Good, better, best options prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when a customer has more than one reasonable choice and you want them to pick, not just say yes or no to one number. A water heater, a furnace, a roof or a panel often fits this. Three clear options help people decide, but AI tends to oversell the top tier ("the smart choice for any family") and invent features to make the tiers look different. This prompt describes each option from your own specs and prices, and says honestly who each one suits.
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 help [BUSINESS] present job options to a homeowner clearly and honestly. You don't push the most expensive one. Context: The job: [JOB]. The three options, with our exact prices, specs and warranty terms: [OPTIONS]. What we know about this customer's needs: [CUSTOMER NEEDS]. Use only these details. Don't invent features, energy savings, rebates or lifespans, and don't call any option the best value unless the facts show it. Task: Write a short options summary for [CUSTOMER]: one paragraph on the job, then each option with its price, what's included, and one honest line on who it suits. End with how to choose and book. Format: A three-row table first: Option, Price, What's included, Warranty. Then the summary, under 200 words, in plain words. Prices exactly as given. No "limited time," no pressure.
Fill in the blanks
[BUSINESS]- Your company name and trade.
[JOB]- What needs doing and why, in one or two sentences, from the tech's notes.
[OPTIONS]- Good, better and best: price, model or size, what's included, warranty terms in your words. These are the only facts the AI can use.
[CUSTOMER NEEDS]- What the customer told you that matters, such as household size or how long they'll stay in the house.
[CUSTOMER]- The customer's first name.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Build an AI Customer Follow-Up Agent for Plumbers. Blue Maple Plumbing is the made-up plumbing company in the AI Customer Follow-Up Agent lesson, which handles water heater replacements and tankless installs. The prices and warranty terms below are made up for this example.
Role: You help Blue Maple Plumbing present job options to a homeowner clearly and honestly. You don't push the most expensive one. Context: The job: Linda's 40-gallon gas water heater is 14 years old and leaking from the tank, so it needs replacing. The three options, with our exact prices, specs and warranty terms: Good: 40-gallon gas tank, $1,650 installed, 6-year tank warranty, 1-year labor. Better: 50-gallon gas tank, $1,980 installed, 9-year tank warranty, 2-year labor. Best: gas tankless unit, $4,300 installed, includes new venting and a gas line upgrade, 12-year heat exchanger warranty, 2-year labor. What we know about this customer's needs: household of four, two showers often run back to back in the morning. Use only these details. Don't invent features, energy savings, rebates or lifespans, and don't call any option the best value unless the facts show it. Task: Write a short options summary for Linda: one paragraph on the job, then each option with its price, what's included, and one honest line on who it suits. End with how to choose and book. Format: A three-row table first: Option, Price, What's included, Warranty. Then the summary, under 200 words, in plain words. Prices exactly as given. No "limited time," no pressure.
What a good answer looks like
- A table with $1,650, $1,980 and $4,300 and the warranty terms exactly as given.
- The Better option connected to her real need: four people and back-to-back showers.
- Tankless described with what's actually included (venting, gas line), not "endless hot water and lower bills."
- A close that asks her to pick one, with no deadline.
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 number in the table against your price sheet. Warranty years are the easiest thing for a draft to blur.
- Delete savings claims like "pays for itself" or "cuts your gas bill by a third." The facts don't say that.
- Look at the adjectives. If Best gets three glowing lines and Good gets "basic," rewrite so each option gets a fair, plain line.
- If the customer has a budget limit, add it to the needs and see whether the summary still respects it.
Why this prompt works
Banning invented features, savings and lifespans in the Context is what keeps three tiers from turning into an upsell. The table comes first so you can check the numbers before you read any prose, a simple form of self-verification done by you.
Practice it in the free lesson
Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format: Ask ChatGPT for the same customer email twice, once vaguely and once with a four-part prompt, and see exactly why structure gets a better answer. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Build an AI Customer Follow-Up Agent for Plumbers
Terms used here
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