We’re doubling down on AI-related productivity this month. In a recent post, I shared some AI tools that can help boost efficiency and productivity at your business, along with what each tool can and can’t do. I also offered some use cases and workflows that make good starting points for incorporating AI.
Staying ahead often means staying innovative. But when you’re running a business, whether yours is 1 or 1,000, finding time to learn about the latest tools and tech can be a challenge.
That’s why, in this post, I’m taking it beyond theory into copy-and-paste practicality. Hopefully, this AI prompt cheat sheet and tool roundup will help make it a bit more accessible and easier to implement.
But First, What makes for a Good AI prompt?
AI functions similarly to the age-old GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) concept: incorrect or poor-quality input into a computer will yield results that are also faulty.
This is where an effectively worded prompt comes in. You don’t need to be a developer, coder, or software engineer to get good results from AIs. You just need to engineer (or write) the best prompts possible.
An AI prompt is considered ‘good’ if it is clear, specific, and directly addresses the question or task. You have to guide the AI. Providing sufficient context helps the AI generate accurate and relevant responses instead of information that’s either long-winded and unnecessary or overly detailed and complex.
With that definition and goal in mind, let’s dive into some practical AI prompts that can supercharge everyday tasks.
Customer Service and Support
Customer service can make the difference between a loyal customer and a lost opportunity. But responding to inquiries one by one can be both time consuming and challenging, especially when you’re running a lean machine.
Fortunately, AI can help bridge this gap.
By using AI prompts, you can automate responses to common queries, freeing time for staff to handle more complex issues.
Sample AI Prompts for Customer Service and Support Tasks
- “Analyze the last month's customer service chats and identify common pain points in customer interactions. Provide suggestions on response templates that could address these issues efficiently and enhance customer satisfaction.”
- "Automate the initial customer greeting process for our support chat. Generate a script that welcomes customers, asks them to describe their issue, and informs them about the estimated wait time for a human agent's response.
- “Develop a multi-step escalation process for handling complex customer issues that cannot be resolved on the first contact.”
AIs for Customer Service and Support
These customer service-specific AI tools can help you provide and maintain high-quality customer interactions 24x7..
- Loris enhances customer interactions by analyzing conversations to offer real-time guidance and actionable insights, making support faster and more effective.
- Humanlike is a conversational AI that handles voice and chat tasks, scaling up customer service without adding staff.
- CodiBot provides 24/7 customer support with a futuristic AI-powered chat interface.
- ResolveAI is a customer support chatbot that helps businesses streamline customer interactions, providing fast and precise responses.
- SupportGPT automates customer support workflows and boosts team efficiency with advanced AI capabilities.
Content Creation
Unless you have at least one writer or social media pro on your team, creating engaging and ongoing content is a common challenge for many growing businesses. Content AIs can help you maintain a steady flow of fresh material across all your platforms and social media accounts.
Sample AI Prompts for Content Creation
- "Generate a list of blog topics related to [insert your industry-specific subject] for our audience interested in the latest trends."
- "Create a draft for a social media post celebrating our company's anniversary and highlighting our achievements."
- "Suggest engaging tweet ideas for our upcoming product launch that incorporate trending hashtags."
AIs for Content Creation
With these AI apps, you can save time, avoid errors and fine-tune content that’s geared specifically to your target audience
- Jasper is an OG as far as AI goes and is ideal for social media marketing and developing integrated marketing campaigns.
- Grammarly is primarily a grammar checking tool, but it also boasts features intended to help improve quality, match a ‘mood,’ and check for plagiarism.
- Lately is an AI-driven social selling platform based on the neuroscience of music. It learns brand or employee voice and and turns it into targeted social media posts.
- Buffer lightens your social media creation and management load. This AI can suggest content, optimize posting times, and analyze engagement.
Want more hands-on AI but in a live conversation?
Tune into the webinar-on-demand Beth & Sean discuss the basics of prompt engineering, AI tools and what they can do, and what’s new with AI PCs. Watch now.
Sales and CRM
The backbone of your business, sales and customer relationship management (CRM) are critical components for success. Analyzing them manually can be time consuming; it’s also easy to miss some valuable insights. Instead, let AI automate data analysis and interactions so you can better understand and engage with your customers.
Sample AI Prompts for Sales and CRM
- "Analyze recent sales data to identify purchasing trends and suggest which products we should promote this quarter."
- "Identify customers who have not made a purchase in the past six months and generate personalized re-engagement emails."
- "Predict which current leads are most likely to convert into sales, based on interaction history and purchase patterns."
AIs for Sales and CRM
Designed to make your sales and CRM processes more efficient, these AIs provide deeper insights into customer behavior, improving conversion rates and customer loyalty.
- Close is AI-powered inside sales or CRM software that automates lead tracking, email syncing, and calling operations.
