Blog

Most small-business owners lose an hour or more every day to email. Not the easy ones — the ones you put off because they’re awkward, touchy, or just tedious. Those are exactly the emails Claude is good at drafting. Here are five you can hand it today.

1. The late-payment reminder

Tell Claude who the customer is, what they owe, how late it is, and how firm you want to be. Ask for a polite first reminder and a firmer second one. You’ll get two drafts that are clear about the amount and due date without sounding angry.

Try: “Write a friendly but firm reminder to a customer whose $840 invoice is 30 days past due. Keep it under 100 words and offer to set up a payment plan.”

2. The reply to an upset customer

Paste the customer’s message (leave out anything private) and explain what actually happened. Ask Claude to acknowledge the problem, say what you’re doing about it, and keep it short. It’s much easier to edit a calm draft than to write one while you’re frustrated.

3. The schedule change

Rain delay, sick employee, late delivery — give Claude the new date and the reason, and ask for a message that apologizes once and gets straight to the new plan.

4. The follow-up you keep forgetting

After a quote, a meeting, or a phone call, ask Claude to turn your notes into a short follow-up with the next step and a date. Sending it the same day wins more work than any sales trick.

5. The “thanks for your business” note

A two-line thank-you with a request for a review is easy to skip and pays off. Have Claude write three versions and pick the one that sounds like you.

Make it sound like you

Paste two or three emails you’ve written in the past and ask Claude to match the tone. Save that instruction so you don’t have to repeat it.

Always check before you send

Claude writes confidently even when a detail is wrong. Check every name, date, and dollar amount against your own records before anything goes out — and never paste in account numbers or private customer information.

Want help setting this up for your own inbox? Book a free 30-minute fit call.

You don’t need expensive inventory software to stop running out of the things you sell or use every day. A simple spreadsheet and a weekly routine with Claude will cover most small shops and service businesses.

Step 1: Build the sheet

Ask Claude: “Create an inventory spreadsheet with columns for item, supplier, unit cost, on hand, reorder point, and reorder quantity.” Then fill in your items. The reorder point is the number where you should order more — for example, if you use about 4 boxes a week and delivery takes a week, reorder when you’re down to 6.

Step 2: Count once a week

Walk the shelves and update the “on hand” column. Some people count on paper and have Claude type it up; others take a photo of a handwritten count sheet and ask Claude to turn it into a table.

Step 3: Ask what needs ordering

Give Claude the updated sheet and ask: “Which items are at or below their reorder point? Draft an order email to each supplier with the reorder quantities.” You’ll get a short list and ready-to-send emails.

Step 4: Check, then send

Look over the quantities before you send anything. If a count was wrong, fix it in the sheet first so next week’s numbers are right.

Going further

• Ask Claude to flag slow-moving items you’re over-buying.
• Compare two supplier quotes side by side.
• Track what each job used, so your estimates get more accurate.

Want a sheet built around your own products? Book a free 30-minute fit call.

Most people use Claude as a chat window: you type a question, it answers. Cowork, in the Claude desktop app, goes a step further. It lets Claude work with files on your computer and carry out multi-step jobs — while you watch and approve what it does.

What it’s good for

• Organizing files: sorting a messy downloads folder into folders by customer, job, or month, and renaming files so you can find them.
• Working through a pile of documents: reading a folder of invoices or quotes and pulling the key numbers into one spreadsheet.
• Producing finished files: turning your notes into a formatted document, spreadsheet, or report.

How you stay in control

You choose which folders Claude can work in. Claude lays out what it plans to do, and you can check the results before relying on them. Start with a copy of your files the first few times, until you’re comfortable with how it works.

Should your business use it?

If you spend time every week shuffling files, retyping numbers from one document into another, or building the same report over and over, Cowork is worth a look. If you mostly need help writing emails and answering questions, the regular Claude chat may be all you need.

A few ground rules

• Only give access to the folders a task actually needs.
• Keep sensitive customer and financial records out unless you’ve thought it through.
• Check the output — especially numbers — before you use it.

Want to try Cowork on a real task from your business? Book a free 30-minute fit call.

AI tools like Claude can save a small business hours every week. But before you start pasting things in, every office needs one simple house rule: what never goes in.

Keep these out

• Account and card numbers — bank accounts, credit cards, routing numbers.
• Social Security numbers and ID numbers.
• Passwords and login details of any kind.
• Health information about patients, customers, or employees.
• Anything your contracts or industry rules say must stay private.

When you need Claude’s help with a document that contains private details, remove or replace them first — “Customer A” works just as well as a real name for drafting a letter.

The three quick checks

AI writes with total confidence, even when it’s wrong. Before anything goes out the door, check:

1. Numbers: every price, quantity, date, and total against your own records.
2. Names and facts: people, places, and anything Claude “remembered” that you didn’t give it.
3. Promises: make sure the draft doesn’t commit you to something you wouldn’t say yourself.

Write it down

Put your never-goes-in list and the three checks on one page and post it by every computer. It takes ten minutes and prevents the most common — and most expensive — AI mistakes.

Want help setting house rules for your office? Book a free 30-minute fit call.