We’ve been using Microsoft Copilot across the business for a couple of years now. Sales, marketing, operations, cybersecurity, management reports, tech support, client emails, you name it. After hundreds of conversations with it, two things stand out for me:
- Check its work like you’d check an intern’s. It will get things wrong. But tell it what needed fixing and it does better next time.
- Whatever it can do today, it will do better tomorrow. Things that didn’t work six months ago often work now.
Like most people, we started by asking “can AI write my emails?” It can, but that turns out to be one of the least interesting things it does. The real value is in thinking faster, finding things sooner, making better decisions and cutting out busywork.
Here are the prompts and habits that have worked best for us.
1. Ask for answers, not documents
Most of us have plenty of information and not much insight. Instead of digging through emails, proposals, meeting notes and reports, just ask:
“Summarise everything I need to know about this client from the last six months of emails, meeting notes, proposals and Teams chats.”
It saves a lot of time before a client meeting, and it often turns up things you’d forgotten. You were never really looking for the documents, you were looking for the answer in them.
2. Prep for a meeting in minutes
“I’m meeting this client tomorrow. Summarise our history, current opportunities, outstanding actions and open issues, and suggest five good questions to ask.”
You end up with a one-page briefing out of information that was scattered all over the place. For account managers and anyone in sales, that’s a big chunk of prep time back.
3. Better emails, faster
The trick isn’t asking AI to write an email, it’s telling it what you want to happen. Rather than “Write an email to a client”, try:
“Draft a follow-up on a proposal. The client is busy and hasn’t replied. Keep it professional, warm and confident, remind them of the value we discussed, and ask if anything is holding them back.”
The difference is huge. Save a few of your best emails and give them to it as examples of how you write.
4. Get the gist before you read the whole thing
Long proposals, contracts, policies and reports land on every manager’s desk. Before you wade in, ask AI to go first:
- Summarise the key points of this document.
- What are the commercial risks?
- Explain this in plain English.
- What should I ask before I approve this?
We use this a lot on supplier agreements, security documentation and governance papers. (There’s a certain irony in using your AI to read something that was probably written by someone else’s AI!)
5. Use it as a sounding board
This is one of my favourites:
“Act as a CEO advisory group. Challenge this idea, and point out the risks, opportunities, assumptions and other ways we could do it.”
Often the value isn’t the answer. It’s being made to think about things you hadn’t considered.
6. Turn meetings into actions
Plenty of meetings produce lots of talk and not much action. Give AI the notes and ask for:
- Action items, owners and due dates
- Decisions made
- Risks
- A follow-up email to everyone
It makes it much harder for things to fall through the cracks.
7. Reuse what you already know
Every business has knowledge stuck in people’s heads. AI is great at getting it out and into a usable shape:
- Turn this meeting recording into a client FAQ.
- Turn this procedure into a knowledge base article.
- Make a training guide from these notes.
- Turn this webinar into a blog post.
You’re creating useful content every day without realising it.
8. Ask it to argue with you
One benefit I didn’t expect is how good AI is at poking holes in your thinking. Try:
- What am I missing?
- Argue against this recommendation.
- What risks haven’t we thought about?
- How would the client see this proposal?
Good leaders aren’t after agreement, they’re after better decisions.
9. Ask better questions
The biggest lesson of all: AI rewards clarity. A simple formula we use is Context + Objective + Audience + Output. For example:
“We’re a New Zealand professional services firm. I need to present a cybersecurity strategy to our board of non-technical directors. Give me a one-page executive summary with the key risks, recommendations and investment priorities.”
That will beat “Write a cybersecurity strategy” every time.
Five to try this week
If you’ve got Microsoft 365 and Copilot, start with these:
- Summarise everything I need to know about this client.
- Prepare me for tomorrow’s meeting.
- Draft a reply to this email.
- Review this document and list the key risks.
- What am I missing?
What we’ve found is that this isn’t really about artificial intelligence at all. It’s about getting more out of the knowledge your team already has.
Not sure your Microsoft 365 is set up to get the most out of Copilot? Book a free health check, or call us on 0800 688 768.