Load standing instructions for quotes, SOPs, and brand voice

What you will be able to do

You will set up ChatGPT Projects (and custom GPTs when your plan allows) so quotes, SOPs, and brand voice stop starting from a blank chat every time.

What Projects are

Projects in ChatGPT are workspaces that keep related chats, uploaded reference files, and custom instructions together for long-running or repeat work. OpenAI’s help says Projects are available across free and paid subscription types; Business, Enterprise, and Edu users can also share projects with teammates. Exact limits change—confirm in your account and on openai.com/pricing.

In owner language: one folder per job, with the rules and reference files already loaded. Same idea as Claude Projects, different product.

What custom GPTs are

GPTs (custom GPTs) are versions of ChatGPT configured for a specific purpose: instructions, optional knowledge files, and selected capabilities. OpenAI’s current help states that new GPT creation and publishing are not available on personal ChatGPT accounts (including Free, Go, Plus, and Pro); Business, Enterprise, and Edu workspaces can create and share GPTs when workspace settings allow it. Anyone signed in can still use GPTs they have access to.

Use a Project when the work is an evolving job folder. Use a custom GPT when you want a reusable “always do X this way” helper for the team—and you are on a workspace that can create one.

Standing instructions worth writing once

Keep instructions short and frozen:

• Who we are (one sentence) and who we are not
• Voice: clear, calm, local; no hype; no “as an AI”
• Never invent price, discount, timeline, or policy — mark gaps [NEED]
• Customer-facing drafts need a human send

Job-specific lines go in the matching Project or GPT, not in a mega-prompt that tries to cover the whole company.

One Project per job (start with three)

1. Quotes / proposals Upload: approved rate sheet or ranges you stand behind, scope boundaries, sample winning proposal (strip customer identifiers), cancel/deposit rules. Instruction: “Draft from these files only. Do not invent line items.”

2. SOPs / checklists Upload: current messy SOPs, safety stop-points you already enforce. Instruction: “Organize and tighten. Do not invent steps. Mark gaps [NEED].”

3. Brand voice / customer email Upload: three emails you actually sent that worked, a one-page voice note. Instruction: “Match length and directness of the examples. Facts come from the user message.”

Add more only when a fourth job keeps colliding with these three.

Files to put in — and leave out

Put in: approved policies, templates, anonymized examples, internal glossaries.

Leave out: card numbers, full charts, passwords, unrestricted employee folders, anything you would not put on a shared office drive. Projects and GPTs are still ChatGPT—see Is business data safe in ChatGPT?.

Try this job: build the Quotes Project in one sitting

1. Create a Project named Quotes — [Your shop].
2. Paste standing instructions (voice + never invent price/policy).
3. Upload the smallest set of approved files that define scope and price.
4. Start a chat: “Draft a proposal section from these files for [job type]. Mark [NEED].”
5. Fill every [NEED], then ask for a tighten pass.
6. Save the final in your real proposal folder with a date—not only inside ChatGPT.
7. If you are on Business/Enterprise/Edu and want a team helper, turn the same standing rules into a custom GPT and share inside the workspace.

Short close

Standing instructions plus the right files beat a clever one-off prompt—build one Project per recurring job.