1. Choose one low-risk first job
Start with frequent questions that have a verifiable answer. Opening hours, delivery status and simple product questions are safer than complaints, legal guidance or special pricing.
- Collect the 25 most common questions.
- Mark answers that always require a person.
- Assign an owner to every source.
- Define when the AI must say it does not know.
2. Build a small, reliable knowledge base
Use concise answers with current conditions and links. Remove old pages that contradict the live policy. Automation cannot repair a knowledge base that disagrees with itself.
3. Design the handoff first
Customers should reach a person without repeating the story. Test that the question, prior answers, contact details and relevant order context arrive in the human inbox.
4. Run a controlled quality test
Ask staff and a small group of customers to pose ordinary and difficult questions. Verify correctness and source quality, not just confident tone.
- Resolution without a person
- Accuracy in a manual sample
- Time to human response after handoff
- Satisfaction and repeat contact
5. Scale only when quality holds
Add one category or channel at a time. Review errors weekly and make ownership of instructions and sources explicit.