AI prompts for painters

Act as an experienced painter writing a customer quote.
Turn my walk-through notes into a clear, professional quote in plain English.
Customer: [customer name]. Job address: [job address].
What I said walking the job: [dictate it room by room, e.g. four bed two bath, walls and ceilings throughout, cornices and skirtings, twelve doors and frames, hallway needs a fair bit of filling, ceilings flat white two coats, walls low-sheen two coats over undercoat to the patches, kitchen's staying].
Set it out room by room as line items, and write the prep in as its own lines (wash down, fill, sand, undercoat to bare patches, number of topcoats).
Add a short friendly intro and a "what's included / not included" section — note if ceilings are quoted separately.
Keep the pricing blank for me to fill in. Australian spelling.

Dictate it into your phone on the way back to the ute — you don't have to type a word.

Rewrite the scope on this repaint quote so the preparation is spelled out instead of hidden in the word "prepare".
Job: [job type, e.g. interior repaint of a 3-bed weatherboard] at [job address].
My scope now: [paste your current scope].
Break the prep into its own visible line items — washing down, filling, sanding, spot-priming bare patches, masking and drop sheets, making good — and state how many coats go on.
Goal: when the customer says the price seems high, we're talking about work, not a number. Don't add prices.

Write a short, polite message to [customer name] explaining a variation to their job at [job address].
Original scope: [original scope, e.g. two coats of low-sheen to the hallway and bedrooms].
Change now needed: [what changed and why, e.g. the hallway walls have hairline cracks and blown filler that need cutting out and refilling before I can undercoat / they've gone from a dark feature wall to off-white, which needs an extra coat to cover].
Explain in plain terms why it's needed, that it adds [extra cost/time], and ask them to approve before I proceed.
Friendly but clear. No jargon.

Works just as well for the "while you're here, can you do the laundry?" — get them saying yes to a price, not you saying yes to nothing.

I'm quoting a [job type, e.g. full exterior repaint of a two-storey rendered house] for [customer name] at [job address].
Scope: [scope]. Break this into logical stages a customer can understand (e.g. prep and wash down, filling and sanding, undercoat, topcoats, final touch-ups), and suggest a fair progress-payment schedule for each stage (deposit to cover the paint, then stage payments, then completion).
Explain what happens at each stage in one line. Leave dollar amounts blank for me.

Act as a senior painter reviewing a job scope before I quote it.
Job: [job type, e.g. exterior repaint, weatherboards and eaves] at [job address]. My current scope: [paste your scope / line items].
List anything commonly forgotten on this type of job (wash down, flaking and old failing coating, filling and sanding, spot priming, access — ladders vs scaffold for the high side, drop sheets and masking, cutting in, number of coats over a colour change, gutters and downpipes, making good, clean-up and rubbish).
Just a checklist of "did you allow for..." questions. Don't invent prices, and don't make calls about the coating system or the surface for me.

Prep is what eats your margin. This catches it before it's your problem.

Write a friendly, professional reply to a new job enquiry.
Customer wrote: "[paste their message, e.g. after a price to repaint the inside of our place before we move in]".
I'm a painter in [area]. Thank them, confirm I can help, and ask the 3-4 questions I need to quote it ([e.g. how many rooms and which ones, are ceilings in or out, what's the current colour and what are they going to, is the place occupied or empty, any water damage or flaking]), and say I'll get back to them to book a walk-through.
Keep it short and easy to read on a phone.

Write a short, friendly message to [customer name] confirming the colours and sheens for their job at [job address] before I start.
Colours: [list them room by room, e.g. ceilings flat white; walls Dulux Natural White low-sheen; doors and frames semi-gloss enamel].
Ask them to reply to confirm, and mention politely that once a coat is on, a colour change is a variation — so now's the time to change their mind, not after.
Warm and easy, not legalistic.

The cheapest message you'll ever send. A colour changed after you've cut in a coat is a repaint nobody's paying you for.

A customer says my quote for [job, e.g. the interior repaint] is more than they expected. Help me write a polite, confident reply.
My quote covers: [key inclusions, e.g. wash down, filling and sanding, undercoat to bare patches, two full topcoats not one, all masking and drop sheets, cutting in by hand, clean-up].
Explain that the price is in the prep and the second coat — that a one-coat job over no prep looks good for a year and then doesn't.
Don't be defensive or drop the price. Reinforce the value, offer to walk them through the quote, and leave the door open. Short and respectful.

Help me write a calm, honest message to [customer name] about a problem on their job at [job address].
The issue: [what I found, e.g. the old paint on the eaves is flaking back to bare timber and won't hold a topcoat without being scraped back and primed / there are render cracks behind the old coating that need filling first].
What I recommend: [your next step].
Acknowledge it, don't over-apologise, explain the options clearly, and reassure them I'll sort it. Keep it steady and professional.

Turn my walk-around notes into a clear touch-up list to send [customer name] for their finished job at [job address].
What we found on the walk-around: [dictate it, e.g. skirting in the main bedroom needs a second cut, roller mark above the hall door, small chip on the architrave in the lounge, gap at the laundry door frame to caulk].
Set it out as a numbered list with a date I'll have it all done by, and finish by asking them to confirm that this is the full list — nothing else outstanding.
Friendly and businesslike.

The final payment doesn't drag because they're dodgy — it drags because "a few bits to touch up" has no end. A written list has an end.

Write a friendly follow-up message to [customer name] about the quote I sent for [job, e.g. the interior repaint] at [job address] on [date].
Check if they've had a chance to look at it, offer to walk them through what's included in the price, and keep it low-pressure.
2-3 sentences, sounds like a real person, not a chase-up bot.

Two days after you send is the sweet spot. This one message wins more work than dropping your price ever will.

