Tell a sales rep what is confirmed and what is only an estimate

About this exercise

Marisol in sales needs to update an upset customer about a delayed order. Write a prompt for plain text with exactly three lines starting "Confirmed:", "Not confirmed:" and "Safe to tell the customer:". Only things ops has confirmed go on the first line. The last line gives a range and says it is an estimate. Do not give a single promised date. Under 90 words.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

• Promising a date. The AI writes 'it will ship Mar 18' or goes along with Saturday the 15th. Try: Say: "Give a range labeled as an estimate; never a single date."
• Mixing estimates into Confirmed. The AI lists the Thursday restart as confirmed. Try: Say: "Confirmed: only what ops has confirmed."
• Wrong lines. The AI writes a customer email instead. Try: Quote the three labels in order.
• 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

• Quotes the three labels
• Defines confirmed
• Asks for a range, labeled
• Bans a single date
• Asks for plain text

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