From the book · Unleash Your Business With AI
Chapter 4: Five jobs to hand over this week
The 6 prompts from Chapter 4, ready to copy, with the chapter's mistakes to avoid and three tasks for this week.
Job 1: First drafts
You are writing for [business name], a [what you sell and who you sell to, for example "wholesaler of steel kitchenware selling to retailers in Gujarat"]. Write a WhatsApp message to our [retailers / customers / distributors] announcing our [Diwali / wedding season / year-end] offer. Facts to use, exactly as given: - Offer: [offer details] - Applies to: [products or range] - Valid from [date] to [date] - Conditions: [minimum order, payment terms, or "none"] - Next step for the reader: [call us / reply with your order / visit the showroom] Format: under 80 words, warm and professional, no exaggeration, no emojis. End with the next step. Rules: use only the facts above. Do not add any discount, price, date, stock claim or guarantee that I have not given. If something you need is missing, ask me before you write.
What you should get back: one short message you can edit in a minute, or one or two questions if you left a fact out.
Check: the offer, the dates and the conditions against what you actually decided. Then read it aloud once. If it does not sound like you, reply "simpler words" or "less formal" and read the new version.
That's the first one
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- Job 2: Replies
- Job 3: Summaries
- Job 4: Translations
- Job 4: Translations (2)
- Job 5: Checking
- Mistakes to avoid
- Do this week
Job 2: Replies
Below is a message from a [retail customer / retailer / supplier]. I have removed the name and phone number. Message: "[paste the message]" Facts for the reply (I have checked these myself): - Stock: [in stock / available from a date / not available] - Price: [the price from our price list, or "do not mention price"] - Dispatch or delivery: [what I can honestly say] - Anything else: [for example "minimum order 10 pieces"] Draft a polite reply in [English / Hindi / the same language as the message]. Under 70 words, friendly and clear, no emojis. Rules: answer only from the facts above. Do not invent a price, discount, delivery date or stock position. If the message asks something my facts do not cover, do not guess. Write CHECK in capital letters inside square brackets at that point, followed by what is missing.
What you should get back: a reply ready to edit. Where your facts ran out, you will see a flag such as [CHECK: transport charge].
Check: every figure against the price list. Clear every flag by finding the real answer, not by deleting the flag. Add the customer's name yourself, in WhatsApp, after you paste.
Job 3: Summaries
Summarise the conversation below for a busy business owner. I have removed personal details and replaced names with roles or codes (for example "Supplier A", "Sales manager"). Give me, in short bullet points: 1. What was agreed 2. What is still pending, and who owns each item 3. Every date, quantity and amount mentioned, with the sentence it came from 4. Anything that was asked but never answered Rules: use only what is in the conversation. Do not guess who owns a task. If it is not clear, write "owner not stated". If two messages contradict each other, show both and say so. Conversation: [paste the email thread, WhatsApp group export or meeting notes]
What you should get back: four short lists that you can read in a minute.
Check: pick the two numbers that matter most and find them in the original. A summary can drop a line or merge two speakers. If money or a date depends on a point, read that part of the thread yourself. Chapter 17 extends this job to meetings and action lists.
Job 4: Translations
Translate the message below into [Hindi / Gujarati / Tamil / Marathi / another language] for a [retail customer / karigar / delivery staff / retailer] in [city or region]. Rules: - Keep it simple and respectful, the way a local shopkeeper would speak, not textbook language. - Do not change product names, brand names, sizes, prices, quantities or dates. - If a word has no natural translation, keep the English word. - Do not add or remove any information. - After the translation, list any words or phrases you were unsure about. Message: [paste the English message you have already checked]
What you should get back: the translation, followed by a short list of doubtful phrases.
Check: have someone who speaks the language read it before it goes out. If nobody is available, open a new chat and run this second prompt.
Job 4: Translations (2)
Translate this [language] message into English as literally as you can. Do not improve it. Then point out any words that could be misunderstood, or that sound rude, too formal or odd to a native speaker. Message: [paste the translated message]
What you should get back: a literal English version and any warnings. If the meaning has shifted, fix the English and translate again.
Job 5: Checking
Act as a careful second reader. Below is a [quotation / notice to staff / product listing / message to a customer] that I wrote. Personal details have been removed. Check it and give me a numbered list under these headings: 1. Missing items (for a quotation: GST, validity date, delivery terms, payment terms, units) 2. Wrong or inconsistent units, quantities, dates or names 3. Unclear terms that a customer could read in two ways 4. Lines that could sound rude or careless 5. Anything that would confuse a first-time buyer Rules: do not rewrite the document. Do not correct any price or total yourself. If a total looks wrong, show me the line and your working so that I can check it. If you find nothing under a heading, write "nothing found". Document: [paste]
What you should get back: a numbered list of possible problems, each pointing to a line.
Check: always recheck anything AI flags, and anything it doesn't. A clean report does not mean a clean quotation. For totals, check them yourself in Excel or on a calculator, or ask AI to write the Excel formula and run it on your own sheet. Chapter 18 explains why arithmetic is the one thing you never take on trust. AI does the typing. You own the numbers. That's the rule.
Mistakes to avoid
- Pasting the whole chat export with names and numbers still in it. Clean it first. It is quick, and it is not optional.
- Asking AI for the fact as well as the wording. "What is the delivery time to Jamnagar" is a question for your transporter, not for an assistant that has never seen your godown.
- Sending the draft because it looks finished. Neat formatting is not accuracy. Read every word.
- Translating a message nobody checked in English. An error in the English becomes an error in four languages.
- Trusting a total because it is typed neatly. Recalculate it, or get the formula and run it yourself.
- Starting all five jobs with the whole team on the same day. One job, one person, one week.
Do this week
- Take one message you have to send today: an offer, a notice or a reminder. Run the Job 1 prompt, edit the draft and send it. Save your filled-in prompt in a note on your phone called "My prompts".
- Take the longest supplier or distributor thread on your phone. Remove the personal details, run the Job 3 prompt and compare the "still pending" list with what you remembered.
- Paste the last quotation you sent, with the customer's details removed, into the Job 5 prompt. Fix what it finds in your quotation format, not only in that one quotation.