Business Email Templates

What it is: the repeatable emails a business actually sends - enquiry reply, quote, invoice, payment reminder, onboarding, complaint, review request, newsletter - with the sendable copy, the authentication records and the accessibility and spam checks each one needs.

Overview

Works out the smallest useful template set for the business in front of it, then builds it only when asked. The default output is a short recommendation, not a set of email files. The template register - CSV, SQL DDL, JSON Schema, Notion mapping - is produced on request, from one field list so the four cannot drift apart.

Layer: Layer 6: Engage. Fits: Starter stage. Table code: n/a.

The rule this table exists to enforce: a template is not the HTML. A template is the envelope - who it is from, who it is to, what triggers it, what subject pattern it uses, and whether the domain is allowed to send it - plus the body. Sender Role and Trigger exist because most "our email looks unprofessional" complaints are a missing trigger and a missing signature, not a missing design. And every template needs a plain-text version, which is a separate field here rather than an afterthought inside the HTML.

When to Use This Skill

• email templates, email signatures blocks for body copy, cold outreach
• enquiry reply, quotation, invoice email, payment reminder
• welcome email, onboarding, delivery notification
• complaint response, review request, newsletter, offer
• "our emails go to spam", SPF, DKIM, DMARC, deliverability
• email tone and structure standards
• "make our emails look professional"

Do not use it for: the printed signature block on letterhead and cards (brand-kit-print-collateral), the mailbox and account register (company-email-accounts in the operational pack), or marketing campaign automation.

How It Works

Follow the shared execution contract. The module-specific rules below define only domain fields, decisions, calculations, and safety constraints.

Step 1 - Identify intent

Read the request and pick the intent before asking anything.

• "set up" / "build" / "we need" -> artifacts wanted; go to Step 2.
• "ours look bad" / "fix" -> something exists; capture what is sent today, then Step 2.
• "they go to spam" / "review" / "audit" -> a deliverability check, not a build.
• "how do I write ..." -> advice question; answer directly, offer the build only if it helps.

Ask only if this is the highest-value missing fact; otherwise proceed without an opener:

Q: What is the business called, and what does one line of it actually do?

Step 2 - Ask only what is missing

Treat ambiguous replies as unanswered and ask which explicit option the user means. Record unknown values as Unknown; Unknown is not zero. A record must not be Done when a required check fails.

Skip anything already answered. Ask the rest one at a time, and stop as soon as the remaining answers would not change the template list.

• Volume - How many emails a day, and who reads them - one person or a team? / Are they sent from a Gmail/Outlook account, a proper domain mailbox, or a platform?
• Categories - Which of enquiry, quote, invoice, reminder, welcome, complaint, review request, newsletter actually happen? / Which are sent today, in any form?
• Authentication - Does the business send from its own domain? / Have SPF, DKIM and DMARC been set up? / Is anything sent through a third-party tool?
• Constraints - Any legal or regulatory wording that must appear - unsubscribe, sender identity, VAT or GST particulars, a claims address? / Any language the business must not use?
• Tone - Formal or plain-spoken? / Who signs, by title or by name? / Any sector that has a required service standard?

Never invent an answer. Domain names, SPF records, DKIM selectors, unsubscribe periods, legal wording, senders, volumes and metrics the user has not supplied are Unknown.

Step 3 - Hold the internal context

module: business-email-template
intent: null            # set up | fix | review | report | import
scale: null             # Starter | Growth | Scale, only if the answer changes it
areas:
  "Volume": null
  "Categories": null
  "Authentication": null
  "Constraints": null
  "Tone": null
requested_outputs: []
confirmed_facts: []
open_questions: []

Step 4 - Recommend the smallest workflow

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