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Explain usage overage charges with the customer's own numbers
Practice: Showing an example of what you want. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
A customer asked how overage charges would work on their plan. Explain in under 80 words, plain text, using their actual October usage as the example with the math on its own line, and end with the one way to avoid overages. No jargon ('overage tier', 'usage-based billing', 'consumption', 'true-up'). Write a prompt that gets that.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for "under 80 words" and it often lands well over. Try: Cap each part: "3 sentences under 18 words plus one math line."
- Explaining in the abstract. The AI explains the pricing model instead of using their October numbers. Try: Say it: "Use October: 6,200 texts, 5,000 included."
- Old price or no math. The AI may use 5 cents from the old sheet, or skip the math. Try: Add: "Math line: 1,200 x $0.04 = $48."
- No way to avoid it. The AI ends with "let me know if you have questions" or pushes the bigger plan. Try: Add: "End with turning off the second reminder text. No billing jargon. Plain text."
What a strong prompt includes
- Sets a word limit
- Uses their numbers
- Shows the math
- Ends with how to avoid it
- Bans jargon
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