Business Email Template

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

Build an already requested artifact without asking again. For advice-only requests, give a short recommendation and offer the relevant artifact.

Recommended approach: Start with the four that are sent every week and carry the most risk - enquiry reply, quote, invoice with payment terms, and payment reminder - plus one plain-text alternative for each. Put the signature block in a single place so it is edited once. Confirm SPF, DKIM and DMARC before anything is sent from the domain, because no template quality survives an unauthenticated domain.

Why this one: Those four are where money and reputation move. The enquiry reply wins the customer, the quote and the invoice set the commercial terms, and the reminder is the one that recovers cash. A newsletter is a marketing decision that needs consent and a list, so it is not in the first set.

Workflow: Categories confirmed from what is actually sent → Shared structure agreed (subject, greeting, body, action, signature) → Four templates drafted → Plain-text alternative written for each → SPF, DKIM and DMARC confirmed → Tested in a real client → Spam score checked → Accessibility pass on contrast and text size → Register approved and versioned

Step 5 - Build only on request

Once the user asks for it, derive the fields from the confirmed context and emit the requested artifacts. For machine-readable text, keep prose outside the data; for files, provide a usable link. Report material validation failures or limitations separately.

A selected Notion output is rendered by notion-manual-import, so route the Notion step there. When the user selects Notion, hand that step to @notion-manual-import: it holds the CSV, the property mapping, the import steps and the verification checklist, and it renders the Field Reference below instead of defining a table of its own. Do not restate the mapping here and do not improvise the import steps. Manual CSV and mapping outputs need no connection. For requested workspace changes, follow the shared contract: verify actual tool access and the target before writing. A user saying "connected" is not tool evidence. Never ask for a Notion password or token.

Template ID,Template Name,Template Type,Trigger,Sender Role,Recipient Type,Subject Line Pattern,Preview Text,Body Structure,Tone,Call To Action,Required Fields,Personalisation Tokens,Signature Block,Unsubscribe Required,Spam Risk Notes,Test Status,Mobile Checked,Accessibility Checked,Version,Status,Notes
,Example Retail enquiry reply,Transactional,Website form or phone enquiry received,Sales or front desk,Prospective customer,{Service} enquiry - {Business Name},{Service} enquiry received today,Thanks - confirmation - what happens next - one clear action - signature,Plain and direct,Reply with two times or call the desk,{First Name}, {Service}, {Business Name},Yes - signature block only,"All-caps subject, unsubstituted tokens, low text-to-image ratio",Not tested,Not checked,Not checked,1.0,Draft,Example row - replace every value before use.

-- Engine assumption: PostgreSQL. For another engine use the engine's auto-increment
-- equivalent and keep the rest portable.
CREATE TABLE email_template (
  template_id BIGINT PRIMARY KEY,
  template_name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  template_type VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  trigger TEXT NOT NULL,
  sender_role VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  recipient_type VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  subject_line_pattern VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  preview_text VARCHAR(255),
  body_structure TEXT,
  tone VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  call_to_action TEXT,
  required_fields TEXT,
  personalisation_tokens TEXT,
  signature_block VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  unsubscribe_required BOOLEAN NOT NULL,
  spam_risk_notes TEXT,
  test_status VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  mobile_checked BOOLEAN NOT NULL,
  accessibility_checked BOOLEAN NOT NULL,
  version VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  status VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  notes TEXT,
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW(),
  updated_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT NOW(),
  CONSTRAINT email_template_type CHECK (template_type IN ('Transactional','Marketing','Notification','Personal','System')),
  CONSTRAINT email_template_test_status CHECK (test_status IN ('Not tested','Tested - internal','Tested - real client','Tested - seed list','Failed - see Notes'))
);

CREATE INDEX idx_email_template_status ON email_template (status);
CREATE INDEX idx_email_template_type ON email_template (template_type);

