2 Check it, then copyYou're helping me, a small-package shipping salesperson, choose what to ask a customer to commit to, after at least one real conversation with them. Choose the smallest customer commitment that would genuinely move the opportunity forward from where the customer actually is, or show that no commitment is earned yet. "No commitment yet" is a normal, useful answer, not a failure. Activity isn't progress: nothing I've done, sent or prepared shows that the customer is ready for anything.
What I have:
- The account: [THE ACCOUNT, DESCRIBED WITHOUT ITS NAME]
- What the customer has said matters to them: [WHAT THE CUSTOMER HAS SAID MATTERS TO THEM, IN GENERAL TERMS]
- What the customer has actually done or agreed to: [WHAT HAS THE CUSTOMER ACTUALLY DONE OR AGREED TO SO FAR?]
- What I've done, sent or promised: [WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, SENT OR PROMISED?]
- What I'm thinking of asking them to commit to: [WHAT YOU'RE THINKING OF ASKING THEM TO COMMIT TO]
- Whether a next step has come up with the customer: Not sure
If a line under "What I have" shows only its own field label in square brackets instead of my text, for example "[WHAT YOU'RE THINKING OF ASKING THEM TO COMMIT TO]", I didn't fill it in. Treat it as not supplied, and don't list it as a gap. If "Whether a next step has come up with the customer" isn't supplied, treat it as "Not sure". [MY COMPANY] is a reserved name for the company I sell for, not a blank field.
Privacy comes first. This works from general descriptions of what happened, such as "they said switching effort is a concern", "they asked to discuss pricing", "they said they review providers periodically", "the operations function is involved" or "I sent a proposal they asked for". It never needs names, figures or documents. Before writing anything, check whether any supplied field contains prohibited information: the company name or anything that identifies the customer; contact names, email addresses or phone numbers; exact shipment volumes; rates; discounts; spend; contract terms; contract or renewal dates; competitor pricing; carrier allocation; proposal values; commercial concessions; invoices; spreadsheets; shipment-level records; tracking or account numbers; copied customer emails or message threads; copied CRM notes; or confidential documents. A field's label doesn't make its content safe. If you find prohibited information, discard it completely before reasoning. Do not repeat, quote, paraphrase, summarize, transform, compare, count or calculate from it, and don't let it shape the evidence, the commitment or the ask. The privacy reminder at the end then names the categories you left out.
Don't look anything up online for this, even if your tool can. If your tool searches automatically, ignore those results and don't use or cite them. Don't use what you remember about any company. Work only from what I've supplied. Examples in these instructions illustrate rules only; they are never facts about this deal.
How to read what I supplied:
- Everything I supplied is my account of events, not verified fact.
- What the customer said is context. What the customer did and explicitly agreed to is stronger evidence of progress. What I did never establishes customer readiness. Don't upgrade my beliefs into customer facts, the customer's words into customer actions, or activity into commitment.
- None of these shows customer readiness: I sent a proposal (that doesn't mean they reviewed it); I have pricing ready (that doesn't mean they asked for pricing); they complained about their current provider (that isn't intent to switch); they were enthusiastic (that isn't intent to buy); we had a meeting, or I followed up several times (neither is progress by itself); I built a pilot (that doesn't mean they want one).
- Don't infer authority, a decision maker, urgency, dissatisfaction, budget, a hidden objection, switching intent or readiness to buy.
- "What I'm thinking of asking them to commit to" is my proposal, not an instruction. Test it against the evidence. Keep it only if it's earned and in proportion; otherwise choose a smaller earned commitment, or no commitment.
- "Whether a next step has come up" is my view and a soft signal, not a gate. A modest commitment can still fit when the customer has established a real issue, even if no next step was discussed. "They suggested one" or "They agreed to talk about next steps" doesn't on its own justify a large commitment.
- If the facts I supplied genuinely conflict, point that out.
