For businesses
Received an email from StandIn?
It's from a real customer. They use StandIn, an assistant that emails businesses on a person's behalf, and they asked it to write to businesses like yours. Yours is one of them.
It came from myagent@standinfor.me, with "StandIn" as the sender's name. A short note sits on top, and the customer's letter follows in full. Reply the way you'd reply to any customer: you'll get your answer back as a draft, and once you approve it, it goes to that customer's StandIn, which may ask you a follow-up question and reports back to the customer.
Sam Ortiz's StandIn has written to you. The letter is below, in full. To answer, just reply to this email.
From Sam Ortiz's StandIn:
Hello,
I'm Sam Ortiz's StandIn, writing on Sam's behalf. Sam is looking for a used Toyota RAV4, 2020 or newer, under $25,000, lives about 12 miles from your lot, and needs adaptive cruise control.
Could you tell me:
- which RAV4s you have in stock that fit,
- the out-the-door price of each, meaning the total Sam would pay with every fee included, and
- whether each one has adaptive cruise control?
Sam is comparing a few dealers this week and will come in to see the car Sam chooses.
Thank you,
Sam Ortiz's StandIn
Sent on behalf of Sam Ortiz by standinfor.me. This assistant corresponds and negotiates on the sender's behalf and has no authority to accept an offer or agree to terms. Any agreement is subject to the sender's own confirmation and a signed written agreement.
What this is
A customer asking you for an offer — with the details already in.
Nobody is selling you anything. A person with a real need wants to know what you can offer them. They told their StandIn what they need, so the email already says what they want, where they are, and what matters to them.
One customer, one request.
Each email is one person's request, sent only to businesses that fit it: what they sell and where they are. It's not advertising, and you're not being added to a mailing list.
The customer decides. You close the sale directly.
StandIn gathers answers and negotiates for the customer, but it has no authority to accept an offer or agree to terms for them; the footer of every email says so. The customer decides. If they choose you, the agreement is made directly between you and them, and standinfor.me is not part of that transaction.
Nothing to sign up for.
Your address came from public business information, such as business listings or your own website, or the customer gave it. You don't need an account to answer: just reply to the email. Before your first answer goes out, you see it as a draft and approve it.
How to reply
How to make sure your offer reaches the customer.
The customer typically sees the best few offers, chosen by comparing what each business actually wrote back. The reply that gets through is the one that answers the questions.
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Answer the questions that were asked, in the email.
What you have, what it costs, when it's available, what the terms are: whatever the email asks. A concrete total price beats "come in and we'll talk". StandIn can't take a phone call or fill in a form on your website, so a reply that only says "call us" gives the customer nothing to compare.
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Just hit reply, and keep the subject line as it is.
Your reply goes to myagent@standinfor.me. You get an email back with your answer written up as a draft. Reply to say it can go out, and it goes to that customer's StandIn; or reply with what to change. The first time you approve, you also accept our Terms. Email programs normally add a hidden reference to a reply that says which email it answers, and that is how your reply finds the right conversation. Some email and ticketing systems drop that reference; an unchanged subject line helps your reply find the conversation even then. Attachments, spec sheets and photos are fine.
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Expect follow-up questions, and possibly a counteroffer.
If something in your reply is unclear, StandIn may ask about it. If another business has offered a better price, it may tell you that price and ask whether you can beat it. It is built to negotiate plainly: no invented competing offers, and no requirements the customer didn't state.
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Put what you promise in writing.
The customer decides based on what was written down: the price, what's included, and how long the offer is good for. Whatever you'd tell them in person, put in the reply.
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Not a fit? Say so.
Reply "not interested", or that nothing you have matches, and that customer's StandIn moves on. If you don't reply at all, expect a polite reminder or two, and then it moves on. To stop hearing from a sender, see how to stop receiving them.
Your own StandIn
Your business can use StandIn too.
Every email address StandIn writes to, yours included, gets its own StandIn at standinfor.me. Yours is what brought this email to you, and it writes up your answers for you to approve. It can do more for your business than that.
It starts with one email.
Write to myagent@standinfor.me from your business's own email address and say what you want handled. There's no app to install and no sign-up form. The first time StandIn is about to send an email on your behalf, you see the draft and approve it before anything goes out; that first approval is also how you accept our Terms.
Inquiries like this one.
It tells you what the customer asked and drafts a reply for you to approve. If you choose, it can send replies on its own; it is built to hold anything that reads as a commitment, such as accepting terms or confirming a price or a date, for your approval first.
Your own purchasing.
It gets quotes from suppliers, freight carriers and service providers, compares them, and negotiates. It can also chase a supplier about a late order or a wrong invoice.
Common questions
Things businesses ask us.
Is this spam?
No. Each email is one customer's request, sent only to businesses that fit it: what they sell and where they are. It is not advertising and not a mailing list. Every email has a link at the bottom where you can stop mail from a particular sender. Our Terms forbid people who use StandIn from sending unsolicited commercial email or bulk messages through it.
Why is the sender "StandIn"?
Because the email was written by an assistant, not by the customer. StandIn always writes under the name "StandIn", and says in the email which customer it is writing for, using the name the customer uses on their own email. The footer at the bottom names them too, and says the assistant has no authority to accept an offer or agree to terms.
Can I get the customer's phone number or personal email?
Not from us: we don't give out a customer's personal email address or phone number. Your replies reach them through their StandIn. If they want a call or a visit, they'll offer it themselves.
How do I stop receiving these?
To turn down one request, reply "not interested", and that customer's StandIn moves on. Every email from StandIn has an "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom: it opens a page where you can stop pitches and partnership proposals, or stop all email to your address. No sign-in is needed. To block one sender, use the "Mail preferences" link next to it; you sign in with a code sent to your address. You can also email hello@standinfor.me and tell us which address. We record the request, and StandIn will no longer write to that address.