- InsightSquared automates data entry and streamlines sales forecasting, providing next steps in the sales process with AI-driven updates in real-time.
- People.ai inspects accounts and “deal health” to offer sales teams next-best actions.
Marketing
To cut through a noisy online marketplace, marketing requires precision and personalization. As you might imagine, AI tools exist that can help you do both.
Sample AI Prompts for Marketing
- "Generate personalized email marketing campaigns based on user activity and purchasing history."
- "Analyze social media engagement to optimize content strategy for different platforms."
- "Segment customers based on behavior and demographics to tailor marketing messages."
AIs for Marketing
These AIs leverage advanced analytics to create assets, segment audiences, and optimize email campaigns.
- MarketingBlocks AI can help create marketing assets such as AI-generated videos, logos, and social media content.
- Pencil focuses on generating ad variations for social media and optimizing ad performance.
- Hoppy Copy specializes in email marketing and other marketing content such as Google Ads.
Human Resources
Human resources (HR) management is crucial for nurturing a productive workplace, especially when every team member's contribution is significant. AI can streamline HR tasks making these processes more efficient and less prone to human error.
Sample AI Prompts for HR
- "Identify the top candidates from the recent job postings based on set criteria like experience and skills."
- "Generate a monthly report on employee engagement and feedback trends."
- "Schedule and send reminders for performance review meetings across different departments."
AIs for HR
- HiredScore uses AI to automate talent sourcing and management, helping HR teams make data-driven hiring decisions.
- Leena AI is a conversational AI that automates responses to common HR inquiries.
- Turbohire streamlines the recruitment process with AI-driven analytics and automation.
- Recruitment AI optimizes the recruitment process by using AI to perform unbiased screening and candidate evaluation.
- Fetcher automates outreach to passive candidates.
Administrative Tasks
Managing administrative tasks efficiently is key to smooth operations and the ability to focus on strategic goals. AI can help streamline administrative functions, from scheduling to finance management.
According to a survey by virtual assistant Time etc., business owners spend 36% of their work week performing administrative tasks. More than three in 10 entrepreneurs surveyed spend between 26-50% of their week on small admin tasks.
Sample AI Prompts for Administrative Tasks
- "Organize weekly staff meetings according to everyone’s availability and send calendar invites."
- "Track and categorize expenses from the last quarter and generate a report summarizing the spending trends."
- "Automate invoice generation for recent transactions and send follow-up reminders for unpaid invoices."
AIs for Administrative Tasks
Intended to streamline administrative operations, these AIs automate tasks like scheduling, expense reporting and document handling, enhancing productivity and organizational efficiency.
- Sidekick AI automates and simplifies meeting scheduling (aka herding cats) by coordinating times and sending invites based on individual availability.
- Expensify streamlines the reimbursement process with AI that extracts details from receipts, categorizes expenditures, and prepares expense reports.
- AI Assistant automates scheduling, email management, and meeting coordination using conversational AI.
Operations Management
Without effective operations management, it’s impossible to run a flourishing and sustainable business. AI can automate key processes and provide predictive insights that anticipate market demands and operational challenges, giving you time to react and prepare.
Sample AI Prompts for Operations and Project Management
- "Predict next month's inventory needs based on current stock levels and sales trends."
- "Optimize delivery routes in real-time to reduce delivery times and fuel consumption."
- "Analyze production line data to identify bottlenecks and recommend efficiency improvements."
- "Predict potential delays in project milestones based on ongoing performance metrics and external factors."
AIs for Operations and Project Management
These AIs streamline supply chain decisions, integrate financial processes, and bolster project planning with intelligent automation.
- Project44 uses its AI-powered platform to provide real-time supply chain visibility for real-time logistics decisions.
- Coupa connects and optimizes sourcing, purchasing, supply chains and financial management with its AI-driven platform.
- Monday AI is in beta but the project planning and management platform is beginning to use AI in several areas and is available to all users. Currently, there are three AI automations available with more in the works.
What’s the Future of AI at Your Business?
A Forbes study found that nearly two-thirds (64%) of business owners believe AI will improve customer relationships and help increase productivity. We don’t disagree.
As the technology continues to evolve, the potential for AI to transform business practices does too.
What do you think? Do you plan on experimenting with any of the AI prompts and tools suggested in this post? If you do, please share your experience — the Community would love to hear about it.
About the Author
Stephanie has worked in the B2B tech space for more than 20 years for brands such as IBM and Oracle, as well as on the agency side at Uncompany, The Favorite Co., Ogilvy and Mather, Leopard and other agencies. Stephanie believes in putting the reader first and won't rest until she's communicated a motivating, "Why should I care?" message. When she's not writing on behalf of her freelance clients, in her spare time, Stephanie's working on a novel and the occasional poem.