Written with AI assistance. The prompts below are starting points; results depend on the details you add and the tool you use.
A prompt is a short brief. The more specific it is, the less editing you do afterwards. The shortcut is a fill-in template: a prompt with [brackets] where your details go, saved so you only fill the blanks.
Below are eight, covering parts of a small shop that people often forget about. Each is written to be pasted into ChatGPT or any other AI chat tool.
1. How to fill the brackets
- Replace every [bracket]. A prompt with a bracket left in gets generic output.
- Give real numbers: the date, the order number, the price.
- Say who's reading. "A customer who has waited a week" gets a different reply from "a new customer".
- Ask for a length. "Three sentences" or "under 80 words" saves trimming.
2. Eight fill-in prompts
Product description (listing)
Write a product description for [product]. Buyer: [who]. Key features: [features]. Tone: [tone]. Under [80] words.
Listing titles
Give me 10 listing title options for [product] sold on [platform]. Include [keyword] and keep each under [60] characters.
Shipping update (customer email)
Write a shipping update for order [order number]. It left on [date] with [carrier]; tracking number [number]. Friendly, three sentences.
Delay apology (customer email)
Write a polite apology for a delay on order [order number]. New date: [date]. Offer [remedy]. No excuses, no blame.
Supplier quote
Write a short message to [supplier] asking for a quote on [quantity] of [item], delivery to [place] by [date].
Pricing sums
I pay [cost] per unit plus [shipping] shipping and want about [margin]% margin. Show the maths for a selling price, step by step, so I can check it.
Packing checklist
Make a checklist for packing and posting an order, for a shop that sells [product]. Keep it to [8] steps.
Review request
Write a short, friendly message asking a customer who received [product] to leave a review. Do not offer anything in return.
3. Always check what it writes
AI tools write fluently, including when they're wrong. Before you send or publish anything:
- Check facts, prices, dates and policies against your own records. The tool doesn't know your stock, your carrier or your refund rules unless you told it.
- Redo any maths. The pricing prompt asks for the steps so you can follow them; confirm the answer with a calculator or a spreadsheet.
- Read it aloud. If it doesn't sound like you, change it.
- Don't promise anything on your behalf (refunds, delivery dates, discounts) that you haven't decided yourself.
I haven't measured how well these prompts perform. Results depend on the details you add and the tool you use.
4. Keep them in a sheet you can search
Once you have a few dozen, paste them into a sheet: A Category, B Prompt. Put a search word in B1, then in C4:
=IF($B$1="","",IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH($B$1,B4)),"match",""))
Fill it down, and filter column C for "match". Count the matches with:
=COUNTIF(C4:C104,"match")
SEARCH ignores capital letters, so "Tracking" and "tracking" both find the shipping prompt. With the eight prompts above, searching "tracking" finds one match (the shipping update).
5. Don't paste private details
Leave out customers' full names, addresses, phone numbers and payment details when you use a public AI tool. Use "a customer" and the order number instead.
Written with AI tools. This is general guidance, not business, legal or accounting advice.
Practical spreadsheet templates for small businesses, made with AI assistance.
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