Draft polite but firm emails
A practical way to use AI for this job in a small business, with a prompt you can copy.
A client's ignored your last two emails, a supplier sent the wrong order again, or a contractor's three days late. You need to write something firm. What you want to write is not printable.
The prompt
Help me write an email to [person/role]. Situation: [what happened]. What I want: [outcome]. Tone: polite, firm, no grovelling. Keep it under 150 words.
Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own details. Don't paste in anything you wouldn't want stored by the AI provider.
Steps
- Describe the situation honestly.
- Run the prompt.
- Remove anything you wouldn't say in person.
- Send it.
A worked example
A Canberra graphic designer's client keeps adding 'small changes' that aren't in the quote. She types her honest, slightly cranky version into Claude and asks for a polite but firm email that restates the scope, explains extra changes are billed at her hourly rate, and offers a quick call.
The result is calm and clear. She adds the actual hourly rate (plus GST) and sends it. The client replies within an hour, apologises and approves the extra cost.
Where it goes wrong
AI tends to over-apologise. If the draft says sorry three times, cut two. It also softens deadlines into suggestions, so put your actual date back in, in bold if you need to. And don't let it add promises you didn't make, like a discount to smooth things over. Firm means clear: what happened, what you need, and by when.
Time saved
Tricky emails can eat 20 to 40 minutes of rewriting and second-guessing. AI gets you a usable draft in five. These are my estimates for a typical small business, not measured results.
What it costs (AUD)
Free plans are plenty for occasional tricky emails.
The free plans of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini handle this fine. If you end up using AI every day, the paid plans are roughly: ChatGPT Plus approx. A$30 a month, Claude Pro approx. A$29 a month billed monthly (US$20, or about A$24 a month if you pay yearly), and Google AI Pro approx. A$33 a month through the App Store. Prices approx., October 2026. Some are billed in US dollars, so your bank may add a foreign transaction fee. Check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.
Australian notes
If you're quoting extra costs, say whether they include GST. If the email is about a debt or a legal dispute, keep it factual and avoid threats. For anything that could end up in a tribunal (like NCAT or VCAT), get proper advice before you send.
Privacy: the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) cover most businesses turning over more than $3 million, plus some smaller ones such as health providers. Even if you're under the threshold, treat customer details with care: strip names, phone numbers and addresses before you paste anything into an AI tool.
My verdict
Great for the emails you've been avoiding. You still need to hit send.
Common questions
Won't it sound robotic?
Ask for 'plain, friendly Australian English' and edit the first and last lines. Those carry the tone.
Should I send it straight away?
Read it once more after a coffee. If it still feels right, send.
What if they reply angrily?
Run their reply and your draft response through the same prompt. Stay calm and stick to facts.
Do this today
Think of the email you've been avoiding. Write the blunt version, paste it in, and ask for a polite but firm rewrite.
More admin use cases
- Summarise long email threads
- Turn meeting notes into actions
- Write a standard operating procedure (SOP)
Next: Turn meeting notes into actions · All admin · Want a bot to do this automatically? See bot setup guides.