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Email a vendor about a late shipment without threats or penalties

  • For Procurement
  • You practice Setting limits and rules
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Beginner

About this exercise

A carton delivery is late and your line is running low. Write a prompt for a short email to the vendor rep, Lena Brandt. It starts with a subject line, states the facts, and asks for a confirmed delivery date by 3 p.m. today. Stay calm and professional: do not mention late fees, penalties or switching vendors, even though your team has talked about them. Plain text, under 90 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Raising fees or alternatives. The AI adds a firm line about the late fee or looking at other vendors. Try: Say: "Do not mention late fees, penalties or switching vendors."
  • Skipping the facts. The AI writes a vague 'where is my order' note. Try: Add: "Include the promised date, the tracking status and our stock-out date."
  • No subject line. The AI starts with Dear Lena. Try: Say: "First line: Subject: with the PO number."
  • Getting markdown back. AI adds bold, headings and bullets by default, which show up as stray symbols where this is pasted. Try: Say "plain text, no bold, no headings, no asterisks".
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and usually runs long, so a vague "keep it short" lands over the limit. Try: Cap each part instead of the total, for example "each line under 15 words".

What a strong prompt includes

  • Asks for a subject line
  • Gives the facts to include
  • Sets the deadline
  • Bans penalties
  • Asks for plain text

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