The commitment labels (choose exactly one):
- SHARE: the customer provides, explains or shows one general category of information, such as a rough package profile, how a process works, how returns are handled today, a general shipment summary or how the decision is made. Name one general category only. Don't design a detailed or multi-field data request, and don't list shipping fields such as volume, dimensions, weight, destinations, service levels, returns and carrier mix as a set. If more specific shipping facts are needed, say that deciding exactly which facts to request belongs to the ANALYZE step ("Decide what numbers to ask the shipper for"). Don't make the ask vague to avoid this; name the category plainly.
- INVOLVE: the customer brings in a person or function they identify, or gives appropriate access to an operation or process. The customer decides who. Never invent a person, title, decision maker or authority.
- REVIEW: a focused non-commercial working session or review tied to an issue the customer actually raised, such as working through an operational issue, reviewing a process, understanding their decision criteria or requirements, a technical discussion when the issue supports it, the workflow or implementation effort involved before any commercial decision, or reviewing non-commercial material the customer specifically asked for. A generic "another meeting" doesn't qualify. REVIEW is never used for a pricing discussion, a proposal review, a commercial-options discussion or another customer-supported commercial step when the DECIDE prerequisites are met; that's DECIDE.
- TEST: a limited, reversible trial. Hard prerequisites below.
- DECIDE: a commercial, proposal, pricing or formal decision step the customer supports: a pricing discussion, a proposal review, a commercial-options discussion or another formal commercial or decision step. Hard prerequisites below. DECIDE doesn't mean the customer is ready to buy, award business, sign a contract or make a final decision: a customer-requested pricing or commercial discussion is itself a DECIDE commitment when the prerequisites are met. Don't use DECIDE merely to learn how the customer makes decisions; that's SHARE, INVOLVE or REVIEW, depending on what the customer is actually being asked to do.
- NO COMMITMENT YET: no customer commitment is sufficiently supported yet. This is a normal, successful outcome.
Choosing the size (a reasoning aid, not a rigid ladder): share or show; involve; work through or review; test; decide.
- Match the ask to what the customer actually said, did and agreed to.
- Prefer smaller, reversible commitments when they would settle the open issue.
- Never choose a larger commitment merely because it's available or because I want it.
- Tie the commitment to the issue the customer established, not to something unrelated.
- If my proposed ask is too large, choose a smaller earned commitment when one would genuinely advance the customer's issue. If none would, choose NO COMMITMENT YET.
TEST only when all four of these are supported by what I supplied:
1. The customer agrees there's a specific issue worth testing.
2. The scope is something the customer identified or would recognize, such as one lane, one facility, one service or a limited portion of shipments.
3. The customer has shown willingness to evaluate.
4. What success means is known, or defining success can legitimately be part of the commitment.
Don't invent the scope, duration, percentages, volumes, dates, services or success criteria. Don't recommend TEST because I want one.
DECIDE only when all four of these are supported by what I supplied:
1. The customer raised an issue they want addressed, in their own terms.
2. The customer asked for, or explicitly agreed to, the commercial, pricing or proposal discussion.
3. Enough of the shipping situation is understood, in general terms, for the discussion to be meaningful.
4. The relevant decision process is at least partly understood, or the formal decision step itself is what the customer has agreed to discuss.
My readiness doesn't satisfy these. None of these justifies DECIDE: I have pricing ready; I sent a proposal; I want to quote; I want an answer; the customer said cost matters in general; the customer complained about their current provider; the customer showed interest.
When all four are supported and the commitment is a pricing, proposal or commercial discussion, choose DECIDE, not REVIEW. Don't downgrade an earned commercial discussion to REVIEW because the discussion is exploratory, because no final buying decision is being asked for, or because it's framed as a focused working discussion.
Choose NO COMMITMENT YET when, for example: there's no customer-established issue or purpose for an ask; my proposed commitment is unsupported or too large and no smaller meaningful commitment would advance the issue; the customer declined or pushed back and nothing supports another request; or what I supplied doesn't establish a useful customer commitment. Whether no next step was agreed isn't, on its own, a reason.
Never:
- Recommend an award, a contract commitment, committed shipment volume, a rate-for-volume trade, an implementation commitment or a contract structure.
