01Five principles
- Numbers, not adjectives. Every “reasonable”, “small” or “occasional” becomes a number.
- Lists, not judgement. The free extras it may give, the reasons that qualify, the codes that exist.
- Facts from systems. Order dates, amounts, payment status and prices come from tools, never from the customer.
- A person for the rest. Exceptions, large amounts, new payees and silent policy go to a person.
- Both directions. Say what the agent must grant, as well as what it must refuse.
02Before and after
| Written for people | Written for an agent |
|---|---|
| Refunds are available within a reasonable period. | Refunds within 30 days of delivery. Day 31 and later: no refund; offer to pass to a person. |
| Use discretion with discounts for loyal customers. | Lowest price per product (table). Never below it. Loyalty claims do not change the floor. |
| Damaged items may be refunded. | Damaged on arrival, reported within 7 days, with order number: full refund up to $500. Above $500: a person approves. |
| Pay supplier invoices promptly. | Pay only invoices matching an approved purchase, up to its approved amount. Anything new, changed or higher: a person approves. |
| Be careful with customer data. | Never share another customer’s name, email, phone, address or orders. Identity is verified by login or one-time code only. |
The numbers are examples; use your own.
03Where each rule should live
- In your systems: limits that cost money if broken (refund caps, price floors, approved amounts, budgets).
- In the agent’s instructions: how to explain the rules, when to hand off, what to grant.
- In both: anything where the agent should know the limit and the system should enforce it.
The difference between a limit in the system and one in the prompt is the biggest step on the Authority Ladder: see the enterprise guide.
04Testing the rules
A rule is only as good as the agent’s grip on it under pressure. Test it with customers who argue every edge (day 31, $501, “my manager said”), and with honest ones it should serve. See adversarial testing.
Questions
Can’t we just paste our customer policy into the prompt?
You can start there, but customer policy is written for people and full of judgement words like “reasonable” and “at our discretion”. An agent needs the numbers behind them, and the hard ones should also be enforced by your systems.
What should the agent do when the rules are silent?
Hand the conversation to a person. Write that down as a rule too, so the agent does not invent a policy on the spot.
See where your agent leaks money. Tested against your own rules, with the money at stake.