spb/ultra-sharp-agent-skills Public

1<!--2Author: Simon-Pierre Boucher3Contact: contact@spboucher.ai4-->56# Examples — Professional Email House Style78## Contents9- Subject-line pairs10- Complete worked example: request email (bad → house style)11- Complete worked example: bad-news email (bad → house style)12- Follow-up sequence without passive aggression13- Gotchas1415## Subject-line pairs1617| ❌ Never | ✅ House style |18|---|---|19| Quick question | Need your call: ship Friday or wait for QA? |20| Update | Launch moved to Sept 12 — no action needed |21| Meeting | Can you join a 30-min pricing review Thu 2pm? |22| Following up | Reminder: contract signature due tomorrow |23| Important!!! | Server costs up 40% — decision needed by EOM |2425## Complete worked example: request email2627**❌ Bad version (context-first, buried ask, no next step):**2829> Subject: Question30>31> Hi Sarah,32>33> Hope you're doing well! As you know, we've been working on the vendor34> evaluation for the past few weeks. The team looked at five options and35> narrowed it down to two. There were a lot of considerations around pricing,36> support SLAs, and integration effort, and honestly it was a close call.37> After several discussions we're leaning toward Acme, though DataCo has38> some advantages too. Anyway, I was wondering if you might have some time39> to maybe look this over when you get a chance?40>41> Thanks!4243**✅ House-style version:**4445> Subject: Approval needed by Thu: Acme as our data vendor ($36k/yr)46>47> Hi Sarah,48>49> Can you approve Acme as our data vendor by **Thursday 5pm**? Their quote50> expires Friday.51>52> Why Acme over DataCo:53> - 20% cheaper at our volume ($36k vs $45k/yr)54> - 24h support SLA vs business-hours only55> - Integration estimated at 2 days vs 2 weeks56>57> Full comparison attached. Next step: on your approval I'll sign Thursday58> and kick off integration Monday.59>60> Best,61> Simon6263## Complete worked example: bad-news email6465**❌ Bad version (buried, vague, blame-shifting):**6667> Subject: Project update68>69> Hi all, lots of moving parts lately! The team has been heads-down and70> we've made real progress on several fronts. That said, given some71> dependencies outside our control and a few unexpected challenges, the72> timeline may need to be revisited somewhat...7374**✅ House-style version:**7576> Subject: Launch slips 2 weeks to Oct 3 — mitigation below77>78> Hi all,79>80> The launch moves from Sept 19 to **Oct 3**. Cause: the payment-provider81> API migration returned breaking changes we discovered in integration82> testing on Tuesday.83>84> Mitigation:85> - Beta customers keep the Sept 19 date on the legacy flow86> - Marketing holds the announcement until Sept 2687>88> Next step: I'll confirm the new date is solid at Friday's checkpoint and89> report here by 3pm.9091## Follow-up sequence without passive aggression9293- Follow-up 1 (day 3): "Resending — I need your sign-off by Wed to keep the94  Friday ship date."95- Follow-up 2 (day 5): "Deadline risk: without sign-off today, ship moves to96  next sprint. Reply 'go' and I'll handle the rest."97- Escalation (day 6, new thread, manager CC'd): facts and dates only:98  "Sign-off requested Aug 1, followed up Aug 4 and Aug 6; ship date at risk."99100## Gotchas101102- **"Hope you're well" openers** — harmless once, filler when the ask is103  urgent. If the email fits on one screen with it, keep it; otherwise cut.104- **Bold more than one thing** and nothing is bold. One bolded element per email.105- **Questions hidden in statements** ("It would be great to know the budget")106  get no answers. Ask directly with a question mark.107- **CC as pressure** reads as hostile. CC managers only with a stated reason108  ("CC Dana for visibility on the date change").109- **Attachment amnesia** — name the attachment in the body ("comparison110  attached") so its absence is caught before sending.111