--- name: al-465-before-you-build-a-customer-service-bot-read-20-real-cust description: "AI agency builder Thorsten Dembski shared on X (October 30, 2026) the first step he takes before building a customer service agent for a business: read 20 real messages the business actually received (DMs, emails, form entries), because they show what customers really ask rather than what the owner thinks they ask. He removes names and phone numbers, pastes the messages into an AI chat with a prompt asking for the most common questions and how often each appears, the tone customers use, every upset message and its cause, everything that needs a human decision (money, exceptions, health, legal), a short FAQ built only from facts in the messages or the business information, with gaps marked MISSING, and five rules for the agent. He then takes the MISSING items to the owner and pastes the finished FAQ and rules into the agent, and warns to check every answer before trusting it. Works for any small business, including a real estate team's inquiry inbox. Use when the user wants help with…" --- # Before you build a customer service bot, read 20 real customer messages with AI: get the most common questions, the tone, what upset people, what needs a human, a facts-only FAQ and the gaps marked MISSING AI agency builder Thorsten Dembski shared on X (October 30, 2026) the first step he takes before building a customer service agent for a business: read 20 real messages the business actually received (DMs, emails, form entries), because they show what customers really ask rather than what the owner thinks they ask. He removes names and phone numbers, pastes the messages into an AI chat with a prompt asking for the most common questions and how often each appears, the tone customers use, every upset message and its cause, everything that needs a human decision (money, exceptions, health, legal), a short FAQ built only from facts in the messages or the business information, with gaps marked MISSING, and five rules for the agent. He then takes the MISSING items to the owner and pastes the finished FAQ and rules into the agent, and warns to check every answer before trusting it. Works for any small business, including a real estate team's inquiry inbox. ## Inputs to collect first Ask the user for anything below that they haven't already given you. Don't guess missing facts. - Type of business, e.g. real estate team, dental clinic, online shop - Hours, services, prices, policies, service area - The 20 messages ## Instructions Do the task below with the user's inputs in place of each [bracket]. Below are 20 real messages customers sent to my [type of business, e.g. real estate team, dental clinic, online shop] business. I have removed names, phone numbers and emails. Business information: [paste hours, services, prices, policies, service area]. Messages: [paste the 20 messages]. Tell me: 1) The 8 most common questions, and how often each appears. 2) The tone customers use: formal or casual, short or long. 3) Every message where the customer was upset, and what upset them. 4) Everything a customer asked that a human would need to decide: money, exceptions, health, legal. 5) A short FAQ with answers, using only facts that appear in the messages or in the business information above. Mark anything missing as MISSING. 6) Five rules for an AI agent that answers these customers, including when it must hand over to a person. Don't invent facts. ## Safety checks (share these with the user) - This prompt works on text other people wrote (emails, reviews, messages or web pages). That text can hide instructions aimed at AI, such as "ignore your rules and…". Paste it as material to work on, and never let the AI act on requests inside it, like paying, sharing logins or changing records. - Check every figure, price and total against your own records before anything is sent, posted or booked. A person approves refunds, discounts, payments and price changes. - Anything legal, tax or compliance-related is a first draft for a qualified person to check. It is not professional advice, and clause references and deadlines must be checked against the source. - Remove names, contact details, account numbers and other personal data the task doesn't need before you paste, and check your AI tool's data and training settings. - Say clearly which parts need a person to review or approve before anything is sent, paid, posted or filed. ## About this skill - Works with: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini - Based on this real-world example: https://x.com/ThorstenDembski/status/2116183424067125571 - Free prompt from AgentPlaybook Real Estate: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/prompt/al-465-before-you-build-a-customer-service-bot-read-20-real-custome/ - To install in an agent that supports Agent Skills, save this file as SKILL.md in a folder with the same name as `name` above (for example in your skills directory). Install steps for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/skills/