ChatGPT prompt for delivering bad news to a client

This is the prompt we use when a delay, a mistake, or a scope problem has to be announced to a client. Its core rule: the problem is stated in the first two sentences, with no hedging and no passive voice, and the whole message fits in under 150 words.

The prompt to copy

I need to tell {client} that {situation, honestly}. Draft the message: state the issue plainly in the first two sentences, own our part without over-apologizing, give the concrete fix and new date, offer a call. No excuses, no passive voice ("mistakes were made"). Under 150 words.

Replace the two fields in curly braces: the client’s name, then the situation described honestly, in one sentence. The more candid the input, the better the message.

When to use it

Whenever bad news has to reach a client: a delay, a mistake your team made, a scope problem. The worst moment to write this message is exactly the moment you have to write it; this prompt produces a clean first draft while you are still searching for words. One limit worth knowing: it drafts the message, it does not decide the fix. You need to know what you are offering (new date, remedy, goodwill gesture) before you run it.

What you get back

1. The problem stated plainly in the first two sentences.
2. Your part owned, without groveling.
3. The concrete fix and the new date.
4. An offer to talk, all in under 150 words.

Real example: a deliverable slipping one week

At Brightside Studio, an 8-person brand agency, the packaging v2 mockups for Fernhill Coffee are slipping one week: the designer leading the file is out sick and the color revisions need redoing. Sam, the account manager, runs the prompt with this one-line situation:

the packaging v2 mockups promised Friday the 3rd are slipping to Friday the 10th: Priya is out sick this week and the color revisions need redoing

The output, an excerpt of the first draft:

Hi Dana,

The packaging v2 mockups due this Friday won’t be ready: we’ll deliver them on Friday the 10th instead of the 3rd. Priya, who leads the file, is out sick this week, and the color revisions are taking longer than planned.

Here’s the plan: Jonas picks up the file today, and you’ll have the full set by noon on the 10th. The rest of the schedule, print included, is not affected.

If you’d like to talk it through, I’m free tomorrow between 2 and 5 pm.

Sam

Notice what the message does not do: no paragraph of apologies, no “due to circumstances beyond our control”. The problem, the cause, the fix, an open door. Sam reviewed it, confirmed the 10th with Jonas, then sent it.

This prompt ships in the kit’s Clients & Operations library, alongside the playbooks and the full worked examples built on Brightside Studio.