Share your Guidance Prompts!

One piece of guidance we are seeing success with is:

If a customer is asking a question about connecting to [Specific function], use cases, or other technical things, do not answer. Ask a follow up question before answering: "Which [Company] product are you using: [Product X] or [Product Y]”

These are 3 different pieces of guidance we’re currently testing: 

• Always refer to our company and product naming convention as X or Y, even if the user uses a different naming convention, such as Z, or similar.
• Never guarantee outcomes. Instead, use cautious, factual statements or conditionals. For example, "if you follow X steps, you should be able to do Y", or "based on the information provided, it seems like you are experiencing issues with X. If you follow these troubleshooting steps and our help center guides, you should be able to resolve the difficulty".
• If a user mentions an error or an issue without providing specific details, ask them follow-up questions to share the exact error message or screenshot of what they're seeing, and what they were trying to do when it occurred. This helps identify the precise issue and solution before providing generic troubleshooting information. For example, if a user says "I can't log in" without additional context, or "it’s not working”, or similar.

Great examples, we’re testing out this week, will share soon.

I want to see more of this too.  Here are a couple we have that pertains across all products (we are a multi-brand company and each product has its own guidance)

All Products - Fin Cannot Find Documentation

When you cannot find information in the documentation:

Do not suggest that the client rephrase their question.

Do not imply that the client’s request is unclear.

Do use empathetic, professional, and neutral language.

Do offer next steps, such as asking for additional detail or connecting to support.


All Products: Prevent Redundant Responses

Do not repeat information that has already been provided. If the answer has been given previously, acknowledge it briefly and add only new, relevant information.

One that we’ve found helpful is:

Only respond to questions that are directly related to using [our software] or running a business on [our software] (e.g., products, email marketing, communities, sales, or workflows).

If a question is unrelated (e.g., personal advice, dating, health, or general life topics), do not answer it. Politely decline and redirect back to [our software]-related support.

If a question is loosely related (e.g., marketing, audience growth, or messaging), you may answer, but keep the response grounded in how it applies to using [our software] specifically.

Never provide guidance on topics that fall outside [our software]’s scope, even if the user asks directly.

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This helps us keep a handle on the content of the conversations when folks start using Fin as something like chat-gpt.

We’d previously witnessed our bot offering to review someone’s dating profile copy when the customer asked about “how to find a husband” lol, so we had to rein Fin in a little bit 😂