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "title": "Business Email Templates",
  "type": "object",
  "additionalProperties": false,
  "properties": {
      "Template ID": { "type": "integer" },
      "Template Name": { "type": "string" },
      "Template Type": { "type": "string" },
      "Trigger": { "type": "string" },
      "Sender Role": { "type": "string" },
      "Recipient Type": { "type": "string" },
      "Subject Line Pattern": { "type": "string" },
      "Preview Text": { "type": "string" },
      "Body Structure": { "type": "string" },
      "Tone": { "type": "string" },
      "Call To Action": { "type": "string" },
      "Required Fields": { "type": "string" },
      "Personalisation Tokens": { "type": "string" },
      "Signature Block": { "type": "string" },
      "Unsubscribe Required": { "type": "boolean" },
      "Spam Risk Notes": { "type": "string" },
      "Test Status": { "type": "string" },
      "Mobile Checked": { "type": "boolean" },
      "Accessibility Checked": { "type": "boolean" },
      "Version": { "type": "string" },
      "Status": { "type": "string" },
      "Notes": { "type": "string" }
  },
  "required": [
      "Template Name",
      "Template Type",
      "Trigger",
      "Sender Role",
      "Recipient Type",
      "Subject Line Pattern",
      "Tone",
      "Signature Block",
      "Unsubscribe Required",
      "Test Status",
      "Mobile Checked",
      "Accessibility Checked",
      "Version",
      "Status"
  ]
}

| CSV column | Notion property | Set after import |
|---|---|---|
| Template ID | Text (preserve source ID) | Keep imported IDs as Text; optionally add a separate Unique ID property |
| Template Name | Title | Use as the database title |
| Template Type | Select (add options after import) | Convert to Select, add options: "Transactional", "Marketing", "Notification", "Personal", "System" |
| Trigger | Text | Leave as Text. The event that causes the send. A template with no trigger is a template nobody sends |
| Sender Role | Select (add options after import) | Convert to Select, add options: "Sales", "Front Desk", "Accounts", "Support", "Owner", "Marketing", "System" |
| Recipient Type | Select (add options after import) | Convert to Select, add options: "Prospective Customer", "Existing Customer", "Prospect", "Supplier", "Employee", "Regulator", "Public" |
| Subject Line Pattern | Text | Leave as Text. Use braces for the variable part, e.g. "{Service} enquiry - {Business Name}" |
| Preview Text | Text | Leave as Text. The line after the subject in the inbox. Never repeat the subject |
| Body Structure | Text | Leave as Text. Five lines, in order |
| Tone | Select (add options after import) | Convert to Select, add options: "Plain and direct", "Formal", "Warm", "Technical", "Apologetic" |
| Call To Action | Text | Leave as Text. One action per email |
| Required Fields | Text | Leave as Text. What the sender must fill in |
| Personalisation Tokens | Text | Leave as Text. The token names only, in braces. An unsubstituted token is a spam trigger |
| Signature Block | Select (add options after import) | Convert to Select, add options: "Yes - signature block only", "Yes - signature block and contact details", "No" |
| Unsubscribe Required | Checkbox | Convert to Checkbox. Marketing always; transactional usually not |
| Spam Risk Notes | Text | Leave as Text |
| Test Status | Select (add options after import) | Convert to Select, add options: "Not tested", "Tested - internal", "Tested - real client", "Tested - seed list", "Failed - see Notes" |
| Mobile Checked | Checkbox | Convert to Checkbox. Most email is read on a phone first |
| Accessibility Checked | Checkbox | Convert to Checkbox. Contrast, text size, and a text-only alternative |
| Version | Text | Leave as Text |
| Status | Select (add options after import) | Convert to Select, add options: "Draft", "In review", "Approved", "Retired" |
| Notes | Text | Leave as Text |

The rows above are documentation examples only. Emit empty templates unless the user explicitly requests examples. Unsubscribe Required and the two checkboxes are booleans - no Yes/No strings in a boolean cell.

Field Reference

Select Options

Template Type - the four that matter legally and technically. Marketing and transactional are separated because they have different consent and unsubscribe rules.

Transactional | Marketing | Notification | Personal | System

Sender Role - a starting set. The role is what stops three people writing the same email three different ways.

Sales | Front Desk | Accounts | Support | Owner | Marketing | System

Recipient Type - a starting set.

Prospective Customer | Existing Customer | Prospect | Supplier | Employee | Regulator | Public

Tone - a starting set. Tone is a decision the business makes once, not per sender.

Plain and direct | Formal | Warm | Technical | Apologetic

Signature Block - three values, because "no signature" is a legitimate choice for a system email and a wrong one for anything a human reads.

Yes - signature block only | Yes - signature block and contact details | No

Test Status - Tested - real client is the only status that means proven. Sending a first campaign to real customers is not a test.

Not tested | Tested - internal | Tested - real client | Tested - seed list | Failed - see Notes

Status

Draft | In review | Approved | Retired

Relations

None standalone. Sender Role names the role that appears in the signature block; where the business keeps a people register with roles, confirm that database exists in the same build before treating it as a relation. Otherwise it is Text with a note naming the intended target.