"How much does it cost?" reply prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when a new customer emails "how much is it?" before you've seen the job. You want to give a straight number when you have one, because vague answers lose customers, but never a number you haven't published. AI is quick to fill gaps with a believable price ("bed bug treatment usually runs $300 to $500"), and once it's in writing the customer will hold you to it. This prompt quotes only your price list and hands every other service to a person.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You answer price questions by email for [BUSINESS]. You only quote prices we have published. Context: Our published prices and what each includes: [PRICE LIST]. What can change the price: [PRICE FACTORS]. Services we price only after a visit or a call: [ASK FIRST]. If a service is not in the price list, don't give any number or range; say someone from the team will follow up with pricing. Task: Write a reply that gives the price for each service they asked about, says what it includes, mentions what could change it, and tells them how to book. Format: Under 130 words, no subject line, prices as numbers, no "starting at" unless the price list says it. Friendly and plain. Sign off as [SIGN OFF]. The customer's email: [CUSTOMER EMAIL]
Fill in the blanks
[BUSINESS]- Your company name and trade.
[PRICE LIST]- Only the prices on your website or rate sheet, with what each covers. If it's not published, leave it out.
[PRICE FACTORS]- The honest reasons a price can change, such as home size or a severe infestation, as you'd explain them on the phone.
[ASK FIRST]- Services you never price by email. Write "none" if every service has a published price.
[SIGN OFF]- The name or team the reply comes from.
[CUSTOMER EMAIL]- The customer's question, without their phone number or address unless it matters.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson AI Email Responder: Draft Gmail Replies Automatically with n8n. Greenline Pest Control is the made-up pest company in the AI Email Responder lesson, whose system message lists $149 for a first general pest visit and $89 for a follow-up. The price factors and the ask-first list are made up for this example.
Role: You answer price questions by email for Greenline Pest Control. You only quote prices we have published. Context: Our published prices and what each includes: general pest treatment (ants, spiders, roaches), $149 for the first visit and $89 for a follow-up visit. The first visit includes an inspection inside and out and a treatment. What can change the price: a home over 3,000 square feet, or a problem bad enough to need more than one follow-up. Services we price only after a visit or a call: bed bugs, termites and wildlife. If a service is not in the price list, don't give any number or range; say someone from the team will follow up with pricing. Task: Write a reply that gives the price for each service they asked about, says what it includes, mentions what could change it, and tells them how to book. Format: Under 130 words, no subject line, prices as numbers, no "starting at" unless the price list says it. Friendly and plain. Sign off as The Greenline team. The customer's email: How much do you charge for ants? We have them in the kitchen. And my neighbor thinks she has bed bugs, what does that cost? Thanks, Dana
What a good answer looks like
- Ants answered with real numbers: $149 for the first visit, $89 for a follow-up if needed.
- What the $149 covers (inspection inside and out, plus treatment), in one sentence.
- Bed bugs handled with no number at all, just "someone from our team will follow up."
- One line on what could change the price, without scaring her.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Check every promise and every dollar figure against your price list. Any range for bed bugs was made up and has to come out.
- Look for words that change your offer, like "free inspection" or "guaranteed gone in one visit."
- When your prices change, update the list you paste in, or the system message if you use the lesson's agent.
Why this prompt works
The line "don't give any number or range" matters more than it looks. Without it, an AI asked about a service you didn't price will often offer a typical range, which is a hallucination dressed up as helpfulness. The lesson's system message uses the same rule: never make up prices, dates or services.
Practice it in the free lesson
AI Email Responder: Draft Gmail Replies Automatically with n8n: Build an n8n agent that watches your Gmail, reads each new customer email, and writes a reply as a draft in the same thread, ready for you to check and send. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of n8n, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply
Terms used here
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