Library › Customer Support & Success AI › Customer support teams
Post a status update during a live payments outage
- For Customer support teams
- You practice Setting limits and rules
- Time about 5 minutes
- Level Advanced
About this exercise
Write a status-page update for customers. First line exactly "Status: Identified". Then in plain text, under 80 words: what customers see, what we know, and what happens next. Use no internal system names and give no fix time, because none is confirmed. The last line must be exactly "Next update: 3:30 PM ET".
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Promising a fix time. Ben's 20 minutes is in the log, so the AI repeats it as an ETA. Try: Add: "Give no fix time. None is confirmed."
- Leaking system names. The AI copies payments-gw-02 and TLS wording straight from the engineers. Try: Say: "Use plain words only, no system names or jargon."
- Missing the workaround. The AI explains the problem but leaves out that PayPal works and carts are saved. Try: Ask: "Tell customers what still works."
- Missing the exact first and last lines. The AI writes its own status word and sign-off. Try: Give both exactly: "Status: Identified" and "Next update: 3:30 PM ET".
- Getting markdown back. AI adds bold and headings by default, which show up as stray symbols where this is pasted. Try: Say "plain text, no bold, no headings, no asterisks".
What a strong prompt includes
- Asks for plain text
- Sets a length limit
- Fixes the first and last line
- Bans a fix time
Related exercises
- Accept the buyer's counteroffer on three stated conditions (Sales AI · Sales and customer success)
- Accrue goods received but not invoiced at PO price (Finance AI · Accountants)
- Add dark mode by overriding your existing CSS variables (Coding AI · Software developers)
- Add input checks to your number guessing game (Coding AI · High school students)
- Add labels to a signup form without rewriting the page (Coding AI · High school students)