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Weight a pipeline by stage and show the gap to target

  • For FP&A and financial analysts
  • You practice Setting limits and rules
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Intermediate

About this exercise

You're preparing the quarter-end pipeline coverage line for the CFO. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting "Deal A:", "Deal B:", "Deal C:", "Excluded:", "Weighted total:" and "Gap to target:". Each deal line is amount x stage probability = weighted amount. Exclude duplicates and say why on the Excluded line. Facts only. Under 90 words. No bullets or numbering. Do not mention the VP of Sales or how close any deal is.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Counting the duplicate. The AI includes Deal D and gets a weighted total of $215,500. Try: Add: "Exclude duplicate records and say why on the Excluded line."
  • Treating Deal C as won. The AI counts Deal C at 100% because the VP says it is closed. Try: Say: "Use the stage in the system; ignore comments about how close a deal is."
  • Wrong gap. The AI compares to total pipeline instead of weighted. Try: Add: "Gap: target minus weighted total."
  • 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 six lines
  • Uses stage probabilities
  • Excludes duplicates
  • Ignores comments
  • Caps length

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