response-drafting

# Response Drafting Skill Summary

This guide teaches professional customer communication across various situations. The framework emphasizes **leading with empathy**, being direct and honest, and always closing with clear next steps.

## Core Framework

The recommended structure includes: acknowledgment of the situation, the core message with specifics, actionable next steps, and a warm closing. Length should match the channel -- chat needs just 1-4 sentences, while escalations can be longer if well-organized.

## Key Principles

The guidance stresses leading with empathy by acknowledging the customer's situation before jumping to solutions, and being specific by using concrete details, timelines, and names rather than vague language.

Tone should shift based on context -- celebratory for wins, urgent for outages, accountable for delays, and candid for bad news. The relationship stage matters too: new customers need more formality and context, while established ones warrant warmth and efficiency.

## Writing Standards

Use active voice and personal ownership ("we'll investigate"), avoid jargon, and never deflect blame. Include specific people and dates rather than vague language. The skill provides templates for common scenarios: bug reports, billing issues, rejected features, and outages.

## Escalation Guidance

Know when to escalate to managers (cancellation threats, policy exceptions) versus engineering teams (critical bugs, feature gaps). The document includes a structured escalation format for clarity and urgency tracking.