The hard customer

⏱ 20 min6 steps

The message lands at 9 at night, and your stomach drops. Claude reads the angry message with you, helps you decide what you'll offer, and drafts a calm reply that you read and send yourself. You'll also draft a reply to a bad review, and save a "cool it down" for next time. You need one hard message or review, old or new. If a step stirs you up, stop and come back tomorrow.

prompt What you type to Claude. A good one says what you want, how to work and what never to do. All words

Steps

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Start a new chat and have Claude read the message
When you're upset, it's hard to see what a customer actually wants. This prompt has Claude sum it up without taking sides, before anyone writes a reply.

drafts and sorts; a person approves anything with a price, a date or your name on it. A reply to an angry customer often has all three. Claude drafts. You decide and send.
1. Open the or claude.ai and start a new chat.
2. Copy the prompt below.
```
Here's an angry message from a customer. Don't write a reply yet. First, help me see it clearly. In plain words, tell me what happened from their side, what they actually want, which parts sound fair, and which parts I can't know yet. Keep it short and don't take my side or theirs. The message: [paste it, with their name, phone number and address taken out]
```
1. Paste it into the chat. Replace the part in square brackets with the message. Take out their name, phone number and address first.
2. Send it.
If the message threatens you or your staff, or mentions a lawyer or a court, don't reply from a Claude draft. Talk to a lawyer, or the right person for that, first.
AI Short for artificial intelligence. Here it means a program like Claude that reads what you write and writes back in plain words. All wordsClaude app Claude on your phone or computer, where you chat with it by typing. claude.ai is the same thing in a web browser. All words
You should see:
A short summary under a few headings: what happened from their side, what they want, what sounds fair and what you can't know yet.
That's not what I see
I'm too angry to read it again.
Paste it in without reading it, and read Claude's summary instead. It's the same message without the heat.
Decide what you're willing to do
What you offer is a money decision, and that's yours. A redo, a partial refund or a phone call are all choices only you can make. This prompt asks you questions and writes down your answer, without suggesting any of it.
1. Copy the prompt below.
```
Help me decide what I'm willing to do. Ask me one question at a time: what I think went wrong, what I can fix, what fixing it would cost me in time or money, and where my line is. Don't suggest refunds, discounts or free work yourself. That's my decision. When I've answered, sum up what I've decided in two lines.
```
1. Paste it into the same chat and send it.
2. Answer Claude's questions one at a time.
You should see:
Claude asks you one question at a time, then sums up what you decided in two lines.
That's not what I see
I don't know what I'm willing to do yet.
That's fine. Stop here and sleep on it. The chat keeps your place, and a reply sent tomorrow is better than one you regret tonight.
Have Claude draft a calm reply
This prompt drafts a reply that says you heard them and offers only what you decided. A contractor might offer to come back and look, a store might offer to swap the item, and an accountant might offer a call to go through the bill.
1. Copy the prompt below.
```
Now draft a reply for me to send. Calm and short, under 120 words. Start by showing I heard them, in plain words, not "we apologize for any inconvenience". Say what I'll do, using only what I decided above. Offer one next step, with FILL IN for the time. Don't argue about the details, don't blame anyone, and don't promise anything I haven't agreed to. I'll read it and send it myself.
```
1. Paste it into the same chat and send it.
You should see:
A short, calm reply that says you heard them, what you'll do, and one next step with FILL IN for the time.
That's not what I see
The reply gives away more than I decided.
Delete that part, and reply: Only offer what I decided. Then read it again before you send it.
Have Claude read the draft as the customer
A reply can read fine to you and still sting the person getting it. This prompt checks for that.
1. Copy the prompt below.
```
Now read your draft as the customer, who is still upset. Which line would make it worse, and why? Fix those lines and show me what you changed. If nothing needs changing, say so.
```
1. Paste it into the same chat and send it.
2. Fill in each FILL IN, read the reply out loud, and send it yourself when you're calm.
You should see:
The line or lines that could make it worse, why, and the reply again with the changes, or a note that nothing needs changing.
That's not what I see
Nobody has reported a snag on this step yet. Getting stuck is normal. Read the step again one line at a time, and compare your screen with the video.
Draft a reply to a bad review
A bad review is a hard message in public. The person who wrote it may never come back, but the next customers will read your reply. This prompt drafts one that's calm and short.
1. Copy the bad review from the review site.
2. Copy the prompt below.
```
Here's a bad review of my business. Draft a public reply for me to post. Keep it under 80 words and calm. Thank them for telling me, agree with what's fair without going into details, and invite them to contact me directly, with FILL IN for how. Never repeat anything private about them or the job, and don't argue in public. Remember that future customers will read this more closely than the reviewer will. I'll read it and post it myself. The review: [paste the review]
```
1. Paste it into the same chat. Replace the part in square brackets with the review.
2. Send it.
3. Fill in how to reach you, read it again tomorrow, and post it yourself.
You should see:
A short, calm with FILL IN for how to reach you.
public reply Your answer under a review. Anyone who reads the review can see it. All words
That's not what I see
I don't think the review is from a real customer.
Don't say so in your reply. Use the review site's own way to report a review, and give a short, calm reply in the meantime if you want one.
Save your "cool it down" prompt
This prompt turns today's steps into one prompt you can paste into a new chat whenever the next hard message arrives.
1. Copy the prompt below.
```
Write me a reusable prompt called "Cool it down" that does what we did today, in order: sum up the angry message without taking sides, ask me what I'm willing to do, draft a calm reply using only what I decided, then read the draft as the customer and fix what would make it worse. It must say that I read and send every reply myself, and that it never offers refunds, discounts or dates I haven't agreed to. End it with [paste the message] as the blank.
```
1. Paste it into the same chat and send it.
2. Copy the prompt Claude writes into a note called Cool it down.
Next time, open a new chat, paste in your "cool it down" prompt, and replace the blank with the message.
You should see:
A prompt called "Cool it down" with the four steps in order, ending with a blank in square brackets.
That's not what I see
Nobody has reported a snag on this step yet. Getting stuck is normal. Read the step again one line at a time, and compare your screen with the video.

