Did you know that you have a mini-autoresponder system available right inside your Gmail account? It’s true. Gmail has a feature called Canned Responses, and it’s one of the most useful and least known about Labs in Gmail.

I honestly don’t know what I’d do without my Gmail Canned Responses. Seriously. They save me so much time while I’m checking my email because I can quickly and effortlessly send out a pre-written response about certain questions or inquiries that frequently hit my inbox without hardly thinking about it.

To enable the Canned Responses setting in your Gmail account, go to Settings > Labs Tab > Enable Canned Responses > Save your settings. From now on, when you compose a message, you’ll see a Canned Responses Link in your editor, and you can click on the drop down link to Save your first Canned Response. You’ll also have the option to Insert Canned Responses you’ve already saved and delete old Canned Responses you don’t need anymore. Just select the one you want, and insert into your email!

Here are some of my favorite uses for Gmail’s Canned Responses

1. Business Inquiries

Streamline your client intake system by creating a Canned Response template that you can send to those who are inquiring about your services. Include a short bio, your pricing information, list of services, and a an invitation for them to join your mailing list + find you on social media. (BONUS POINTS: Make another Canned Response to send out with your appointment scheduling link when they reply that they want a free consultation!)

2. Survey Response Emails

Many entrepreneurs use online surveys to gather feedback from their clients and customers. Finally stay on top of your follow up emails and include a nice thank you message. Consider including a link to a free gift or bonus to show them how much you value their time. When you receive a notification of a new completed survey, fire off a Canned Response. You’ll save time, show them how much you appreciate their feedback instead of spending the afternoon writing thank you emails.

3. Order Confirmation Emails

If you don’t have a fancy shopping cart set up yet, or you’re still using PayPal as your payment gateway (absolutely nothing wrong with that!) you can set up an Order Confirmation email as a Canned Response. When you get a notification email from PayPal about a new sale, simply create a new email, choose the appropriate Canned Response, and press send.

Do This Now

Turn on the Canned Responses feature in your Gmail account. Think of at least 2 ways that you can utilize this little lab gem to save yourself tons of time while responding to emails. Of course, share your Canned Response ideas in the comments section!