Set up your Business Assistant

Step 1 · about 5 minutes

Get Claude ready

Business Assistant lives inside Claude, the AI assistant made by Anthropic. You need your own paid Claude plan (Pro or higher). That is the only other cost, and you pay Anthropic for it directly.

1. Go to claude.ai and sign up or sign in.
2. Choose a paid plan. Pro is enough to start.
3. Download the Claude desktop app for your computer from claude.ai/download, open it and sign in. You will see a chat box and a menu down the left side.

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Step 2 · about 5 minutes

Connect your email and documents

Connecting your email lets the assistant read new enquiries and put reply drafts in your inbox for you to check. Connecting your documents gives it one folder to keep your business profile, records and quotes in. (Claude calls these links connectors.)

1. In the Claude app, open Settings, then Connectors.
2. If you use Google: connect Gmail, Google Drive and Google Calendar. If you use Microsoft: connect Microsoft 365 (Outlook, OneDrive and calendar).
3. Each one opens a sign-in window. Sign in with your business account and allow access. When it is done, the connector shows as connected.

If this looks a little different on your screen, that is fine. The names are what matter.

No business email yet? You can skip this step and paste enquiries into the chat instead. Everything else still works.

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Step 3 · about 3 minutes

Install Business Assistant

Once your payment goes through, open your order: sign in to your account on siliconstreets.ca and go to My Account, then Orders (the link is also in your confirmation email). Under the order you'll see a file called business-assistant.zip. That file is the assistant. Not bought it yet? Get Business Assistant.

1. Click business-assistant.zip to download it. Leave it zipped; do not open it.
2. In the Claude app, open Customize in the left menu, then the Plugins tab.
3. Choose the option to upload a plugin, and pick business-assistant.zip.
4. Business Assistant now shows in your list of plugins. It works in Claude on your computer and on the web.

On a company Claude account, your administrator may need to allow it first.

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Step 4 · about 10 minutes

Set up your business profile

This is the one time the assistant asks about your business. It saves your answers in a document called Business Profile, in a folder called Business Assistant, so it never has to ask again.

1. Start a new chat and type: Set up my assistant
2. It asks six short groups of questions: who you are, how you look (logo and colours), how you sound, how to reach you, your prices, and what needs your yes before it goes out.
3. Answer in your own words. Type skip for anything you don't have yet, or pick for me for colours and fonts.

Have your price list handy if you have one. A photo or a file of it is fine.

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Step 5 · about 3 minutes

Choose where your records live

Your front desk needs one place to track who asked what, what you quoted, and who still owes you a reply. At the end of setup, the assistant offers three paths:

• Not yet. It keeps everything in a simple spreadsheet called Front Desk Records in your Business Assistant folder. Most people start here.
• Use one you already have. It notes your system's name and keeps the front desk spreadsheet next to it. A direct connection is coming in a free update.
• Get one from us. An online business system that keeps customers, quotes, invoices and stock in one place. See the hosting plans. You don't need it to use the assistant.

You can open and edit the spreadsheet yourself any time. It's yours.

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Step 6 · about 5 minutes

Answer your first enquiry

1. Type Check my enquiries. Or paste in a message a customer sent you this week: an email, a WhatsApp message, a Facebook message, anything.
2. The assistant writes it down in Front Desk Records and drafts a reply in your voice. With email connected, the draft waits in your inbox's Drafts. Otherwise it appears in the chat for you to copy.
3. Read the draft. Anything in [square brackets] is a gap it couldn't fill, like a price it doesn't know. Fix those, then send it yourself.
4. Tell the assistant sent and it updates your records.

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Step 7 · about 10 minutes

Send your first quote

1. Type Make a quote for and the customer's name.
2. The assistant confirms the items, prices them from your price list, and makes a quote with your logo and colours in a Quotes folder. It never makes up a price. If something is missing from your list, it asks you.
3. It also drafts a short covering email with the quote attached. Check both, then send the email yourself.
4. Tell it sent. It plans two friendly follow-ups (after 3 days and after 7, unless you choose other days).

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Step 8 · about 3 minutes

Turn on your daily front desk check

Each morning the assistant looks for anyone waiting on you: unanswered enquiries, quotes due a follow-up, overdue payments and today's appointments. It drafts each message and gives you a one-screen summary.

1. Type Start my day to try it now.
2. When you like it, type Turn on my daily front desk check. It sets up a scheduled task at the time you choose, for example 8:30 every weekday.

That's it. Your front desk is running, and every message still waits for your yes.

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