Your challenge

Find the oldest complaint or bad review you never answered. Run it through your "cool it down" prompt, and send or post the reply this week.

Last checked 2026-10-20

Get customers › 2. Customer messages

The hard customer

One-page card · print it or keep it open

What you'll do

The message lands at 9 at night, and your stomach drops. Claude reads the angry message with you, helps you decide what you'll offer, and drafts a calm reply that you read and send yourself.

The steps

Start a new chat and have Claude read the message

Here's an angry message from a customer. Don't write a reply yet. First, help me see it clearly. In plain words, tell me what happened from their side, what they actually want, which parts sound fair, and which parts I can't know yet. Keep it short and don't take my side or theirs. The message: [paste it, with their name, phone number and address taken out]

Decide what you're willing to do

Help me decide what I'm willing to do. Ask me one question at a time: what I think went wrong, what I can fix, what fixing it would cost me in time or money, and where my line is. Don't suggest refunds, discounts or free work yourself. That's my decision. When I've answered, sum up what I've decided in two lines.

Have Claude draft a calm reply

Now draft a reply for me to send. Calm and short, under 120 words. Start by showing I heard them, in plain words, not "we apologize for any inconvenience". Say what I'll do, using only what I decided above. Offer one next step, with FILL IN for the time. Don't argue about the details, don't blame anyone, and don't promise anything I haven't agreed to. I'll read it and send it myself.

Have Claude read the draft as the customer

Now read your draft as the customer, who is still upset. Which line would make it worse, and why? Fix those lines and show me what you changed. If nothing needs changing, say so.

Draft a reply to a bad review

Here's a bad review of my business. Draft a public reply for me to post. Keep it under 80 words and calm. Thank them for telling me, agree with what's fair without going into details, and invite them to contact me directly, with FILL IN for how. Never repeat anything private about them or the job, and don't argue in public. Remember that future customers will read this more closely than the reviewer will. I'll read it and post it myself. The review: [paste the review]

Save your "cool it down" prompt

Write me a reusable prompt called "Cool it down" that does what we did today, in order: sum up the angry message without taking sides, ask me what I'm willing to do, draft a calm reply using only what I decided, then read the draft as the customer and fix what would make it worse. It must say that I read and send every reply myself, and that it never offers refunds, discounts or dates I haven't agreed to. End it with [paste the message] as the blank.

If it goes wrong

I'm too angry to read it again. Paste it in without reading it, and read Claude's summary instead. It's the same message without the heat.
I don't know what I'm willing to do yet. That's fine. Stop here and sleep on it. The chat keeps your place, and a reply sent tomorrow is better than one you regret tonight.
The reply gives away more than I decided. Delete that part, and reply: Only offer what I decided. Then read it again before you send it.
I don't think the review is from a real customer. Don't say so in your reply. Use the review site's own way to report a review, and give a short, calm reply in the meantime if you want one.

Words

public reply: Your answer under a review. Anyone who reads the review can see it.