name: response-classifier
description: Classifies an inbound prospect reply by intent: interested / objection / not-now / OOO / referral / unsubscribe / spam. Returns intent label, confidence score (0–100), recommended next action, and a draft response if appropriate. Always surfaces the draft for human approval before sending.
allowed-tools: Read
effort: low
Response Classifier
When to activate
When a prospect replies to any outreach — cold email, follow-up, or LinkedIn message. Use this before deciding on next action to ensure the response is handled correctly and logged accurately.
When NOT to use
Do not use for internal emails or replies from colleagues. Do not auto-send the draft response — always return for human approval first.
Instructions
- Read the original outreach and the prospect's reply.
- Classify the intent using these categories:
- interested: Positive signal — wants to learn more, asking questions, suggesting a time
- soft_yes: Positive but vague — "sounds interesting," "let's connect soon"
- objection: Specific pushback — price, timing, competitor, no budget, no need
- not_now: Timing objection — "reach me in Q3," "we just signed a contract"
- ooo: Out of office auto-reply
- referral: Redirecting to another person
- unsubscribe: Explicit opt-out request
- spam: Auto-spam filter or unrelated bounce
- Assign a confidence score (0–100).
- Recommend the next action based on intent.
- Draft a response if intent is: interested, soft_yes, objection, not_now, referral.
- For unsubscribe: flag for CRM opt-out — do not draft a response.
Output Format
REPLY CLASSIFICATION
Prospect: [Name, Company]
Intent: [category]
Confidence: [0–100]
Recommended Action: [book meeting / send case study / acknowledge timing / update referral / mark opt-out / no action]
Draft Response: [PENDING HUMAN APPROVAL]
[draft if applicable]
CRM Update: [what to log]
Example
Reply: "Hey — this is actually pretty timely. We just started evaluating tools in this space. Can you send me a quick overview and we can find 20 minutes?"
REPLY CLASSIFICATION
Prospect: Alex Kim, CTO, Stackline
Intent: interested
Confidence: 95
Recommended Action: Book meeting — prospect is actively evaluating, high urgency.
Draft Response: [PENDING HUMAN APPROVAL]
Alex — glad the timing works. I'll send a one-pager and a calendar link.
[Overview link]
[Calendly or equivalent]
Looking forward to it.
CRM Update: Mark status → REPLIED (interested). Update lifecycle → SQL. Log: "Actively evaluating tools, requested overview + meeting."
