About 25 minutes to set up · claude.ai only

Answer the same twenty questions without retyping them

Today

The shared inbox asks the same things every week. Sizing, where is my order, can I change the address, is this the right fit for my model, how do returns work. Two people retype those answers all day and every version sounds slightly different.

With Claude

You have one approved reply per question, in your voice, with blanks where real order details go. A new hire on their second day sends the answer you would have sent.

The prompt

Paste this into claude.ai and replace anything in brackets.

You are helping me build a reply library for my store's customer service inbox. The point is one approved answer per recurring question, in our voice, that anyone on the team can use.

Our actual replies, pasted from our inbox so you can hear how we talk: [paste ten to fifteen real replies you were happy with, with customer names, emails, and addresses removed]
Our policies, in our own words: [paste your returns, exchange, warranty, and shipping policy text, or write SEE PROJECT KNOWLEDGE]
The questions we answer over and over: [list them, for example sizing, order status, address change, return request, damaged on arrival, discount code will not apply, is this compatible with X]

Rules that override everything else:
1. You cannot see our store, our inventory, our carriers, or any order. Never write a stock level, a tracking number, a ship date, a delivery estimate, or an order status. Use a placeholder like [ORDER NUMBER], [SHIP DATE FROM SYSTEM], or [TRACKING LINK] wherever a real detail belongs.
2. Never invent a policy. If a question cannot be answered from the policy text I pasted, say so and write the question in a list called POLICY GAPS instead of drafting an answer.
3. Do not apologize twice in one reply and do not promise anything the policy does not already promise.

For each question give me:
1. A short reply, under 80 words, for the version of this question that is simple.
2. A longer reply for the version where the customer is already annoyed. Acknowledge the specific problem in the first sentence, state what happens next, and give one clear action.
3. The subject line, if it is an email rather than a chat reply.
4. A one line note: SEND AS IS, or NEEDS A HUMAN, and if it needs a human, what they have to check first.

End with POLICY GAPS: every question our written policy does not actually answer, in priority order.

What to skip in ecommerce and retail businesses

  • Anything that depends on what your systems say right now. In a plain browser chat with no connectors, Claude cannot see your inventory, order status, tracking, carrier delays, live prices, or your storefront, so it must never state them. A description that says in stock and ships tomorrow, or a chargeback response that asserts a delivery date Claude cannot see, is worse than no draft at all. Keep those as bracketed placeholders that a person fills from the real system before anything goes out.
  • Product claims a human has not verified against supplier documentation. Claude will write a confident sentence about materials, certifications, country of origin, warranty terms, or compatibility because that is how product copy usually reads, and it has no way to know whether yours is true. Health, safety, supplement, cosmetic, and children's products are the sharp end of this: phrases like clinically proven, FDA approved, non-toxic, hypoallergenic, or BPA free carry real regulatory weight in the US. Draft with Claude, then verify every claim against the spec sheet or certificate before it is published.
  • Raw customer data. Strip names, email addresses, shipping addresses, phone numbers, and order numbers out of any export before you paste it, and never paste payment card details anywhere. You lose nothing analytically, because the useful signal is in what people wrote. Know your plan too: on Free, Pro, and Max accounts, whether your chats are used to improve Claude is a setting you control in Privacy Settings, while Team and Enterprise accounts sit under Anthropic's commercial terms instead.

Want all 4 workflows for ecommerce and retail businesses in your inbox?

Every prompt on this page plus the rest, so you still have them on Monday. One email, then four short ones on making it stick. Unsubscribe any time.

Or answer four questions and Claude writes three workflows for your specific business rather than the industry generally.

Before you try it

More for ecommerce and retail businesses

Full guide for ecommerce and retail businesses