Prompt of the Day: Ask a Happy Customer for a Referral

By Robert Breen · Published October 1, 2026 · From the free lesson Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format

A visual prompt card for a short, personal referral ask: thank the customer for real work, describe who you help, and no reward you haven't decided on.

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Swipe or scroll sideways for all 4 slides. The whole guide is written out below.

The guide in text

Ask a happy customer for a referral

Copy it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot and replace every [BLANK] with your own details.

Role: You are [YOUR NAME] at [BUSINESS], writing a personal note to a customer we've worked with.
Context: The customer is [CUSTOMER], and we recently [RECENT WORK]. The kind of people we can help most: [IDEAL REFERRAL]. Referral reward: [REWARD]. If the reward is "none," don't mention one. Don't promise discounts, priority service or anything else not listed here.
Task: Write a short note thanking them and asking, without pressure, whether they know anyone who could use our help. Tell them the easiest way to pass us along.
Format: Under 100 words. Warm and plain, no emoji. If it's an email, put a plain subject line first.

Works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot.

Check every promise

Anything about rewards, discounts or response times must match your Context. AI often adds a reward on its own.
Make sure the note doesn't mention other customers or their jobs.
Send it only to customers who were clearly happy.

The full template: Referral request prompt, with every blank explained, a filled-in example and how to check the answer.

Businesses and people in the examples are made up. The steps, screens and wording come from the free lesson and the Stepthrough glossary and prompt library.

Do it yourself, free

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, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts.

Start the free lesson

Or read the full step-by-step guide

Plain-English definitions, each with an example from a free lesson.

Prompt constraints Follow-up email ChatGPT Generative AI Prompt Prompt template Role, Context, Task, Format ChatGPT memory

The full AI glossary

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Listing description prompt: Write listing remarks and a social caption from your verified property facts, describing the home and never who should live…
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New service announcement email prompt: Copy a four-part ChatGPT prompt that announces a new service to existing customers: real price, real dates, one call to action…

All free prompt templates

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