{"id":"data2-reply-exec-question-metric-not-tracked","audience":"analysts","category":"data","track":"data","technique":"tone","level":"intermediate","title":"Reply to an exec about a metric you can't compute yet","free":false,"task":"Chief Operating Officer Marcus Bell asked for the return rate on the new product line, but returns aren't tracked by product line. Write a plain-text reply under 80 words: the first sentence says you can't give a reliable number yet and why, then say what you do know with its figures, then one specific next step with its owner and date. Don't estimate the return rate.","materialLabel":"Facts and the question (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Marcus's question (Slack): \"What's the return rate on the new Fall line? Need it for the board pack Friday.\"\n\nWhat we know:\n- The Fall line sold 1,200 orders from Sep 15 to Oct 31.\n- Returns are logged in the warehouse system with an order number and a reason, but not a product line or SKU.\n- Total returns logged for all products from Sep 15 to Oct 31: 310. Total orders across all products in that period: 6,200 (overall return rate 5.0%).\n- Of the 310 returns, 35 have a reason text that mentions \"Fall\" or a Fall SKU name, but that's a text guess, not a field.\n- Order numbers can be matched to the orders table, which does have SKU. Nobody has matched them yet.\n- Joining returns to orders would take the analyst (Wen Zhao) about 2 hours.\n- Wen can do it Wednesday afternoon if Marcus approves; the board pack is due Friday.\n\nMarcus likes short answers with a number.","rules":[{"type":"plainText"},{"type":"maxWords","max":80}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Estimating a rate","why":"The AI offers 5.0% or 2.9% as the Fall return rate.","fix":"Add: \"Don't give a Fall return rate. Don't use the 35 mentions as a rate.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"Leaving out the known figures","why":"The AI only says 'we don't have it'.","fix":"Add: \"Say 1,200 Fall orders and overall returns of 310 on 6,200 orders (5.0%).\"","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Vague next step","why":"The AI says 'we'll look into it'.","fix":"Add: \"Wen Zhao matches returns to orders Wednesday afternoon, with your approval.\"","checks":["r2"]},{"title":"Leaving the format to chance","why":"The AI picks its own length and layout unless told the exact shape.","fix":"Add: \"Plain text, no bold or headings.\"","checks":["plainText"]},{"title":"Trusting the AI to count words","why":"AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it.","fix":"Cap each part instead, for example \"each line under 15 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Names the reader","patterns":["marcus","coo"]},{"label":"Says it can't yet","patterns":["can.t give","not yet","reliable"]},{"label":"Gives the known figures","patterns":["1,?200","310","6,?200"]},{"label":"Rules out estimating","patterns":["don.t give","don.t use","no estimate"]},{"label":"Gives the next step","patterns":["wen","wednesday","friday"]}],"hint":"Saying 'I can't yet' well means naming why, sharing what is solid, and proposing a dated step.","mission":"Reply to the COO about the Fall return rate.","musts":["Won't estimate","What we know","One dated next step"],"rubricLabels":["The first sentence says a reliable return rate for the Fall line can't be given yet because returns aren't logged by product line or SKU","It reports what is known: 1,200 Fall orders, and 310 returns on 6,200 orders overall (5.0%), without presenting 35 Fall-mentioning returns as the Fall return rate (35 / 1,200 = 2.9%) or any other estimate","It proposes one next step: Wen Zhao matches returns to orders by order number (about 2 hours), done Wednesday afternoon ahead of Friday's board pack, pending Marcus's approval"]}