{"id":"wri-free-reply-mixed-review","audience":"freelancers","category":"customer-replies","technique":"tone","title":"Reply publicly to a mixed client review without arguing","free":false,"task":"A client left a 3-star review on your freelance profile. Write a public reply under 60 words. The first sentence thanks them for the specific thing they praised, address the late delivery with the neutral fact of what changed, and end with one line on what you do now to prevent it. Never use 'unfortunately', 'per our contract' or the client's name, and don't blame them. Write a prompt that gets that reply.","materialLabel":"The review and your project notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"REVIEW on WorkNest (3 stars), from \"Marcus T., Talbot Bikes\":\n\"Beautiful illustrations, our customers love the new packaging art. But the project was delivered 9 days late, which pushed our product launch. Would hire again but plan for delays.\"\n\nMY PROJECT NOTES (illustrator, Juno Park)\n- Original scope: 4 packaging illustrations, due Sept 12.\n- Sept 3: Marcus added 2 more illustrations (6 total) and a new color palette. I said yes and noted the new due date in chat: Sept 21. He agreed in chat (\"ok sounds good\").\n- Delivered all 6 on Sept 21. So from my side it was on the revised date, but the review says 9 days late (Sept 12 to Sept 21).\n- What I do now: every scope change gets a written change order with the new date, signed before I start.\n- I'm annoyed, but future clients read these replies.\n- Platform rule: replies are public and can't be edited after 24 hours.","rules":[{"type":"maxWords","max":60}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for \"under 60 words\" and it often lands well over.","fix":"Cap each part: \"3 sentences, each under 18 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Opening defensively","why":"The AI starts by correcting the review, which looks petty to future clients.","fix":"Say it: \"Sentence 1 thanks them for the praise about the illustrations.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Arguing or blaming","why":"AI replies say \"the client added work\" or \"the review is inaccurate\", which reads as a fight.","fix":"Add: \"State neutrally that scope grew to 6 and the date moved to Sept 21. No blame.\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"No fix, stock lines","why":"The AI ends with \"Wishing you the best!\" and uses 'unfortunately' or the client's name.","fix":"Add: \"End with my change-order practice. No 'unfortunately', 'per our contract' or names.\"","checks":["r2"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]},{"label":"Leads with thanks for the praise","patterns":["first sentence","thank","praise"]},{"label":"States the facts neutrally","patterns":["neutral","6 illustrations","sept(ember)?\\s*21","scope"]},{"label":"Ends with the fix","patterns":["change order","end with","prevent"]},{"label":"Bans blame and names","patterns":["no blame","don'?t (blame|argue|name)","unfortunately"]}],"hint":"Your reply is really for future clients. Tell the AI to thank first, state facts without blame and end with what you do now.","rubricLabels":["The first sentence thanks them for something they praised (the illustrations or the packaging art customers love)","States neutrally that the scope grew from 4 to 6 illustrations and the due date moved to Sept 21, without calling the review wrong or blaming the client","The last sentence says every scope change now gets a written change order with a new date, and the reply never uses 'unfortunately', 'per our contract', 'Marcus' or 'Talbot'"]}