--- name: build-core-lifecycle-flows title: "Build Core Lifecycle Flows" description: ChatGPT prompt for email flows that stands up your welcome series, abandoned cart email, and browse recovery automations so they convert on autopilot. cluster: email-sms version: 1.1.0 --- # Build Core Lifecycle Flows This prompt stands up the core triggered flows for an ecommerce brand: welcome, abandoned checkout, and browse recovery. It maps each flow to the customer action that fires it, writes customer centric messages that resolve real hesitations, layers in SMS touchpoints, and holds the whole system against revenue share benchmarks so you know when a flow is pulling its weight and when it needs work. ## When to use this → You have no automated flows yet, or only a bare welcome email, and automated revenue is a small share of total revenue. → Your flows exist but read like a brand brochure (email one is about us, email two is social links) and convert poorly. → You want a full flow blueprint: triggers, timing, message by message content, SMS touchpoints, and a revenue benchmark to judge each flow against. ## The prompt ```text You are a senior ecommerce lifecycle marketer who has built and optimized owned channel automations across dozens of brands. Your operating principle: automations beat one off campaigns because they are triggered by the customer's own action, which tells you exactly what information they need and when. You design every message from inside the shopper's head, not from the brand's talking points. Revenue is your primary metric; opens and clicks are diagnostics. CONTEXT INTAKE. Read these variables. If any of the starred ones are missing or vague, ask me up to five clarifying questions before writing anything, then proceed. {{BRAND_NAME}} {{PRODUCT_OR_CATEGORY}} *what you sell and the main use case {{PRICE_POINT}} *typical order value and whether it is a considered or impulse purchase {{TOP_BUYER_HESITATIONS}} *the real objections that stop a purchase, e.g. does it work, shipping cost, return ease {{SHIPPING_AND_RETURNS}} free shipping threshold, delivery time, return window {{WELCOME_OFFER}} the incentive that captured the signup, e.g. 15% off, free gift, or none {{DISCOUNT_ROOM}} how much incentive margin allows in abandoned checkout, e.g. "10% max", "free shipping only", "none", or "unknown" {{HAS_SMS_CONSENT}} yes or no, whether you collect SMS marketing consent {{PLATFORM}} e.g. Klaviyo, or unknown {{FIRST_VS_RETURNING}} can you distinguish first time from returning buyers METHOD. Work through these steps in order. 1. Confirm the three core flows and their triggers: a. Welcome flow, triggered on list signup. b. Abandoned checkout flow, triggered when checkout starts but does not complete. c. Browse recovery flow, triggered when a known contact views a product or category but leaves without adding to cart. 2. For each flow, before writing copy, build a hesitation map. Step into the shopper at that exact moment and answer three questions in their voice: What problem am I trying to solve? What would convince me this brand solves it? What is stopping me right now? Ground this in {{TOP_BUYER_HESITATIONS}} and {{SHIPPING_AND_RETURNS}}. If hesitations are thin, tell me to shop my own site and note friction, or survey and call recent customers, and list the exact questions to ask them. 3. Design each flow as a message sequence. For every message specify: trigger delay from the previous step, channel (email or SMS), the single job of that message, subject line, preview text, and a tight content outline that resolves a specific hesitation. Never use the generic template of brand story, then social links, then a review request. Every message must earn its send by answering a real customer need. Baseline structure to adapt, not copy blindly: - Welcome: message 1 immediately (deliver {{WELCOME_OFFER}}, set expectations, one clear next step). Message 2 after about a day (address the top hesitation, show proof). Message 3 after two to three days (bestsellers or a soft nudge on the expiring offer). - Abandoned checkout: message 1 within about an hour (remind, remove friction, no discount yet). Message 2 after about a day (resolve the specific hesitation for this category: return ease, shipping cost, free shipping availability). Optional message 3 after two to three days (a considered incentive only if margin allows). - Browse recovery: message 1 a few hours after the browse (a soft, helpful nudge referencing the viewed product or category, answer the top question that stalls a first look). Message 2 after about a day (show proof and resolve the category hesitation, make the next step frictionless). Keep this flow lighter than abandoned checkout, since intent is lower. 4. Layer SMS. If {{HAS_SMS_CONSENT}} is yes, add SMS touchpoints to these three flows first. Use SMS for the highest intent, most time sensitive moment in each flow (the abandoned checkout reminder is the strongest candidate). Position SMS as the personal channel with first access and exclusive perks. Keep it sparse; do not duplicate every email as an SMS. 5. Add advanced splits only after the foundation is set. If {{FIRST_VS_RETURNING}} allows, branch each flow on first time versus returning buyer, because their content needs differ sharply. Note other useful splits where data exists: gift buyer versus self, loyalty member versus not, product or collection purchased. 6. Set the benchmark. State the target: automations should drive 10 to 15 percent of total ecommerce revenue, 15 percent is strong, and under 10 percent signals large room to build or improve flows. Tell me how to check my current share and what to fix first if it is low. OUTPUT FORMAT. 1. Hesitation map per flow (three questions answered in the shopper's voice). 2. Three flow blueprints as tables: message, delay, channel, job, subject, preview, content outline. 3. SMS touchpoint plan (only if consent exists). 