Why this matters
A client writes “just a few more tweaks” and slips in a new deadline and a new deliverable in the same email. The fast reply, “sure, no problem”, feels like good service. It also means a free third round of edits, a launch you cannot promise and a landing page nobody priced.
Agencies lose real money this way, a little at a time, and the client learns that asking is free. But a cold “that is out of scope” costs you the relationship. The reply has to be warm, specific and honest about what is covered, what costs extra and what has to happen for the date to hold.
In this module you give ChatGPT the email thread and your contract facts, get a draft, and make ChatGPT check every promise in it against those facts. You catch the free round and the launch date you cannot guarantee, and send a reply that keeps the client happy and the scope intact.
What you’ll build
A reply to Daniel Okafor, a made-up client of Copperfield Creative, who wants a third round of changes to three fall emails, a launch on Thursday instead of Monday, and a landing page, and assumes all of it is covered.
The reply apologizes once, explains that the contract covers two rounds and that a third is $450 with a signed change order, says Thursday works only with final approval by Tuesday at noon, and offers a $900 quote for the landing page. It is checked claim by claim against your facts before you send.
What you need
- Nothing to start the practiceChatGPT and Gmail are practice copies. Daniel’s thread is already in the inbox.
- A ChatGPT account, to do it for realFree works for practice. For client work use a business plan and follow your agency’s policy on AI tools.
- The email threadCopy the whole thread, oldest message first. Leave out other clients’ names and rates.
- A short list of contract factsWhat the contract covers, how many revision rounds, what an extra round costs, which dates are real and who can approve an exception. The download below has Daniel’s eight facts and a blank list.
Concepts
3 ideas you’ll use in the practice.
ChatGPT does not know your contract
It cannot see your statement of work, your change-order price or the deadline your scheduling really needs. Write them as numbered facts and tell it to promise only what is in the list.
Numbering them lets you point back to a fact when you check the draft.
A friendly draft can give the project away
The first draft says yes to everything, because a reply that says yes sounds more helpful. Nothing in your facts said the third round was free, or that Thursday was possible.
Ask ChatGPT for a table of every promise in the draft next to the fact that backs it up. Anything without a fact is flagged.
Say what is possible, not just what is not
“Out of scope” ends the conversation. “Here is what it costs, here is what I need from you, and here is who can make an exception” keeps it going.
Ask for each of the client’s asks to get its own short paragraph, and read the final version yourself. Your name is on it.
Practice
Do every step yourself in a practice copy of the real tool. It checks your work, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on.
Do it for real
Now repeat it in your own account. Tick each step as you go.
Downloads
- Facts list and requests (.txt)Daniel’s thread and eight facts from the lesson, the requests, and a blank list to copy.
Quick check
3 questions to check you’ve got it.
1. The draft says the third round of changes is on us. Your contract covers two rounds. What now?
- Leave it, it keeps the client happy
- Replace it with the change-order price and say who can approve an exception
- Delete the whole reply
Show the answer
Replace it with the change-order price and say who can approve an exception. The check table flags a promise with no fact behind it. Replace it with what you can honestly offer.
2. Thursday only works if the client approves everything by Tuesday at noon. How should the reply say it?
- Promise Thursday
- Say Thursday is possible only with approval by Tuesday noon, otherwise Monday
- Do not mention the launch date
Show the answer
Say Thursday is possible only with approval by Tuesday noon, otherwise Monday. A conditional date with the condition spelled out is honest, and it tells the client exactly what to do.
3. Why give each of the client’s asks its own short paragraph?
- It looks neat
- So each answer is easy to find and nothing gets skipped
- ChatGPT needs paragraphs to work
Show the answer
So each answer is easy to find and nothing gets skipped. A client with three asks reads for three answers. Make each one easy to find.