Total top vendor spend after merging a vendor listed twice

About this exercise

You're measuring vendor concentration. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting "Top 3 vendors:", "Top 3 total:" and "Share of spend:". List each of the top three with its annual spend, add them, and divide by total spend to one decimal. Combine any vendor that appears under two names. Facts only. Under 60 words. No bullets or numbering.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Listing Halden twice. The AI ranks Halden IT Services ($150,000) and omits the second record, giving $630,000. Try: Add: "Combine the two Halden records into one vendor."
• Wrong share base. The AI divides by the top vendors only. Try: Say: "Share = top 3 total / $1,000,000 total spend."
• Advising consolidation. The AI recommends consolidating vendors. Try: Add: "Facts only; no advice."
• Markdown extras. The AI adds bold labels, headings and a closing note. Try: Say: "Plain text, no bold. Output only the lines asked for."
• Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and runs past word limits. Try: Ask for fewer words than the real cap and keep each line short.

What a strong prompt includes

• Names the three lines
• Combines the Halden records
• Gives the share formula
• Bans advice
• Caps length

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