03 · THE PROMPTS
The other four: welcome, decline, review request, overdue invoice
The four that people put off. Two of them protect the relationship; two of them protect your time and your cash.
About 8 minutes
These are the four people put off. Two of them set up a relationship properly; two of them protect your time and your cash flow.
5. The welcome
Use the moment someone signs up, books or agrees to work with you.
Write a welcome email for [Your Name] from [Business Name] to new client [Client Name].
They have just [signed up for / purchased / booked]: [service or product name].
Include: a warm welcome and genuine pleasure at working with them; what happens next in 2–3 clear steps [list them]; who their point of contact is and how to reach that person; [optional: any document, login or link they need].
Tone: warm, confident and reassuring — they have made a good decision.
Keep it under 150 words. Include a subject line.
This email sets the tone for everything that follows. Use their name, reference exactly what they signed up for, and make the next step impossible to misread. A vague welcome email creates a client who emails you three times in week one asking what is happening.
6. The polite decline
Use to say no to a project, a partnership, a discount request or a scope that does not fit.
Write a polite decline email for [Your Name] from [Business Name].
I need to decline: [what you are saying no to — a project, a collaboration, a request for a discounted rate].
Recipient: [name and context].
Reason (optional): [a brief honest reason, or leave this blank if you would rather not explain].
Tone: warm, direct and respectful. No over-explaining and no excessive apologising.
Keep it under 80 words. Include a subject line. Leave the door open for future work if that is genuine.
You do not owe anyone a long explanation for a no. Short and warm beats long and apologetic every time, and a three-paragraph decline reads as an invitation to negotiate.
7. The review request
Use when a happy client is at their happiest.
Write a review request email for [Your Name] from [Business Name] to [Client Name].
We recently completed [project or service] for them and the outcome was [brief positive result].
I would like to ask them for [a Google review / a written testimonial / a short video / permission to use their results as a case study].
Link to leave the review, if there is one: [paste your review link].
Tone: genuine and appreciative, not pushy. Make it feel like an easy favour rather than a formal request.
Keep it under 100 words. Include a subject line.
Timing does more work here than wording. Ask within forty-eight hours of finishing, while the result is still fresh. A month later the same email gets ignored by the same happy client.
8. The overdue invoice
Use to chase money without damaging a relationship you want to keep.
Write a payment follow-up email for [Your Name] from [Business Name].
Invoice details: number [number]; amount owing [amount]; original due date [date]; days overdue [X]; recipient [client name and business].
This is: [first reminder / second reminder].
Tone: professional and firm, but not aggressive. Assume it may simply be an oversight.
Include how they can pay: [payment method or link].
Keep it under 100 words. Include a subject line.
Run them in sequence and make each one shorter than the last. First reminder: friendly, assume it got lost. Second: firm, restate the terms. Length signals discomfort, so the short ones land harder. If it's still unpaid after the second, anything about recovery action, an agency or a legal step should come from a qualified professional, not a prompt.
The one thing to remember
Every one of these four gets easier the shorter you make it.
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