Fin Guidance allows you to fine-tune how Fin responds to customers - whether that’s how it speaks, how it asks follow-ups, when it escalates, or which content it prioritizes. This ensures its answers are accurate, on-brand, and aligned with your support policies.
Fin uses its language model to make a judgment call on whether to follow a guidance instruction to get the best results, the clarity and precision of your wording are crucial. To get the best results, follow these best practices when writing guidance for Fin.
What can I use Guidance for?
Guidance is perfect for shaping Fin's personality and directing its actions in key situations.
Some common examples include:
Defining how Fin should talk: Set the tone and style of Fin's responses to match your brand's voice.
Telling Fin what to say: Instruct Fin on what to say in a specific situation, like when a customer mentions a competitor.
Controlling escalations: Define the specific situations where Fin should, or should not, offer to escalate the conversation to a teammate.
Directing Fin to specific content: Tell Fin which articles or answers it should use when a customer asks about a certain topic.
Creating special behaviors: Instruct Fin to adopt a unique behavior for a particular audience, such as new customers.
Fin Guidance best practices
Start with the outcome in mind
Before writing Fin Guidance, consider the specific result you want to achieve. Work backward from this goal to create clear, actionable instructions.
❌ Bad example (vague and ineffective):
“Make sure Fin understands our different product types before answering.”
✅ Good example (clear and structured):
“If a customer asks about the ‘search’ feature, first ask which product they are using before responding. Then, provide product-specific instructions based on their answer.”
By structuring guidance with clear steps and conditions, Fin can apply it consistently and correctly.
Use simple and precise language
Ambiguous or overly complex Fin Guidance can lead to inconsistent responses. Write as if you’re training a new support agent—be direct, specific, and easy to understand.
❌ Bad example (unclear and open to interpretation):
“Fin should be professional but also friendly, keeping responses engaging.”
✅ Good example (defined and actionable):
“Use a professional yet approachable tone. Keep responses concise, avoid jargon, and use reassuring language when addressing customer frustrations (e.g., ‘I understand how that can be frustrating. Here’s how we can resolve it’).”
Provide context and concrete examples
Fin performs best when it understands when and how to apply guidance. Use words like “if,” “when,” and “then” to define conditions, and include clear examples.
❌ Bad example (lacks context):
“When customers ask about pricing, make sure Fin answers correctly.”
✅ Good example (context-driven and detailed):
“If a customer asks about pricing, first check if they mention a specific plan. If they don’t, ask which plan they’re interested in before providing details. Always refer to prices as ‘starting at [lowest tier price]’ unless the customer specifies a plan.”
Create separate, focused guidance
Each piece of Fin Guidance should address a single objective. Avoid mixing multiple instructions, as this can make it harder for Fin to apply them correctly.
❌ Bad example (too broad and unfocused):
“Fin should use a friendly tone, clarify questions before answering, and escalate billing issues to an agent.”
✅ Good example (one clear purpose per entry):
Communication style guidance: “Fin should maintain a warm, friendly tone by using positive language and avoiding overly formal phrases.”
Context and clarification guidance: “If a customer asks about refunds but does not specify a purchase date, ask for the date before proceeding.”
Handover and escalation guidance: “If a customer mentions ‘billing error’ or ‘overcharge,’ immediately escalate the conversation to a human agent.”
Write a descriptive title
A good title should summarize the purpose of the guidance, making it easy for you and your team to understand what each piece of guidance does at a glance. For example, instead of a generic title like "Greeting," use something more specific like "Greeting for VIP Customers."
Speak directly to Fin in your guidance
When writing Fin Guidance, avoid referring to Fin in the third person or commenting on how it should modify its responses. Instead, write as if you are speaking directly to Fin, telling it exactly what to do.
❌ Bad example (third-person and indirect):
“If the AI answer tells the customer to uninstall and reinstall the app, then rewrite the answer to remove that information, as reinstalling is not a valid troubleshooting step.”
✅ Good example (direct and actionable):
“Never tell the customer to uninstall and reinstall the app. Reinstalling is never a valid troubleshooting step, and Fin should never communicate this to the customer.”
Address Fin as 'you'
The most effective guidance is written as a direct command to Fin. You should always address Fin as “you” in your instructions.
❌ Bad example:
"Fin should escalate when a customer mentions a refund."
✅ Good example:
"When a customer mentions a refund, you should escalate to the support team."
Give complete instructions
Always write a full, complete command rather than a fragment. Fin doesn’t have the context of a user interface, so it relies on your instructions to know what action to perform.
❌ Bad example:
"When a customer mentions refunds."
✅ Good example:
"Escalate when a customer mentions refunds."
Be concise and clear
Keep your guidance short and to the point. Avoid complex instructions with multiple "and/or" conditions, as this can make the guidance unreliable. It's better to create several simple rules than one complex one.
❌ Bad example:
"When someone mentions refunds and would like to return their purchase or would like to do an exchange, escalate immediately."
✅ Good example:
"When a customer would like to have a refund, escalate immediately."
