicle} | All |
{Order Number} | Order and estimate templates |
{Status} | Order Status Update |
{Invoice Number}, {Amount Due}, {Due Date} | Payment Reminder |
{Appt Start Date}, {Appt Start Time} | Appointment templates |
A tag with nothing behind it renders empty rather than printing the tag, so a
customer never receives a {First Name} where their name should be.
Language
Templates are seeded in your shop's primary language, and each email is rendered in the recipient's own language where they have one set. See customers and vehicles for setting a language per customer.
What stops a send
Only the customer's opt-in switches, and only on the automated follow-ups — appointment reminders and payment reminders. A message you type in the inbox and press send on is sent. The customer's stated preferred contact method is a note for your team; it gates nothing.
Troubleshooting
"I turned on a template and nothing changed." The five intro-block templates only appear on their own email — the Estimate Ready text shows up when you send an estimate, not on the next message you type.
"Customers aren't getting status emails." Order Status Update is off until you activate it, and completed is handled by its own email rather than that template.
"A reply didn't reach the inbox." It couldn't be matched to a thread. Replying to the original email keeps the thread; a fresh email from a different address may not match.
"The Messaging settings page says I need to upgrade." Templates are a Growth feature. The inbox is not.
"There's no sparkle in the composer." Suggested replies aren't enabled for your account.