Plan a chatbot that helps your customers
Start with recurring questions, define the bot’s boundaries, and make human handoff part of the plan.
A useful bot simplifies a task and makes it clear when a person should take over.
Start with real conversations
Collect questions your team repeatedly answers, such as opening hours, booking steps, or job status. Group them by customer intent and begin with a small set that has clear answers. Avoid assuming the bot must handle everything. Assign an owner to keep its information current.
Give every flow an exit
Keep each interaction short and explain what is happening. When information is missing or the bot cannot understand, let people return to the main menu or request a person. Define the handoff process and the context the team needs so customers don’t have to repeat their entire story.
Test the awkward cases
Test beyond the expected button clicks. Try typos, changing direction, unrelated questions, and requesting a person immediately. Check whether the user still has a clear next step. Include the team handling escalations in testing to see whether the process actually reduces work or merely moves it elsewhere.