{"id":"pm-competitor-snapshot-lines","audience":"product-managers","category":"research","track":"research","technique":"verification","title":"Turn messy competitor notes into a fair snapshot","free":false,"task":"Your sales lead wants a quick competitor snapshot she can paste into an email. You need exactly 3 numbered lines, one per competitor, each listing price, free plan (yes or no) and one standout feature in that order, under 80 words, plain text. Use the latest price for each, and mark anything that is only a rumor as 'Unconfirmed' instead of stating it as fact.","materialLabel":"Your competitor notes (attached to your prompt automatically)","material":"Competitor notes - team calendar tools (updated Nov 2026)\n\nBrightlane\n- $10/user/month (pricing page, checked Aug).\n- Free plan up to 5 users.\n- Standout: drag-and-drop shift templates.\n- Nov 2 update: pricing page now says $12/user/month. Free plan unchanged.\n\nTockly\n- $8/user/month, billed yearly.\n- No free plan, 14-day trial only.\n- Standout: built-in time-off approvals.\n- Reddit thread (r/smallbusiness, 1 post): \"heard Tockly is getting bought by a big HR company\". Nothing official.\n\nCadenza\n- $15/user/month.\n- Free plan for 1 calendar only.\n- Standout: two-way sync with Outlook and Google.\n- Their sales rep told our customer they \"will have AI scheduling by spring\". No announcement on their site.\n\nOur notes: we beat all three on mobile app ratings (4.7 vs 4.1-4.4). Ask marketing before quoting ratings externally.","rules":[{"type":"numberedItems","count":3},{"type":"maxWords","max":80},{"type":"plainText"}],"mistakes":[{"title":"Accepting a table","why":"The AI loves markdown tables, which break when pasted into email.","fix":"Say: \"Exactly 3 numbered lines, plain text, no table.\"","checks":["numberedItems","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 line instead: \"each line under 20 words.\"","checks":["maxWords"]},{"title":"Using the old price","why":"Both Brightlane prices are in the notes, and the AI may pick the first one.","fix":"Add: \"Use the latest price for each; Brightlane is now $12.\"","checks":["r0"]},{"title":"No fixed field order","why":"The AI writes a different mini-paragraph for each competitor, which is hard to compare.","fix":"Show it: \"Name: price | free plan yes/no | standout feature\".","checks":["r1"]},{"title":"Stating rumors as fact","why":"The AI repeats the Reddit post and the sales-rep claim like news.","fix":"Add: \"Label rumors Unconfirmed. Leave out our app ratings.\"","checks":["r2"]}],"promptHints":[{"label":"Fixes the field order","patterns":["price.{0,30}free.{0,30}(feature|standout)","\\|","same order"]},{"label":"Uses the latest price","patterns":["latest","newest","\\$12","updated","current"]},{"label":"Labels rumors","patterns":["unconfirmed","rumou?r","not official"]},{"label":"Sets the number of lines","patterns":["\\b(3|three)\\b.{0,15}(line|competitor)"]},{"label":"Sets a word limit","patterns":["\\d+\\s*words","word (limit|count)"]}],"hint":"Comparisons are only fair when every line has the same fields. Show the AI the line shape, tell it which price is current, and how to treat rumors.","rubricLabels":["Brightlane's price is $12/user/month (the Nov 2 update), not $10; Tockly is $8 and Cadenza $15","Each line gives price, free plan yes or no, and one standout feature in that order (Brightlane yes, Tockly no, Cadenza yes or 'yes, 1 calendar')","If the Tockly acquisition or Cadenza AI scheduling claims appear, they are labeled Unconfirmed, and the snapshot leaves out our mobile app ratings"]}