Before anything goes to a customer
Six checks, two minutes, no tools needed. The same pass the free checker runs, written out so it works on paper. For: Anyone who sends a quote, a reply, a listing or a post.
1. Read the brackets
Any [LIKE THIS], any “TBD”, any “insert name”, any “your company here” is a fact the draft never got. Replace it or take the sentence out. Sending a bracket to a customer tells them exactly how the message was made.
2. Check every number
Price, quantity, hours, percentages, discounts, mileage. For each one, ask: where did this come from? If the answer is “the AI worked it out”, it is not a fact. Either supply it or remove it.
3. Check every date and time
“Thursday” and “by the end of the week” are the two most expensive phrases in a small business. Confirm the day, the date and the time against the diary before it goes out. If the diary has not been checked, the message is not ready.
4. Check the names
Customer names spelled correctly, staff names not in a public message, and no name where “the team” would do. A wrong name is remembered longer than a good sentence.
5. Check the promises
Free, refund, discount, credit, compensation, “on us”, “no charge”, “guaranteed”, “same day”. Each one is a decision someone has to make before the message is sent, not after. If you cannot point to who approved it, take it out.
6. Check for admissions
“Our fault”, “we are liable”, “we damaged”, “we failed to”, “we should have”. Apologize for how the customer experienced it; leave the legal conclusion to the owner and the insurer.
Stop and pass it to the owner
- Any promise of money, a free item or a refund.
- Any admission of fault, damage or liability.
- Any message about a safety, health, hygiene or legal matter.
- Any message that names a customer, a patient, a child or a staff member.
- Any message where two versions of the facts exist.
The last read
Read it aloud, once, as if you were the customer receiving it. If a sentence makes you wince, it will make them wince too. If you would not say it on the phone, do not put it in writing.
Where the automatic version lives
seconddraft.dev/tools/check takes the text and, if you have them, the facts you gave the AI. It flags brackets, unsourced prices and dates, named staff, promises and admissions, and explains each one. It is free, needs no account, and nothing you paste leaves the page.
Second Draft · free staff handout · seconddraft.dev/handouts · not a substitute for your own policy or your insurer's rules.