Offer an alternative
When you instruct Fin not to do something, you should also provide a positive instruction on what it should do instead. This gives Fin a clear action to take and leads to more reliable behavior.
❌ Bad example:
"When a customer is angry, do not apologise."
✅ Good example:
"When a customer is angry, do not apologise. Instead, ask them to calm down politely."
Avoid contradictions
Review your active guidance to ensure you don't have rules that conflict with one another. Contradictory instructions can cause Fin to behave in unpredictable ways.
For example, imagine you have these two active guidance instances:
Guidance 1: Empower Fin to Resolve Billing Issues
If a customer on the "Pro" plan reports a billing error or expresses dissatisfaction with a recent charge, Fin is empowered to immediately offer a one-time 15% credit on their next bill to ensure customer satisfaction and prevent escalation.
Guidance 2: Enforce Strict Escalation for Billing Inquiries
All conversations that mention keywords such as "refund," "billing error," "overcharge," or "wrong amount" must be immediately escalated to the Billing support team. Do not attempt to resolve the issue or offer credits.
These guidance rules directly conflict. One empowers Fin to resolve certain billing issues, while the other requires immediate escalation for any billing-related keywords. Always review active guidance to avoid contradictory actions.
Use Content guidance when specificity matters
If you want Fin to prioritize a specific content source when answering a question, add guidance for content and sources.
This feature lets you set rules like “If the customer asks about refunds, always refer to [article name],” ensuring Fin draws answers from the most trusted source.
Don't use one piece of guidance to trigger another
Each piece of guidance works independently. One piece of guidance (for example, Guidance A) can’t directly trigger another piece (like Guidance B) after Guidance A has been used in a conversation. Each guidance rule is evaluated separately by Fin at every point in the conversation, and all relevant guidance is applied as needed. There’s no built-in way to chain or cascade guidance automatically.
Advanced guidance techniques for Fin
Once you're comfortable writing basic guidance, you can use more advanced techniques to fine-tune Fin's behavior.
Use capital letters for emphasis on critical instructions
To make sure Fin follows a critical instruction, you can use capital letters to add emphasis. This is useful for rules that should always be followed without exception.
For example:
NEVER apologize to customers.
IMPORTANT: Escalate when customers are frustrated.
Dictating verbatim responses vs. guiding the tone
You have two options when telling Fin what to say in a specific situation: you can either dictate the exact phrase to use or guide Fin on what to communicate, allowing the AI to phrase it naturally.
To dictate a response: Tell Fin exactly what to say.
For example:
At the end of every direct answer, always tell the user "If you’d rather talk to a human agent just ask me directly."
To guide the tone: Tell Fin the information you want it to convey, and let it handle the specific wording.
For example:
At the end of every direct answer, always inform the user that if they'd rather talk to a human agent they should just ask you directly.
Note: Be careful when creating guidance that offers escalation in every scenario. While it gives customers an option, applying it as a blanket rule can lead to a decrease in Fin's resolution rate. It's better to make escalation offers more situational.
Using text styles like bold or italics
You can instruct Fin to format its messages with text styles like bold or italics.
For example:
To make a specific part of a message stand out, you could write guidance like this:
'At the end of every direct answer, always inform the user that if they'd rather talk to a human agent they should just ask you directly. Make it bold!'
Using the "question mark trick" to manage follow-up questions
By default, Fin asks a follow-up question like “Did that help?” after providing a direct answer. You can prevent this default follow-up by ending your guidance with a question mark.
When a piece of guidance ends with its own question, Fin will ask that question instead of its default one.
For example:
'At the end of every direct answer, ask “Would you rather talk to a human?”'
'At the end of every direct answer, ask an exploratory question along the same topic.'
Note: Removing the default “Did that help?” question will likely reduce your "confirmed resolutions" metric. This metric is recorded when customers give positive feedback, and without the prompt, fewer customers will provide it.
Determine when to use audience targeting vs. user attributes
If you’re deciding whether or not your Fin Guidance should apply based on a user’s data, it’s usually best to use the Audience targeting feature. Targeting an audience completely hides any non-matching guidance from Fin, which means there’s no risk of confusion or duplication.
For example:
If you only want the guidance to apply when a user is on the “Pro” plan, create an audience for "Plan is Pro", then select this audience when creating your guidance. Fin will only see that guidance when it’s relevant.
On the other hand, if you want Fin to reference the actual value of a user attribute in its response, you should include that attribute directly in your guidance.
For example:
“Address the user by name:
{user_name}.”“Use formal pronouns if
{user_pronoun_formality}is ‘formal’.”“Mention features available in
{user_plan}when describing functionality.”
Quick rule of thumb:
Use audience rules if you’re filtering when the guidance should apply.
Use attributes in the guidance itself if you’re customizing the response content based on user data.
Continuously refine your guidance
Think of Fin Guidance as an ongoing process. Start with essential instructions and improve them over time based on real interactions and performance metrics.
Test Fin’s responses in Preview Mode to ensure the guidance works as expected.
Pay close attention to how Fin handles variations in customer phrasing and jargon.
