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Partner communication tone calibrator

Rewrites a draft partner-facing message for tone, clarity, and diplomatic framing calibrated to the situation — delays, underdelivery, renewal asks, escalations, or good news — producing a send-ready version plus a…

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Purpose

Take a rough or emotionally-loaded draft partner message and return a send-ready version calibrated to the specific situation — protecting the relationship while still moving the business forward. Solves the problem of managers either over-apologizing, sounding defensive, or burying the actual ask in a message that a partner will read in ten seconds.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when the user asks to:

  • Rewrite a message telling a partner about a delivery delay or missed timeline
  • Soften a message admitting an underdelivery on impressions, downloads, or campaign metrics
  • Frame a renewal, upsell, or rate-increase ask diplomatically
  • Respond to a frustrated or escalating partner without conceding too much
  • Turn a blunt internal draft into partner-appropriate language
  • Deliver good news (renewal, bonus inventory) without sounding transactional

Inputs Required

Before starting, collect:

  • Draft message: The current text they want calibrated (paste as-is)
  • Situation type: Delay / Underdelivery / Renewal ask / Rate change / Escalation response / Good news / Other
  • Relationship stage: New partner / Established / At-risk / Champion
  • Desired outcome: What one thing the partner should do or feel after reading
  • Constraints: What can and can't be offered (make-goods, discounts, timelines)
  • Channel: Email / Slack / DM — affects length and formality
  • Tone target: Warmer, firmer, more concise, or "keep the tone but fix clarity"

If relationship stage or channel is missing, assume Established partner over email and note the assumption.

Instructions

Step 1: Diagnose the Draft

Read the draft and flag the specific problems before rewriting:

  • Buried ask: Is the actual request or key point below the fold or hidden in a paragraph?
  • Over-apology: More than one apology, or apologizing for things not owed (erodes authority)
  • Defensiveness: Explanations that read as excuses ("due to circumstances beyond our control")
  • Vague accountability: Passive voice hiding who did what ("the numbers came in lower")
  • Missing next step: No clear action, timeline, or resolution
  • Tone-situation mismatch: Chirpy tone on a serious miss, or heavy tone on routine news

Step 2: Apply the Situation Framework

Rewrite using the frame that matches the situation type.

Delay — Lead-Own-Plan:

  1. State the new reality in the first sentence, no windup
  2. Take clear ownership without over-apologizing (one acknowledgment max)
  3. Give a specific new date and what happens between now and then

Underdelivery — Acknowledge-Contextualize-Remedy:

  1. Name the shortfall with the actual number, not a euphemism
  2. One sentence of honest context — not an excuse chain
  3. Lead with the make-good or remedy; make the fix the emotional center of the message

Renewal / Upsell ask — Value-Ask-Ease:

  1. Open by referencing a concrete result or moment from the partnership
  2. Make the ask directly and in one sentence — no throat-clearing
  3. Lower the friction: propose a specific next step (call, same terms, one-click)

Rate change — Reason-Number-Value:

  1. State the change and effective date plainly
  2. Anchor to value delivered or market reality, not internal cost
  3. Reaffirm commitment and leave a door open for a conversation

Escalation response — Validate-Correct-Path:

  1. Acknowledge the partner's frustration as legitimate before anything else
  2. Correct any factual misunderstanding calmly, without defensiveness
  3. Offer a concrete path and a specific owner and timeline

Good news — Credit-News-Forward:

  1. Give the partner credit for their role in the win
  2. Deliver the news specifically
  3. Point to what it unlocks next — keep it relational, not transactional

Step 3: Calibrate Tone

Adjust word-level and structural tone to the relationship stage:

  • New partner: Slightly more formal, more context, warmer sign-off
  • Established: Efficient, warm, fewer preambles
  • At-risk: Extra care, more validation, avoid anything that reads as taking them for granted
  • Champion: Candid, direct, can reference shared history and inside context

Apply diplomatic-directness rules: active voice, one apology maximum, ask in the top third of the message, concrete numbers and dates over hedges ("soon," "significant," "a bit").

Step 4: Produce the Send-Ready Version

Write the final message plus a subject line, then note exactly what changed and why in 3-5 bullets. Produce one alternate variant in the opposite direction from the tone target (if they asked for firmer, also give softer, and vice versa).

Output Format

  • Structure: Diagnosis notes → Send-ready message → What changed → Alternate variant
  • Length: 400–650 words total; the primary message itself under 180 words for email, under 90 for Slack/DM
  • Format: Labeled sections; the send-ready message set off clearly for easy copy-paste, including a subject line for email
  • Sections: What I fixed (3-5 bullets) → Subject line → Send-ready message → Why it works (2-3 bullets) → Alternate variant (firmer or softer)
  • Tone: The rewrite is diplomatic and direct — warm but never groveling, clear but never blunt to the point of coldness

Quality Checklist

Before delivering output, verify:

  • [ ] The message contains no more than one apology
  • [ ] The actual ask or key point appears within the first third of the message
  • [ ] Every commitment includes a specific date or number — no "soon," "shortly," or "significant"
  • [ ] Passive-voice accountability dodges have been converted to active ownership
  • [ ] The message length is within the channel limit (180 words email / 90 words Slack)
  • [ ] The alternate variant genuinely shifts tone, not just swaps a word or two

Notes

  • The most common failure in partner comms is a buried ask wrapped in three sentences of pleasantries — always surface it early
  • On underdelivery, resist the instinct to explain at length; partners care far more about the remedy than the reason
  • For at-risk partners, a slightly firmer, more confident message often rebuilds trust better than an anxious, over-apologetic one
  • If the draft contains commitments the manager may not be able to keep, flag them explicitly rather than polishing them into the final version

How to use this skill

This file is a Claude Code skill in Anthropic's standard format — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top.

Installing in Claude Code:

  • ~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)
  • <your-project>/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills)

Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register.

Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:

  1. Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
  2. Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits

For Claude Code skill details: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills