Start with one use case
Pick a single, frequent question or task, such as order status questions or onboarding help for new employees. A narrow scope is easier to test and gives you results sooner than a chatbot meant to answer everything.
Prepare the content it will rely on
A chatbot is only as good as its sources. Gather the documents, policies and product information it should use, remove outdated versions and decide who owns each source.
- Keep one approved version of every document
- Write down what the chatbot must never answer
- Note which topics always need a person
Set the rules and the hand-over
Decide the tone, the languages and the limits. Define when the chatbot passes the conversation to a person, and make sure that person receives the full history so customers never have to repeat themselves.
Test with real questions
Collect 30 to 50 genuine questions from your support inbox or your team and test the chatbot on them before launch. Mark each answer as correct, incomplete or wrong, and fix the sources behind the wrong ones.
Launch, then keep improving
After launch, read real conversations regularly. Most improvements come from adding a missing document or tightening a rule, not from changing the technology.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Trying to cover every topic at once
- Feeding it outdated or contradictory documents
- Hiding the option to reach a person
- Never reviewing conversations after launch