Regularly review and refine guidance based on metrics and customer feedback.
Remove or update conflicting or redundant guidance to keep Fin’s behavior consistent.
Remove or update conflicting or redundant guidance to keep Fin’s behavior consistent.Simulate customer scenarios to test how escalation workflows function and identify areas for improvement.
Use the "conversation events" feature to review Fin’s processing of escalation rules (Cmd + E for Mac, Ctrl + E for Windows).
Tip: If you’re unsure how to write guidance for a specific use case, try using a writing tool like Claude AI or ChatGPT. Describe the scenario and ask it to generate a clear, AI-friendly prompt that’s easy to interpret.
Fin Guidance examples
Below you will find some examples of Fin Guidance. You can use these as inspiration or adapt these for your specific needs.
Communication style
Specific vocabulary and terminology Fin should use.
We offer Free, Pro, and Enterprise plans. They should be capitalized and referred to as “plans” rather than “subscriptions”.
Always answer in British English.
Use plain language, avoiding jargon or buzzwords. For example, use "easy" instead of "frictionless".
If the user is frustrated, show empathy and use calming language to let them know that you care about helping them out—for example, “I understand this is frustrating, and I apologize. I am going to work through this with you to find a suitable solution”. Feel free to use different variations of this example.
Answers should be always readable and concise: sentences should be short, there should be at most 1-2 sentences per paragraph and no more than 100 words per answer (unless absolutely necessary). Simply break paragraphs into sentences with a newline without other formatting or content changes. Note that this guideline only applies to regular textual paragraphs, it does NOT apply to code, bullet points, list, and other structured markdown.
Never ask the user to contact <company name> through email as they're already contacting <company name>'s customer support through the chat messenger. For example, remove passages such as "please email us at <company email>" from any AI message. In those cases, tell the user instead that if they need further help, they should request human assistance by asking to speak with the team.
End interactions with a brief, inclusive seasonal greeting that fits the customer's language and region when clear from the conversation. Keep greetings short and at the end of responses. Avoid holiday wishes when handling urgent issues or customer complaints.
Use one or two emojis in your responses to create a friendly and engaging tone.
Context and clarification
Follow-up questions Fin should ask, to ensure accurate answers.
If a user is having an issue completing a purchase, ask if they are trying to use bank transfer or a credit card.
If a user asks what features they have access to, first clarify which plan they are on.
If a user reports that they are seeing a 502 error, let them know that we are aware of the problem and are currently investigating as a matter of priority. They can follow for updates on: https://www.intercomstatus.com/
Do not assume what mobile app the user has. Always ask if they are an iOS or Android user when they report an error. Each app has a different subset of features, so it’s important to understand this first.
When a user reports a bug, first ask for the following information before continuing troubleshooting: 1) what device are you using? 2) URL where the bug is occurring; 3) when was the bug first noticed.
If the customer inquires about delivery options, check their {{country}} and provide a response that aligns with the delivery options available for that specific country.
Handover and escalation
When configuring escalation workflows, it's crucial to define clear conditions under which Fin should escalate, optimize settings for various use cases, and include fallback options for unmatched scenarios.
Note: Fin default escalation triggers automatically to hand over conversations to a human teammate in the following situations:
Direct Request: The customer explicitly asks to speak with a person (e.g., "talk to an agent").
Keywords: The customer uses terms that indicate a desire for human help, such as "human," "agent," or "person."
Anger and Frustration: Fin's sentiment analysis detects a strong negative tone from the customer.
Loops: The conversation becomes repetitive, with Fin providing the same answer multiple times without success.
Here is an example of escalation guidance for when Fin should route customers straight to your team.
If a user asks about cancelling their plan, always hand the conversation over to a human agent.
If the user mentions any of the following tax-related terms, always hand the conversation over to a human agent: tax planning, tax consulting, tax advice.
If a user requests a task that requires agent action, always hand the conversation over to a human agent immediately. These tasks include: Exporting the analytics dashboard as a CSV, Generating a code snippet for camera installation, Updating a compliance document
When a patient requests to book an appointment with Dr. Mills, always hand the conversation over to a human agent.
If the customer’s {Pricing Plan Name} is "Pro", always hand the conversation over to a human agent.
Understanding the limitations of Guidance
It's important to know what Guidance is designed for and what its current limitations are.
Note:
Guidance is not designed for complex, multi-step processes that must be followed precisely. For tasks like processing a refund request, we recommend using Tasks instead. Guidance also cannot be used to control Messenger features. For example, you can't use Guidance to make Fin display buttons after a message.
Guidance performs best for simple requests that can be handled in a single turn (one customer message and one Fin reply). It can be unreliable for requests that require a longer conversation. For example, if you ask Fin to refuse an escalation the first time but grant it the second time, it might not be able to follow this instruction reliably.
Guidance can't influence what Fin doesn't know. The instructions in Guidance are checked before Fin searches your help content for an answer. This means a rule like, "If you don't know the answer, escalate to a human" won't work, because Fin won't know that it doesn't know the answer yet.
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