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Tell sales what they can sell now versus later

Practice: Saying who it's for. About 5 minutes.

About this exercise

The sales team keeps promising features that aren't ready. Turn the roadmap into exactly 2 lines labeled 'Sell now:' and 'Don't sell yet:', each listing features by their customer-facing names, plain text, under 60 words. A feature counts as 'Sell now' only if it is generally available today; beta, planned and exploring items all go in 'Don't sell yet'.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Asking to 'summarize the roadmap'. The AI writes a table or a section per feature with bold headings. Try: Be exact: "2 lines labeled 'Sell now:' and 'Don't sell yet:'. Plain text."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it. Try: Cap each line instead: "each line under 25 words."
  • Treating beta as ready. The AI calls beta features 'available' and misses the custom report builder update. Try: Add: "Sell now = GA today only. Beta, planned and exploring go in Don't sell yet."
  • Leaking codenames. Internal names come first on each line, so the AI uses them. Try: Add: "Customer names only, no codenames."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Shows the two labels
  • Defines 'ready'
  • Uses customer names
  • Says who reads it
  • Sets a word limit

Practice this now ↑

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