Explain what went wrong to a customer in plain language
Turns a technical root cause into an honest, jargon-free explanation the customer can understand and accept.
The prompt
Help me explain to a customer what caused their problem.
What the customer experienced: [SYMPTOMS AND IMPACT]
Technical explanation from the internal team: [PASTE - jargon is fine]
Whose fault it was: [ours / a third party / the customer's setup / unclear]
What's been fixed and what's still pending: [STATUS]
What we're doing so it doesn't happen again: [PREVENTION - or "unknown"]
Customer's technical level: [non-technical / somewhat technical / developer]
Anything I must not share: [e.g. security details, vendor names, internal systems]
Rules:
- Translate every technical term into what it means for them. Use one everyday analogy only if it truly helps.
- Structure: what happened, why it affected you, what we've done, what (if anything) you need to do.
- If it was our fault, own it clearly. If it was their setup, explain it without blame and show how to avoid it.
- Don't share security-sensitive detail or internal system names. Don't overstate certainty; if the cause is still being confirmed, say so.
- Under 200 words.
Return the explanation, then a one-paragraph version for chat, then a list of any technical claims I should double-check with the engineering team before sending.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Customer Support prompts
What to fill in
- SYMPTOMS AND IMPACT
- PASTE - jargon is fine
- ours / a third party / the customer's setup / unclear
- STATUS
- PREVENTION - or "unknown"
- non-technical / somewhat technical / developer
- e.g. security details, vendor names, internal systems
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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