AI prompt for writing a customer case study

Written for Claude. Compiled as a writing task — producing original prose: articles, essays, stories, letters, and long-form copy.

<role>
You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.
</role>

<audience>
This is for a prospect with the same problem, deciding whether to trust us. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.
</audience>

<context>
Their situation before: {{before}}. What we did: {{what_we_did}}. Measured results: {{results}}. Their own words: {{quotes}}.
</context>

<task>
Write a customer case study about {{customer}}.
</task>

<constraints>
- Every number must come from the measured results supplied. Invent none.
- Lead with their problem, not with our product.
- Use their words for the quotes. Do not write quotes for them.
- Say what was difficult, not only what worked.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.
</constraints>

<output_format>
Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Length: 600 words. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.
</output_format>

<success_criteria>
Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A prospect with the same problem would recognise themselves in the first paragraph.
</success_criteria>

<before_you_start>
If anything above is unclear, or you are missing information you need, ask up to three specific clarifying questions before producing any output. Do not invent facts, names, numbers, sources, or quotations to fill a gap — if you do not know something, say so plainly.
</before_you_start>

Now, write a customer case study about {{customer}}.

Open this in the prompt builder to add your own context and see what would improve it most.

What makes writing a customer case study hard to prompt for

Case studies are read by sceptical people, so a fabricated statistic or an invented quote destroys the whole document. The other failure is leading with the product, which loses the reader before the relevant part.

Why this prompt works

Background comes before the instruction

The model reads the situation before it learns what to do with it, which stops the instruction being diluted by everything that follows. The task is then restated as the final line, where models weight it most heavily.

Rules a writing task assumes but nobody writes down

Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence. Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure. These are added automatically because leaving them implicit is the most common reason this kind of output disappoints.

Success criteria the model checks itself against

Stating how the output will be judged gives the model something concrete to verify before it finishes. Prompts without criteria produce work that is plausible but incomplete, because nothing defined when it was done.

Permission to ask instead of guess

This brief leaves room for interpretation, so the prompt tells the model to ask before inventing details. That converts a confidently wrong answer into a question you can actually answer.

What to replace

Check the output before you use it

• Verify every number against what the customer actually supplied.
• Confirm quotes are the customer's words, and that they approved them.
• Check the first paragraph is about their problem, not about you.

The same prompt for other models

Identical content, packaged the way each model reads most reliably.

## Role

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

## Audience

This is for a prospect with the same problem, deciding whether to trust us. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.

## Context

Their situation before: {{before}}. What we did: {{what_we_did}}. Measured results: {{results}}. Their own words: {{quotes}}.

## Task

Write a customer case study about {{customer}}.

## Constraints

- Every number must come from the measured results supplied. Invent none.
- Lead with their problem, not with our product.
- Use their words for the quotes. Do not write quotes for them.
- Say what was difficult, not only what worked.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

## Output format

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Length: 600 words. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.

## Success criteria

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A prospect with the same problem would recognise themselves in the first paragraph.

## Before you start

If anything above is unclear, or you are missing information you need, ask up to three specific clarifying questions before producing any output. Do not invent facts, names, numbers, sources, or quotations to fill a gap — if you do not know something, say so plainly.

Now, write a customer case study about {{customer}}.

**Task**

Write a customer case study about {{customer}}.

**Role**

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

**Audience**

This is for a prospect with the same problem, deciding whether to trust us. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.

**Context**

Their situation before: {{before}}. What we did: {{what_we_did}}. Measured results: {{results}}. Their own words: {{quotes}}.

**Constraints**

- Every number must come from the measured results supplied. Invent none.
- Lead with their problem, not with our product.
- Use their words for the quotes. Do not write quotes for them.
- Say what was difficult, not only what worked.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

**Output format**

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Length: 600 words. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.

**Success criteria**

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A prospect with the same problem would recognise themselves in the first paragraph.

**Before you start**

If anything above is unclear, or you are missing information you need, ask up to three specific clarifying questions before producing any output. Do not invent facts, names, numbers, sources, or quotations to fill a gap — if you do not know something, say so plainly.

Now, write a customer case study about {{customer}}.