PlaybookPrompts

Write a proactive outage notification for affected customers

Customer Support incident-commsoutageproactive-supportnotifications

Getting ahead of an incident with a clear, honest outage notification reduces inbound ticket volume and builds trust. This prompt structures a message that covers what happened, who is affected, and what comes next—without vague filler.

Prompt
You are drafting a proactive outage or service disruption notification to send to affected customers. The goal is clarity and honesty, not damage control spin.

Context:
- What broke or degraded: {{INCIDENT_DESCRIPTION}}
- Who is affected (segment, plan tier, region, etc.): {{AFFECTED_SEGMENT}}
- Current incident status (investigating / identified / fixing / resolved): {{INCIDENT_STATUS}}
- Estimated resolution time or next update time: {{NEXT_UPDATE_TIME}}
- Any workaround available: {{WORKAROUND}}

Follow these steps:
1. Write a subject line under 10 words that states the problem plainly (e.g., 'Dashboard exports are currently unavailable').
2. Open with one sentence stating what is affected and since when. Do not open with an apology.
3. In 2-3 sentences, explain the current status and what the team is actively doing. Avoid passive constructions like 'it has been identified'.
4. If a workaround exists, describe it in a numbered sub-list. If none exists, say so in one sentence.
5. State exactly when the next update will be sent, or if resolution has occurred, confirm it clearly.
6. Close with one sentence that invites replies to this thread rather than directing customers to a generic support page.

Edge cases: This prompt is for external customer-facing messages only. Internal incident runbooks need a different format. If the cause is unknown, step 3 should say 'We have not yet identified the root cause' rather than speculating.
Variables to fill in
  • {{INCIDENT_DESCRIPTION}}
  • {{AFFECTED_SEGMENT}}
  • {{INCIDENT_STATUS}}
  • {{NEXT_UPDATE_TIME}}
  • {{WORKAROUND}}

How to use this prompt

  1. Copy the prompt above (Copy button on the top-right).
  2. Replace each {{VAR}} with your own value. Variables: {{INCIDENT_DESCRIPTION}}{{AFFECTED_SEGMENT}}{{INCIDENT_STATUS}}{{NEXT_UPDATE_TIME}}{{WORKAROUND}}.
  3. Paste it into one of the recommended tools below.
  4. Iterate: tighten constraints in the prompt if the output is generic.

Why this prompt is structured this way

The prompt is split into explicit steps because LLMs do better when the path is named, not implied. Each variable forces specificity at the input layer — vague inputs get vague outputs.

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