Getting started with AI for tradies

You’ll have AI writing a real quote or customer message in about five minutes. No course, no jargon.

Step 1: Pick one tool

Don’t agonise over this. Any of the big four does everything on this site, and they all have a free version:

• ChatGPT — the most well-known, easy to start.
• Microsoft Copilot — handy if you already use Outlook or Microsoft 365.
• Google Gemini — handy if you live in Gmail and Google.
• Claude — strong at natural, human-sounding writing.

Sign up, and you’re looking at a box where you type. That box is all you need.

Step 2: Run your first prompt

Copy this, paste it in, and change the bits in brackets to a real job you’ve got on:

Act as an experienced [trade] writing a customer quote in plain English.
Customer: [customer name]. Job address: [job address].
Scope in my words: [describe the job, e.g. replace old hot water system with a new 250L unit, remove and dispose of old one].
Write it as clear line items with a short friendly intro and a "what's included / not included" section. Leave the pricing blank for me. Australian spelling.

Hit enter. In a few seconds you’ll have a tidy draft quote. Read it. If a bit’s off, just tell it in plain English — “make it shorter,” “add a line about removing the old unit,” “sound a bit more casual” — and it’ll redo it.

Step 3: Do it again with a customer message

Now try a different task so you see how flexible it is:

Write a friendly, low-pressure follow-up text to [customer name] about the quote I sent for [job] on [date]. Check if they've had a look and offer to answer any questions. 2-3 sentences, sounds like a real person.

Once these two feel easy, the whole prompt library is just more of the same.

Step 4: Build the habit

1. Keep your best prompts. When one gives you a cracker result, save it in your notes so you can reuse it.
2. Use it for one task all week. Say, every quote. Let it become second nature before you add another.
3. Always read before you send. AI drafts fast, but your name’s on the message.
4. Keep sensitive stuff out. No bank details, licences or passwords in a public AI tool.

What comes next

Copy-paste is level one. Once you know which admin jobs you do the same way every time, you can have them happen automatically — follow-ups, review requests and invoice chasing running in the background. That’s covered in automating your trade admin with AI. Still got questions? The FAQ has the quick answers.

Want an all-in-one AI that already knows your business? See The Everything.