Write effective messages for your virtual agent

When the virtual agent recognizes an intent in a customer’s message, it asks the customer to confirm it’s correct before starting that intent’s conversation flow. Read more about intents.

A flow behaves a lot like a normal conversation between two people: The virtual agent says something, waits for the customer to respond, then replies accordingly. A well-designed flow anticipates the things your customers might say and makes sure they get the help they need.

When creating a conversation flow, you’ll need to write most of the virtual agent’s messages yourself. Well-written messages can make a big difference in how your customers feel about their experience using the virtual agent.

Once you’ve saved your conversation flow, we recommend testing it in your test channel before activating it for your customers. Find out how to test your virtual agent.

Keep messages short

Try and keep messages as short as possible without leaving out essential information. Your customers might be in a hurry, so adding too many pleasantries or unnecessary details could add frustration.

Think about what your customers really need to know and take out anything that isn’t absolutely necessary to get them the help they need.

Be considerate, friendly, and neutral

While it’s tempting to have fun with the virtual agent, your customers may be coming to your channel for help with something urgent, sensitive, or potentially distressing. They also might be angry or frustrated if something isn’t working. A virtual agent that talks to them as if everything is perfect might make their mood or situation worse.

Imagine all possible scenarios when writing your messages and think about how you might feel reading the message if you were having a difficult day. When in doubt, keep your tone friendly but neutral.

Offer clear, helpful choices

When adding an offer choices step, think about all the possible options customers might need and make them as clear as possible. Read about the different step types.

In many cases, it’s helpful to also include a choice that says something else (followed by more clarifying questions), or even raise a request (immediately followed by the escalate standard flow). These two additional choices give your customers a way to indicate they need something that isn’t covered in the choices you’ve offered or that they want to bypass the virtual agent and get help from one of your agents instead.