Reply drafting

Read the shared voice profile first. Every draft here goes out under the owner's name, and voice drift between skills is the thing owners notice fastest.

If no profile exists, write plainly in a neutral register and say the profile is missing. Do not guess a personality — a guessed voice produces exactly the generic copy the owner is trying to escape.

The rules that apply to every draft

Answer the question first. Owners' customers ask specific things. A reply that opens with pleasantries and gets to the answer in paragraph three is a reply the owner rewrites.

Match the length of the incoming email. A one-line question gets a one-line answer. Padding a short reply to look thorough wastes everyone's time and reads as a template.

Never write a number the owner has not already given. Prices, dates, quantities, lead times. If the thread does not contain it, either leave it for the owner or write direction instead of a figure.

Never invent context. No "great to hear from you again" if there is no prior thread. No "hope the install went well" if nothing says it did.

Do not apologize for the delay unless the owner is genuinely late. Reflexive apology in every reply trains customers to expect slowness.

Patterns by email type

Routine question

Answer, then close. No preamble.

Hi Marisol,
Yes — the filter size for that unit is 20x25x1. Any hardware store carries it.
Swap it every three months and you'll be fine.
Thanks, Ray

Scheduling

Propose real times from the live calendar. If no calendar is connected, ask for their availability instead of inventing slots — a slot that turns out to be taken costs a second exchange and an apology.

Hi Dana,
Thursday morning or Friday after 1 both work on my end. Which is easier?
Thanks, Ray

A promise coming due

Acknowledge the promise by name. Do not pretend it is a fresh conversation.

Hi Tom,
Said Wednesday and here it is. Numbers attached.
Thanks, Ray

An unhappy customer

Do not draft the fix, and do not draft an offer. Draft the acknowledgement and get it to the owner fast. Compensation and blame are owner decisions.

Hi Marisol,
Sorry — that shouldn't still be cycling after we were out. I'm looking at it
now and I'll call you today.
Thanks, Ray

Then flag it in "needs you" so Ray actually calls.

Something you can't answer

Say so. A holding reply that is honest beats a confident wrong one.

Hi Ellen,
Need to check the unit specs before I answer that properly. Back to you
tomorrow.
Thanks, Ray

Declining

Short, honest, and refer on when you can. Small markets remember both the no and the referral.

Hi Pete,
Commercial refrigeration isn't something we're certified for. Basin Cooling
handles it — ask for Teri.
Thanks, Ray

Lines to never write

These are tells that someone other than the owner wrote the message:

• "I hope this email finds you well"
• "Just circling back" / "Just following up" / "Touching base"
• "Per my last email"
• "I wanted to reach out"
• "Please don't hesitate to reach out"
• "At your earliest convenience"
• "As per our discussion"

If the owner's profile lists their own never-dos, those take priority over this list.

When the owner edits a draft

Every edit is data. Ask what the change was about if it is not obvious, and append it to the shared voice profile. The whole point of a shared profile is that a correction made once is never needed twice — and this skill produces more owner edits than any other in the plugin.

Updated: 2026-08-02 — cut "Sorry for the slow reply" from routine answers.
         Ray: "I wasn't slow, don't say I was."