In this article, we’ll walk through how to prepare your AI Agent to handle customer service effectively. By providing the right data and setting clear boundaries, you ensure your AI acts as a high-performing "digital colleague" for your team.
Knowledge
Think of this AI Agent as a new colleague. What knowledge would you give a new hire to help them handle customer service effectively?
We recommend documenting your procedures regarding claims, returns, discount codes, product recommendations, etc., and uploading them to a Help Desk as articles and FAQs. This allows us to integrate the Help Desk as a primary dataset.
Make sure to include your Google Product Feed, your website, access to CMS, and your existing Help Desk (if you have one). This gives the AI a solid foundation of knowledge to pull from when responding to queries.
Data Discipline
For the AI Agent to provide accurate answers, it’s crucial to audit your website and other datasets for factual consistency. Is the information still correct? Look out for outdated shipping rates, old return guides, or references to discontinued products and categories.
Tone of Voice
You can shape how the AI phrases its responses under the Personality menu. While there are standard settings to choose from, there is a free-text field at the bottom where you can describe your specific brand voice.
You can also use the Custom Prompt feature to ensure the AI follows specific behaviors for example, starting every message with "Hi [Name]" or framing responses positively and always offering a clear next step.
Role in the Team
Consider how you want to deploy your AI Agent. Which topics or tasks should it own? Define these clearly so you know which situations stay with your human staff and which are handled by the AI.
Once this is clarified, you can use the Custom Prompt to describe the specific scenarios or topics where the AI Agent should hand over the conversation to a human team member.
Transparency
Decide whether the AI should "identify itself." We often find that customer satisfaction is higher when you are transparent. If the AI introduces itself as "Our AI Assistant," customers tend to have a higher level of tolerance and clearer expectations.
Testing
Set aside dedicated time to test the AI Agent thoroughly. Does it handle a complaint the way you want it to?
Activate the AI in "Review" on your preferred channels to see how it would respond to real customer inquiries without sending them yet. You can do this with no cost and interference in your daily work
Another option is to use our "Playground" feature for safe, internal testing. This is a closed testing environment where you can act as a customer.
If you encounter a response that isn't up to par, note the context and check which data sources the AI used to generate that specific answer.
Need help?
You can always reach out to our support if you need help with AI Agents or other topics. Write to them at support@herodesk.com.