Library › Customer Support & Success AI › Small business owners

Reschedule a bike repair with two options and a one-letter reply

  • For Small business owners
  • You practice Setting limits and rules
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Beginner

About this exercise

Write an email to Noor. First line exactly "Hi Noor," and last line exactly "Gus, Spoke & Co". Offer the two new slots, ask her to reply with just A or B, and say her $20 deposit still applies. Do not say "unfortunately". Plain text, under 70 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Adding a third option. The AI offers extra times. Try: Say: "Only options A and B."
  • Using stock apologies. The AI writes 'unfortunately'. Try: Say: "Never use the word unfortunately."
  • Missing the exact lines. The AI writes its own greeting and sign-off. Try: Quote the first and last lines.
  • Getting markdown back. AI adds bold and headings by default, which show up as stray symbols where this is pasted. Try: Say "plain text, no bold, no headings, no asterisks".
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and usually runs long, so a vague "keep it short" lands well over the limit. Try: Cap each part instead of the total, for example "each line under 15 words".

What a strong prompt includes

  • Quotes first and last lines
  • Asks for an A or B reply
  • Mentions the deposit
  • Asks for plain text
  • Sets a length limit

Practice this now ↑

Related exercises