# Reply drafting

Read [the shared voice profile](../../../shared/voice-profile.md) 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."
```