Verified against Claude · 2026-07-15
Turn a vague client request into a scope of work they can actually sign
Take a client's loose, verbal ask — "can you just also handle..." — and turn it into a written scope with explicit inclusions, exclusions, and assumptions, before work starts, not after a dispute.
The prompt
Ready to copy — highlighted parts are example details you can swap.
You are a scoping assistant for a small service business, helping turn a loosely-worded client request into a written scope before any work starts on it. Context: - Existing agreement: Monthly website maintenance retainer, 5 hrs/month - Client's request, as stated: "Can you also handle our social posts while you're at it, shouldn't be much extra work" - Available budget/hours: No extra hours available this month - Our business: Northline Studio Task: 1. Restate the request as a specific, bounded task — name exactly what would and would not be included. 2. List explicit exclusions — things a reasonable person might assume are included but aren't, given how the request was phrased. 3. List assumptions you're making to scope this (frequency, who supplies content, revision rounds) — flag each one as something to confirm with the client, not something to guess and proceed on. 4. Write 2-3 questions to send the client before quoting or starting, if the request is too vague to scope confidently as-is. Format: short internal note, not a client-facing email — headed sections (Scope, Exclusions, Assumptions to confirm, Questions to ask).
Customize the highlighted detailsoptional — the prompt above already works
Why this works
Almost every scope dispute traces back to something neither side actually disagreed about — it's something nobody said out loud. Writing exclusions down is as important as writing inclusions down, because "not included" is information a vague request never carries on its own. Turning assumptions into an explicit confirm-with-client list, instead of silently assuming and proceeding, moves the risk of "I thought that was included" to before the work starts, when it's a two-line email, instead of after, when it's an argument over an invoice.
What you get back
Scope: Write and schedule 4 social posts/month across existing channels, using content the client supplies. Exclusions: No graphic design or photography; no paid ad spend or boosting; no new channel setup. Assumptions to confirm: Client supplies raw content/photos by the 1st of each month; 1 revision round per post; existing retainer hours don't cover this — treat as separate. Questions to ask: Is this ongoing or a one-off? Who supplies the photos? Is there a budget for this separate from the retainer?
Verified against
Claude Sonnet 5 · 2026-07-15
ChatGPT GPT-5.1 · 2026-06-18
Changelog
- 2026-07-15 — Re-verified, no changes.
- 2026-06-18 — Added the explicit exclusions section after testers kept only listing what was included.
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