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SME Playbook10 min read

Claude for Singapore SMEs: 10 Prompts That Save 10 Hours a Week

Ten battle-tested Claude prompts for invoice chasing, customer triage, JD writing, board updates, and more. Built for Singapore SME founders. Copy-paste.

Update, 4 November 2026: PSG, EDG and MRA stopped taking new applications on 29 September 2026. New projects apply under Enterprise Singapore’s EDGE Grant (up to 70% support for SMEs, capped at S$100,000 a year). See Grants & Compliance.

Haojun See
Haojun See

Founder & Director, On The Ground

Updated 1 May 2026

How to use this list

Each prompt is a starting point. Copy it, paste into Claude, and adjust the bracketed [VARIABLES] for your business. The first time you run each one, you'll find a few tweaks that make it sharper for your specific context — keep those. Save your customised versions in a shared doc your team can access. Over a few weeks you'll have a private prompt library worth more than any course.

1. Invoice chaser

*"You are drafting a polite but firm reminder email for an overdue invoice. Vendor: [YOUR COMPANY]. Customer: [CUSTOMER NAME]. Invoice number: [INV#]. Amount: [AMOUNT]. Due date: [DATE]. Days overdue: [N]. Tone scaling: - 1–7 days: friendly nudge, assume they forgot - 8–14 days: firmer, request confirmation of payment date - 15–30 days: formal, mention escalation - 30+ days: notice of suspension/escalation Use Singapore commercial English. ~120 words. Include subject line."*

2. Job description from messy notes

*"Turn the messy notes below into a polished Singapore job description for the role of [ROLE]. Sections: about the role, responsibilities (bullets), what we're looking for (bullets, separating must-have from nice-to-have), what we offer, how to apply. Tone: warm, specific, no clichés. Avoid 'rockstar', 'ninja', 'hit the ground running', 'fast-paced'. Use Singapore English. Notes: [PASTE]"* Pair with AI Hiring for SMEs for the full hiring workflow.

3. Customer inquiry triage

*"Classify the customer inquiry below as one of: sales / support / complaint / spam / other. Also tag urgency: low / medium / high. If sales, suggest a templated reply. If complaint, suggest a tone (apologetic / explanatory / firm) and a 60-word draft response. Output as JSON. Inquiry: [PASTE]"* Full walkthrough at AI Customer Inquiry Triage with Claude.

4. Meeting notes to action items

*"Below is a meeting transcript or notes. Extract: (a) decisions made, (b) action items (with owner and due date if mentioned), (c) open questions / parking lot, (d) date for next meeting if mentioned. Output as Markdown with clear headers. If a field is empty, write 'None'. Notes: [PASTE]"*

5. Spreadsheet to board report

*"Below is a CSV of monthly metrics. Compute month-over-month and year-over-year changes for each metric. Identify the top 3 movers (positive or negative) and write a one-paragraph executive commentary explaining likely drivers. Output: a Markdown report with a metrics table and the commentary. Data: [PASTE CSV]"* Full walkthrough at Spreadsheet to Board Report.

6. Email reply summariser

*"Below is a long email thread. Summarise: (a) the original ask in one sentence, (b) the current state in 3 bullets, (c) what each party is currently waiting on, (d) what I should do next. Use Singapore commercial English. Thread: [PASTE]"*

7. Quote-to-proposal generator

*"Turn the rough quote below into a one-page client proposal. Sections: who we are (1 paragraph, polished), what you need (the client problem, restated in their language), what we'll do (scope, deliverables, timeline), investment (price), next steps. Tone: confident, specific, no fluff. Rough notes: [PASTE]"*

8. SOP from a recorded walkthrough

*"Below is a transcript of someone walking through a process. Turn it into a clean SOP with: goal, prerequisites, step-by-step (numbered, with role, tool, and approximate time per step), edge cases, and a final checklist. Output as Markdown. Transcript: [PASTE]"*

9. CV-to-summary for hiring shortlist

*"Below is a candidate CV. Extract: years of relevant experience, top 3 strengths for the [ROLE] role, top 3 gaps, salary range if mentioned, notice period if mentioned, one-paragraph summary, and a fit-score 1–5 vs. the JD. JD: [JD CONTENT] CV: [PASTE]"* For full hiring workflow see AI Hiring for SMEs.

10. Daily ops digest

*"Below are yesterday's metrics across our business. Write a 200-word morning brief for the founder covering: the three things that matter most, anything unusual, and one specific thing the founder should look at today. Tone: direct, no fluff. Use Singapore English. Data: [PASTE]"*

Where to go next

For the full prompt library across industries, see The Singapore Prompt Library. For more cost-saving SME workflows, see Five Claude Workflows That Eliminate Daily Admin. If you want OTG to build a tool that runs these prompts on autopilot for your business, email haojun@ontheground.agency. Functional App Sprints start at S$3,500.

Frequently asked questions

Will these prompts work with Claude.ai (free) or do I need Pro?

All ten work with the free tier for occasional use. For daily use or batches, get Claude Pro (~S$27/month) — you'll hit free-tier limits within an hour on any serious workflow.

Are these prompts PDPA-safe?

The patterns are PDPA-aligned (we redact identifiers in the examples). Apply your own redaction to your inputs. Use enterprise-tier accounts when handling client personal data. See [PDPA Prompting Checklist](/resources/pdpa-prompting-checklist).

Which prompt should I try first?

The customer-inquiry triage (#3) — most SMEs see immediate time savings. If you're admin-heavy, try the spreadsheet-to-report (#5) instead.

Can I claim PSG funding for tools built using these prompts?

PSG is for pre-approved digital solutions. Custom tools using these prompts are not PSG-eligible per se, but OTG-built solutions structured as engagements can be — depending on scope. See [Grants & Compliance](/grants).

How do I learn to write better prompts myself?

Read [Anthropic's prompt engineering guide](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/build-with-claude/prompt-engineering/overview), then customise these ten to your specific business. Or attend an [OTG vibe coding workshop](/resources/vibe-coding-workshop-singapore).

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