4. Recommended splits, marked as phase two. 5. Benchmark and diagnostic: how to read automated revenue share and the first optimization if it is under target. SELF CHECK before returning. - Facts to verify: every shipping, returns, and offer detail matches the variables I gave you; invent nothing. - Failure modes to avoid: brand centric copy that ignores the customer, discounting in an abandoned checkout when margin was not confirmed, over sending SMS, treating opens or clicks as the goal instead of revenue, and adding splits before the base flows exist. - If a benchmark number would only be credible with a named external source, keep the principle and drop the number. ``` ## Prompt versions The standard prompt above works on any model. Use these variants when you want a different tradeoff. ### Frontier model version Built for the most capable models (Claude Opus and beyond). States the goal, constraints, and quality bar up front, then trusts the model to choose its path. ```text You are a senior ecommerce lifecycle marketer. Automations beat one off campaigns because they fire on the customer's own action, which tells you what they need and when. GOAL. Stand up three core triggered flows for this brand and hand me a build ready blueprint: welcome (list signup), abandoned checkout (checkout started, not completed), and browse recovery (known contact views a product or category, leaves without adding to cart). CONTEXT. {{BRAND_NAME}}, {{PRODUCT_OR_CATEGORY}}, {{PRICE_POINT}}, {{TOP_BUYER_HESITATIONS}}, {{SHIPPING_AND_RETURNS}}, {{WELCOME_OFFER}}, {{DISCOUNT_ROOM}}, {{HAS_SMS_CONSENT}}, {{PLATFORM}}, {{FIRST_VS_RETURNING}}. PRINCIPLES. → Write every message from inside the shopper's head at that trigger moment, not from brand talking points. Before copy, map their state: what they want, what would convince them, what stalls them, grounded in {{TOP_BUYER_HESITATIONS}} and {{SHIPPING_AND_RETURNS}}. → Each message earns its send by resolving one real hesitation. Never default to brand story, then social links, then review request. → Sequence by intent: welcome leads with value and proof; abandoned checkout removes friction first and discounts only if {{DISCOUNT_ROOM}} allows; browse recovery stays lighter because intent is lower. → Add SMS only if {{HAS_SMS_CONSENT}} is yes, at the single highest intent moment per flow, positioned as a personal perk, never a duplicate of every email. → Treat first versus returning splits as phase two, added only after the base flows exist and only if {{FIRST_VS_RETURNING}} allows. QUALITY BAR. Excellent output gives me: a hesitation map per flow in the shopper's voice; three blueprints specific enough to build today (trigger, delay, channel, message job, subject, preview, content outline); an SMS plan only where consent exists; and the benchmark that automations should drive 10 to 15 percent of total ecommerce revenue, with the first thing to fix if I am under it. BOUNDARIES. Do not invent shipping, returns, offer, or benchmark facts; every detail must trace to a variable I gave you. Do not discount in abandoned checkout unless margin is confirmed. Do not pad with generic advice. If a starred input is missing or vague, ask one focused question instead of guessing. Lead your output with the single highest leverage move for this brand's flows, then the full blueprint below it. ``` ### Quick version Five lines or fewer, for when speed matters more than rigor. ```text Build three ecommerce flows for {{BRAND_NAME}}: welcome, abandoned checkout, browse recovery. Context: {{PRODUCT_OR_CATEGORY}}, {{TOP_BUYER_HESITATIONS}}, {{SHIPPING_AND_RETURNS}}, {{WELCOME_OFFER}}, {{HAS_SMS_CONSENT}}. For each flow give trigger, message delays, channel, subject, and a content outline where every message resolves one real hesitation, never brand story filler. Quality bar: build ready and written from the shopper's viewpoint, inventing no shipping, returns, or offer facts beyond what I gave you. ``` ## How to customize → `{{TOP_BUYER_HESITATIONS}}`: the actual objections that block a sale, gathered by shopping your own site and asking customers. Example: "worried it will not fit," "unsure if it works for sensitive skin," "shipping felt expensive." → `{{SHIPPING_AND_RETURNS}}`: your real policy, since these details resolve most abandoned checkout hesitation. Example: "free shipping over 60 dollars, 3 to 5 day delivery, 30 day returns." → `{{WELCOME_OFFER}}`: the incentive that captured the signup so message one delivers it. Put "none" if you do not discount, and the prompt will lead with value instead. → `{{HAS_SMS_CONSENT}}`: set to yes only if you collect explicit marketing consent, not just transactional consent, or you cannot send SMS. → `{{FIRST_VS_RETURNING}}`: whether your platform can tell a first time buyer from a returning one, which unlocks the highest value split. ## What good output looks like → Each flow opens with a hesitation map written in the shopper's voice, and every message visibly resolves one of those hesitations rather than reciting brand facts. → Flow blueprints are specific enough to build today: exact triggers, delays, channels, subject lines, and content outlines, with no generic brand story, social links, review filler. → SMS appears only where consent exists and only at the highest intent moment, positioned as a personal perk channel, not a promo duplicate. → The output states the 10 to 15 percent automated revenue benchmark and tells you the first thing to fix if you are under it. ## Related prompts → [Design a List Growth Popup](./design-a-list-growth-popup.md): feed these flows with more qualified subscribers, since welcome flow volume scales with signups. → [Design Post Purchase Flows That Drive LTV](./design-post-purchase-flows.md): add the flows that fire after a sale, so lifetime value grows once the core three convert. → [Plan a Campaign Calendar and Segments](./plan-a-campaign-calendar-and-segments.md): once flows run automatically, layer in campaign sends and exclusion segments so they do not collide.