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Answer the furious customer who may not renew after a 9-hour outage

  • For Customer success managers
  • You practice Getting the tone right
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Intermediate

About this exercise

A $120K customer is threatening not to renew next month, and your reply is the next thing Renata Voss reads. Write it from you, Dana Reyes, Customer Success Director, in plain text, under 150 words. Own the failure in the first sentence with no excuses and no "inconvenience" language. Say exactly what happened and what has changed. Offer the approved credit and nothing more. End with ONE ask: a call with our CTO, Lena Ortiz, on Thursday, Nov 5 at 2pm. Leave out every internal note.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Apologizing in fog. The AI writes "we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience" and never says what broke. Try: Say: "Own it in the first sentence, say what happened and what changed. No 'inconvenience' language."
  • Blaming the vendor. The AI grabs the hosting vendor's bug from the notes because it sounds like an explanation. Try: Add: "Do not blame any vendor or name any engineer. Leave out everything internal."
  • Giving away more. The AI sweetens the reply with a refund or a renewal discount nobody approved. Try: Add: "Offer only the approved $10,000 credit and nothing else."
  • Several asks, no date. The AI says "let us know how we can make this right" or offers three next steps. Try: Add: "End with one ask: a call with the CTO, Lena Ortiz, Thursday Nov 5 at 2pm."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. An angry-customer reply runs long, with headings or bold. Try: Say "under 110 words, plain text" and cap the parts, like "6 short sentences".

What a strong prompt includes

  • Owns it in the first sentence
  • Says what happened and what changed
  • Offers only the approved credit
  • One concrete next step
  • Leaves out internal notes

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