Write a short confirmation text for [customer name] for their job at [job address] starting tomorrow.
Include: arrival window [time], roughly how long I'll be there / how many days, what they need to do first ([e.g. move small furniture and take pictures off the walls, clear access to the side of the house, keep pets and kids out of the rooms we're in]), what to expect ([e.g. some paint smell, doors left ajar to dry, we cover everything]), and my number if anything changes.
Clear and friendly.

Help me tell [customer name] their exterior job at [job address] can't go ahead [today/this week] because of the weather — [reason, e.g. it's been raining on and off and the weatherboards won't be dry enough to coat, and it's forecast to stay wet till Thursday].
Explain plainly why painting damp or in the wet is a false economy for them, give a new plan ([e.g. I'll swap to an interior and pick your place back up Friday if it clears]), and apologise once without grovelling.
Warm and short.

Write a message to [customer name] to book the next stage of their job at [job address].
Last stage done: [what was completed, e.g. prep, filling and undercoat]. Next stage: [what's next, e.g. two topcoats to walls and ceilings] which takes about [duration].
Offer [2-3 date options] and ask which suits. Friendly and easy to reply to.

Here are the jobs I've got on this week: [list jobs with rough location, inside or outside, and duration, e.g. Mon-Tue - Nguyen full interior repaint (2 days, Newtown); Wed - Brown exterior weatherboards and eaves (full day, Marrickville); Thu - strata block common-area walls (full day, Ashfield); Fri - touch-ups and a ceiling job].
Here's the forecast: [paste or describe it, e.g. wet Wednesday, fine the rest].
Suggest a sensible order that keeps the exterior work on the dry days and swaps an interior in when it's wet, cuts down driving between suburbs, and flag anything that looks too tight. Keep it as a simple day-by-day list.

Write a short, warm message asking [customer name] for a Google review now their job at [job address] is finished.
Thank them, say it genuinely helps a small local painting business, and make it easy: mention I'll send the review link.
Keep it humble and no-pressure. 2-3 sentences.

Send it the day the drop sheets come up, while they're still walking around a house that looks brand new.

Write a genuine, friendly reply to this 5-star review for my painting business: "[paste review]".
Thank them by name if given, mention something specific from their job (e.g. the colour they picked, the ceilings, the exterior), and keep it warm and human. Don't sound copy-pasted.

Help me reply to a negative review for my painting business. The review says: "[paste review]".
My side / what actually happened: [your notes].
Write a calm, professional public reply: acknowledge their experience, don't get defensive or argue details publicly, and invite them to contact me directly to sort it. Short and level-headed.

Write a casual message I can send to a past happy customer at [job address].
Two things: ask them to keep me in mind for friends and family who need a painter, and gently remind them about [the work they mentioned but didn't do, e.g. the exterior they said they'd look at next year / the garage and the fence].
Friendly, not pushy, no discount gimmicks. Sounds like a local painter who does good work and appreciates word of mouth.

One job becomes three this way. They told you about the rest of the house while you were cutting in — use it.

Write a polite but firm email to [paint shop / supplier name] chasing an order.
Order: [what you ordered, e.g. 40L low-sheen tinted to Dulux Natural White, 20L ceiling flat white, 10L undercoat] placed on [date], order ref [number].
It was due [date] and I've got a customer start booked that depends on it. Ask for a firm delivery or pick-up date and to be called if there's a delay. Professional and to the point.

Write a short email to [supplier name] requesting a price and availability on the following for a job:
[paste your materials list, e.g. 60L low-sheen, 20L flat ceiling white, 15L acrylic undercoat, enamel for doors and frames, filler, sandpaper, masking tape, drop sheets, roller sleeves].
Ask for trade pricing, lead time, whether the tinting is done in store, and whether they can deliver to [job address / suburb]. Keep it brief and businesslike.

Check the sheen and the tint before it leaves the counter. Tinted paint doesn't go back — that's your money sitting in the shed forever.

I'll list what I spent on a job and I want a tidy cost summary.
Job: [job / customer]. Costs: [list each item and amount, e.g. 60L low-sheen $720, ceiling white $180, undercoat $95, filler and sandpaper $60, masking and drop sheets $85, scaffold hire 2 days $340, apprentice 3 days $660].
Group them (materials / labour / hire / disposal), total each group and the whole job, and format it so I can drop it straight into my records.

Don't paste anything you wouldn't want stored — keep customer bank details and the like out of it.

Draft a starting-point Safe Work Method Statement for [task, e.g. repainting the fascia and eaves of a two-storey house from a ladder and mobile scaffold].
List the main hazards, the controls I should have in place, and PPE required, as a simple checklist. Cover the ones painters actually hit: working at height, ladder vs scaffold, power lines, dust from sanding, solvent fumes and ventilation, and the possibility of lead paint on a pre-1970 place.
Note that I need to review it against my site's actual conditions and local regulations before using it. Don't treat it as final or compliant on its own — the call on lead-safe work and the coating system stays with me and my licence.

Always have a qualified person check safety documents against current regs and the actual site. On anything pre-1970, assume lead until it's been tested.

Write a short, friendly email to send with an invoice to [customer name] for their completed job at [job address].
Thank them, note the invoice is attached, state the total [$amount] and due date [date], mention the colours and sheens used are on file if they ever need a touch-up, and how they can pay [payment methods].
Warm and professional. Australian tone.

Write a polite reminder to [customer name] about the final payment on their job at [job address].
Invoice [number], amount [$amount], was due [date]. The touch-up list we agreed on [date] is now complete: [list what you did].
Assume it's an honest oversight, keep it friendly, point out the agreed list is done and signed off, restate how to pay, and ask them to let me know if there's any issue. Firm but respectful.

This is why you get the touch-up list in writing. Done list, done job, paid.