Chat tactics 101 — The default response
The best bots know what they don’t know.
Welcome to Chat Tactics, a series of posts by Botcopy where we share stories and best practices from millions of chatbot conversations.
Today’s short lesson may very well be the key to developing a successful chatbot. Without this tip, your bot will inevitably be apologizing for being, well, dumb. Dumb bots are not what we want!
So let’s dive into today’s chat tactic — Create an Exceptional Default Fallback Response. In a previous Chat Tactic lesson, we discussed common pitfalls when crafting the beginning of a chatbot journey. That post adds context to this one, so please go back and read it if you haven’t yet. After you plan out your bot’s first few skills, the next crucial task is to craft an outstanding Default Fallback Message sequence.
GTA (Grandma timeout) “What’s a default message?”
Answer:
A Default Fallback Message is what your bot says when it can’t answer a question, which can happen quite often (especially for a young bot) — so you need to plan for it! You can have different default responses for various parts of the conversation, or you can have a catch-all default response that gets the user back on track or connects them to a live person or another resource.
Known Unknowns
The best bots have the “humility” to know that they don’t know everything. And they anticipate the kinds of things they won’t know. From the previous lesson, we discussed limiting the skills of your chatbot in the beginning. It’s okay for your bot not to know everything out of the gates. But it’s vital to plan for the inevitability your bot will reach its limit, and bad manners to the end-user of you don’t. It’s all part of the chatbot journey. If your Default Fallback Message is well-executed, most end-users will be forgiving and cooperative. So we recommend spending as much time on the Default Fallback Message sequence as you do with the first few intents.
Example
You just hired a new customer support rep, Willy, at your candy shop. It’s his first official day. He knows the basics for the most common issues but lacks the experience for any surprises or edge cases. But, uh oh, in walks Violet! Let’s say she’s a bit of an outlier. She’s on a mission for a particular bubble gum flavor. She wants it her way, and she wants it NOW.
“Tutty_fruit_strip_cherry_blossom_long_lasting special_Edition overnighted to $location,” Violet commands, without pleasantries or fanfare.
Willy is confused. He has zero knowledge of special edition inventory! Nobody told him about that — it wasn’t in his training. He doesn’t know what to say, so he says, “huh?” Violet repeats her question, this time in a more short-tempered way. But Willy still has no idea what she’s talking about, so he says, “Sorry, I can’t understand what you want. Please repeat it.” This nonsense goes on for a bit until Violet storms out, frustrated, probably never to return.
Let’s Save Willy!
Let’s turn back the hands of time and avert Willy from this disaster! By making sure we train Willy on what to do when he knows that he doesn’t know. Remember the saying, “What I do not know I do not think I know either.” — Socrates, the wisest in all of Athens. It’s easy to imbue Willy with this wisdom, and doing so will ensure he can handle all those confusing, sticky situations that his training didn’t cover. Now, let’s replay the event: In walks Violet with her request: “Tutty_fruit_strip_cherry_blossom_long_lasting special_Edition overnighted to $location,” Knowing that he’s over his head, here’s what Willy does: First, he politely lets Violet know that he doesn’t know the answer but will find someone who does. It goes something like this:
“That sounds like a tremendous flavor of bubble gum, Violet! I can understand why you’d want it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I’m not aware of our special addition inventory yet. Please let me reach out to my supervisor and get a better answer for you.”
Violet is pleased with this answer; she feels heard, understood, and even slightly flattered. Willy follows his training and gathers relevant info from Violet to escalate to the right person. This info includes Violet’s question, her name, and contact info. Willy says:
“What’s a good contact number we can reach you at ASAP to get you the info you need and complete your order?” Violet is happy to comply. And to make matters faster for Violet, Willy has her type her info directly into a digital form instead of having to say everything out loud, letter by letter, number by number. Well, now Violet’s a happy camper. She’s confident she’ll hear back soon, and she trusts Willy will do what’s needed. She has a good feeling about Willy and the company he represents.
All in all, a successful interaction! All because Willy knew how to go to a Default Fallback response and was able to express in a humble, straightforward, likable way that he’s sorry, doesn’t have all the answers, but will immediately find someone who does.
The Takeaway
Spend time figuring out how your bot should respond when it doesn’t know the answer! Think about what YOU would say if you were in Willy’s position. I can say with 100% certainty that your bot will encounter questions it can’t answer; this will happen early and often. But with a solid Default Fallback Message sequence, your bot performs brilliantly in ANY circumstance. You will be able to help everyone while frustrating no one. The Default Fallback Response can be the most valuable intent for your intelligent chatbot. Design it wisely!
Until next time.
Dust
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