Overview
The more precisely you describe what you want, the more faithfully your agent will do it. This guide shows you how to phrase instructions in the Design Your Agent chat so they land the way you mean them.
When you chat with Design Your Agent, every rule you give is saved and read by your Lead Handling agent before it writes each message to a shopper. The agent follows your words closely, but it can’t read your mind. It doesn’t know your store’s history, why a rule exists, or which situation you had in mind.
How Your Agent Talks to Shoppers
Your agent sends three kinds of messages, and each one sees different information. Knowing which is which helps you aim your instructions.
| Message type | When it’s sent | What the agent knows |
|---|---|---|
| Opening message | The first text or email after a new lead comes in | The shopper’s name, vehicle of interest (VOI), and past lead activity with the store |
| Follow-up | When the shopper hasn’t replied yet or stopped replying mid-conversation | Same as above, plus what the agent already sent |
| Reply | After the shopper writes back | Everything above, plus the shopper’s own messages |
Four tips for writing great instructions:
- Say exactly what you mean
- Explain the why
- Label your examples
- Use exact quotes only for exact wording
Tip 1 — Say Exactly What You Mean
Describe the full behavior you want, not just one moment of it. If a rule only covers the case you happened to picture, the agent is free to do something else in every other case.
What you want: The agent should never put a number on a shopper’s trade-in. Only your used-car manager values trades, in person.
Weak instruction:
If the shopper asks what their trade is worth, say a manager will appraise it.
This only covers a shopper who asks directly. It never says “don’t estimate,” so a shopper who shares their mileage and asks “is $15k fair?” could still get an answer.
Strong instruction:
Never estimate, suggest, or agree to a trade-in value, even if the shopper shares mileage, condition, or a number they found online. Whenever trade-ins come up, explain that our used-car manager appraises every trade in person so the number is accurate and fair, and invite them to bring the vehicle in.
This one states the rule (never give a value), covers every way the topic can come up, and tells the agent what to do instead.
Tip 2 — Explain the Why
Don’t just tell the agent what to say. Tell it why. When the agent understands the goal behind a rule, it can handle situations you never thought to write down.
What you want: Your store special-orders and sources vehicles all the time, so the agent should never make a shopper feel their request is a dead end.
Weak instruction:
If the shopper asks for something that isn’t in inventory, say a salesperson will confirm availability.
Also weak:
Never say a vehicle is out of stock. Say our options are flexible and a salesperson will confirm availability.
Both tell the agent what to say but not why. The agent will follow the words and miss the spirit, sounding evasive instead of confident.
Strong instruction:
At our dealership, we pride ourselves on flexibility. Our inventory changes every day, we special-order on request, and offers are handled case by case, so we’re confident we can find almost any shopper the right vehicle. Never treat a request as a dead end. If nothing in inventory matches, say so briefly and offer the closest options, then stay positive: emphasize that we fulfill special requests all the time and invite the shopper to talk with a salesperson who can source exactly what they want.
Now the agent knows the reason (we really can source it), the attitude (confident, positive), and the action (offer alternatives, then connect them with a salesperson).
Tip 3 — Label Your Examples
Sample wording is one of the best ways to show the agent your store’s voice, but how you introduce it matters. Write “say this” and the agent treats it as a script, sending the same line word for word every time. Write “for example” and it treats it as a guide, writing its own version that fits each conversation.
Weak instruction:
When a shopper asks about test drives, say “We’d love to get you behind the wheel! What day works best for you this week?”
The agent reads “say” as a command and sends that exact line to every shopper who asks, no matter what else they wrote.
Strong instruction:
When a shopper asks about test drives, encourage them to book one and ask what day works for them. Here is an example of the tone we like: “We’d love to get you behind the wheel! What day works best for you this week?”
Now the agent knows the goal (book the test drive), has a sample of your voice, and can adapt to each shopper. Use “for example” or “here’s an example” whenever you share sample wording, and save “say exactly” for the rare lines you truly want word for word.
Tip 4 — Use Exact Quotes Only for Exact Wording
When you put words in quotation marks, the agent tends to repeat them word for word, every time. That’s perfect for some things and robotic for others.
- Use a quote when you want the exact words every time, such as a tagline or slogan like “Happy Tesla Days” or “Buy Cars, No Hassle!”
- Describe the behavior instead when you want the agent to cover a topic naturally in different conversations.
Weak instruction:
When a shopper asks about Honda Civics, say “Our Honda Civics have a special promotion, come in today to find out your personalized price.”
Every Civic shopper gets the identical sentence, word for word, no matter what they asked. It starts to sound scripted fast.
Strong instruction:
When a shopper asks about Honda Civics, mention that Civics currently have a special promotion and that they can come in to get their personalized price. For example: “Good news, the Civic has a special promotion running right now. Come by and we’ll put together your personalized price.”
The agent now knows what to get across and has a sample of the tone, but it’s free to fit the message to the conversation. If you include an example, label it as an example.
What Goes in the Chat, and What Doesn’t
Most of what your agent says and does is set right in the chat, including how often follow-ups go out. A few switches live in the Configuration panel on the right side of the page.
Set in the Chat
If you don’t give an instruction for a topic, the agent uses its default behavior.
| What you can set in the chat | What the agent does by default |
|---|---|
| Tone, taglines, and what the first message says | Friendly and short. Uses the shopper’s first name, their vehicle of interest, your dealership name, and the agent’s name, and ends with a question. |
| How follow-ups are written | Personal messages that reference earlier contact and give the shopper a clear next step. |
| How often SMS and email follow-ups go out | SMS every 2 days, email every 3 days. |
| Pricing and inventory | Checks your inventory, favors newer models, shares your dealer price when asked, links to the vehicle page, and offers one or two alternatives when there’s no exact match. |
| Offers, financing, and leasing | Doesn’t share financing, lease, APR, or discount details, and instead offers to connect the shopper with a salesperson. |
| Appointments | Books only within your working hours. Never promises same-day or within-two-hours appointments. |
| Holidays | Doesn’t mention holidays or send holiday greetings. |
| Staff to mention | Doesn’t name specific staff. Tells shoppers to ask for the receptionist when coming in for their booked appointments. |
| Delivery | Doesn’t discuss delivery options. Offers to connect the shopper with a salesperson for delivery inquiries. |
Set in the Configuration Panel
- Agent name
- Channels: which channels are on — SMS, Email, phone leads, Voice, and SMS Follow-Up
- Working Time: the agent’s working hours and off-hours catch-up
Built-In Limits
Your agent has a few built-in limits for compliance and quality. If you ask for one of these, Design Your Agent will tell you and suggest the closest option. For example, the agent:
- Never quotes APR, monthly payments, lease terms, or discounts in chat. It connects the shopper with your team instead.
- Recommends at most one or two vehicles per message.
- Writes only in English or Spanish.
- Never claims to be a person if asked.
- Never mentions prices in opening messages or outreach messages.
- Always keeps the “Reply STOP to opt out” line in opening messages, though you can add to it.
- Sends SMS follow-ups no more than once every 30 minutes.
Quick Checklist Before You Hit Send
- ☐ Does it say exactly what the agent should and shouldn’t do, in every case?
- ☐ Does it explain why this matters to your store?
- ☐ Does it name the trigger, such as a topic or day?
- ☐ Are quotation marks used only for words you want repeated exactly?
- ☐ Is it something set in the chat, not a Configuration panel switch?
After each change, check the summary on the right side of the screen to make sure it reads the way you meant. You can come back and adjust anything, anytime.