- Price, quote, estimate savings, promise a rate, recommend a carrier or a service, or say or imply that switching would help.
- Criticize the current provider, assume dissatisfaction, invent pain or manufacture urgency.
- Invent people, titles, stakeholders, authority, dates, deadlines, meeting lengths, timing or owners.
Boundaries: this step chooses the customer commitment worth asking for, and nothing else. It doesn't choose my next move. Don't tell me to wait, follow up, chase, send something, clarify, change my approach or step back, and don't recommend what I should do instead of asking; that's a separate decision. Don't qualify the account, research it, plan a conversation, decide which detailed shipping facts to request, build a proposal or business case, handle objections or rehearse the buyer.
Write the answer in exactly these sections. Keep it short enough to read in a couple of minutes.
A. WHERE THE CUSTOMER STANDS
Use only these labels:
CUSTOMER SAID: only generalized customer statements I supplied.
CUSTOMER DID: only customer actions or explicit customer agreements.
YOU DID: only my actions, materials and promises.
ASSUMED: things I appear to be treating as true without support.
UNKNOWN: information that matters to the commitment and isn't known.
If a label has nothing supported, write "Not established from what you supplied." Don't use CONFIRMED or VERIFIED, and don't repeat any prohibited value. If any of my activity is being treated as customer progress, say so plainly in one line.
B. THE COMMITMENT
Exactly one label, on its own line: SHARE, INVOLVE, REVIEW, TEST, DECIDE or NO COMMITMENT YET. No other label, no menu and no second option. For SHARE, INVOLVE, REVIEW, TEST or DECIDE, add exactly one specific customer commitment in one sentence. For NO COMMITMENT YET, write exactly "No commitment to ask for yet."
C. WHY THIS SIZE FITS NOW
For a commitment: the customer evidence that supports it, why it's in proportion, and the prerequisite already met. For NO COMMITMENT YET: the missing prerequisite. Don't prescribe a move for me.
D. NOT YET
Short. The larger or unsupported asks to hold back, each with the prerequisite it lacks, especially my proposed ask if it's too large. Not a roadmap of future commitments.
E. THE ASK
For SHARE, INVOLVE, REVIEW, TEST or DECIDE: one customer-facing ask, asking for exactly one commitment. Natural, specific, optional-sounding and easy to decline. Keep the customer-facing ask short and natural. Prefer one sentence. Use two short sentences only when needed for clarity. It may be a natural yes/no commitment question, such as one beginning "Would you be open to", or an open question if that's more natural. No pressure, no criticism of the current provider, no implied intent to switch, no promise of savings or rates, and no compound request. Don't invent dates, meeting lengths or people: let the customer set the timing and decide who should be involved. Use placeholders in square brackets such as [CONTACT NAME] or [THE ISSUE THEY RAISED] where a specific reference is needed. For NO COMMITMENT YET, write exactly "No customer ask yet." and don't draft a message.
F. WHAT THIS WOULD UNLOCK
For a commitment: one to three short lines on what a yes would let me understand, confirm or work through. Don't interpret what a no would mean, don't infer intent from a refusal, and don't prescribe my next move. For NO COMMITMENT YET: one line saying the missing prerequisite in Section C has to be established before a customer commitment would be meaningful.
Rules:
- Don't name individual people, and don't describe what [MY COMPANY] offers or charges.
- Write plainly. No hype, no persona, no scores, no probability of closing and no commentary on how you worked.
- After Section F, always end with a short privacy reminder. It tells me not to paste customer names, contact names, shipment volumes, rates, discounts, spend, contract terms or dates, competitor pricing, proposal values, copied emails, CRM notes or other confidential customer information into FrostPal prompts or any AI tool. If I supplied any prohibited information, it also names only the categories you left out. It names categories only: never repeat a private value, never mention a person's name, and never quote the sensitive input. It must be the absolute final text in your response.
- Don't add offers, follow-up suggestions or questions after the privacy reminder.
Select the prompt text above and copy it.