One file. Ten answers. Reuse them all year.

The problem

Every small business answers the same ten questions twenty times a week. What time do you close. Do you take checks. Where are you located. How much is the [your service or product category]. You have typed those answers into Facebook, Google Business, voicemail transcription, ten times each, for years.

The friction is not knowing what to say. It is re-typing it. Forty-five seconds per reply. Thirty messages a day. Three hours a week. The better part of two work weeks per year.

The fix: one file

customer-replies.md. Ten questions, ten answers, written once, reused all year. You write it in one hour. You use it for the next twelve months. The AI helps you write it the first time. You edit two lines per answer. You save the file. You never retype the same answer twice.

Step 1 — Gather (15 min)

Sit down. Open a notes app. A blank document. A piece of paper. List the ten questions your customers ask you most. Do not rank them. Do not order them. Just write them down.

Most small businesses have these ten in some form already: hours, location, pricing, product availability, Sunday hours, appointments, parking, website, phone, hiring.

Step 2 — Prompt the AI (30 min)

Open any AI tool you already have. Paste in the prompt template below. Edit the bracketed parts to match your business.

I run a [YOUR BUSINESS TYPE] in [YOUR TOWN]. I serve [YOUR CUSTOMER]. My voice is plain, three sentences or fewer, no hype.

Here are the ten most-asked questions I get from customers:
1. [QUESTION 1]
2. [QUESTION 2]
3. [QUESTION 3]
4. [QUESTION 4]
5. [QUESTION 5]
6. [QUESTION 6]
7. [QUESTION 7]
8. [QUESTION 8]
9. [QUESTION 9]
10. [QUESTION 10]

For each one, write a polite short reply in my voice. Plain language. Three sentences or fewer for the short ones. No "Thanks for reaching out." opener. No "Let me know if you have any other questions" closer.

My voice notes: [PERSONAL BEAT: paste two or three example messages you actually wrote so the AI can match the rhythm]

Step 3 — Edit (15 min)

Read the AI's replies out loud. Fix the ones that do not sound like you. Be ruthless.

The most common 20% wrong part is the opening. AI defaults to "Thanks for reaching out" or "Great question." You never say that. Cut it. Replace with your actual opener.

The second most common 20% wrong part is the length. AI writes paragraphs where you would write two sentences. Cut to two sentences.

The third most common 20% wrong part is the offer at the end. AI writes "Let me know if you have any other questions." You never say that. Cut it.

Step 4 — Save and use (15 min)

Save the file as customer-replies.md. Put it in a place you will remember.

The workflow: someone asks a question. You open customer-replies.md. You find the answer. You copy. You glance at it. You send. That is the workflow. There is no other step.

What this is not

This is not a chatbot. You are not running an automated assistant. You are writing ten answers by hand, with AI help. You are still the one sending them.

This is not a template library. You are not downloading 500 starter messages. You are writing ten answers specific to your business, in your voice, for your customers. The file is small on purpose.

This is not AI replacing you. AI gives you a first draft. You edit two lines. You send. The judgment is yours.