# Write a root cause letter for a major customer

A formal incident explanation for a key account covering impact, cause, fix, and prevention in honest, non-technical language.

- Topic: Customer Support
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Customer Support, Write, Analyze, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/write-a-root-cause-letter-for-a-major-customer

## Prompt

```text
Write a root cause analysis (RCA) letter to a major customer after an incident.

**Customer and contact:** [ACCOUNT, RECIPIENT'S ROLE]
**Incident summary:** [WHAT HAPPENED, START AND END TIMES WITH TIME ZONE]
**Impact on this customer specifically:** [WHAT THEY COULDN'T DO, DATA AFFECTED, USERS AFFECTED]
**Root cause (internal version):** [PASTE TECHNICAL DETAILS]
**Fix applied:** [WHAT WAS DONE]
**Prevention actions and dates:** [WHAT WE'RE CHANGING, WITH OWNERS AND TARGET DATES]
**Contractual commitments:** [SLA, service credits owed - if any]
**What must not be disclosed:** [security details, other customers, vendor names]

Structure:
1. Summary: what happened and the impact, in 3 sentences.
2. Timeline: detection, communication, mitigation, resolution.
3. Root cause in plain language, with enough technical detail for their IT team in a short appendix.
4. What we did to fix it.
5. What we're changing so it doesn't recur, with dates.
6. Service credits or next steps, if applicable.
7. A named contact for follow-up questions.

Rules: take responsibility for what was ours without admitting legal liability beyond the facts; no vague words like "a glitch"; no unconfirmed dates. Mark anything uncertain as [CONFIRM]. Have legal or account management review before sending if credits or contracts are involved.
```

## What to fill in

- ACCOUNT, RECIPIENT'S ROLE
- WHAT HAPPENED, START AND END TIMES WITH TIME ZONE
- WHAT THEY COULDN'T DO, DATA AFFECTED, USERS AFFECTED
- PASTE TECHNICAL DETAILS
- WHAT WAS DONE
- WHAT WE'RE CHANGING, WITH OWNERS AND TARGET DATES
- SLA, service credits owed - if any
- security details, other customers, vendor names
- CONFIRM

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