Write stage instructions and exit conditions
How to word the goal, "What the bot does in this stage" and "When it leaves this stage", with good and bad examples
Three texts drive the bot in a pipeline. Each has one job:
| Text | Its one job | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Goal (pipeline) | The outcome for every lead of the pipeline | 4,000 characters |
| What the bot does in this stage | The bot's task right now | 1,000 characters |
| When it leaves this stage | The test for moving on | 400 characters |
How the bot uses them is explained in How the bot works a pipeline.
The goal
Say where every lead should end up and, briefly, how. Keep it to one or two sentences.
| Example | |
|---|---|
| Good | Take each customer to a booked appointment for the service they need. |
| Good | Understand what property each customer is looking for and take them to a booked viewing. |
| Bad | Sell more. |
| Bad | A full page repeating your prices, hours and policies. |
"Sell more" gives the bot nothing to act on. Prices and policies do not belong here: the bot takes facts only from your catalog, services and Knowledge Base, and long goals bury the one instruction that matters.
What the bot does in this stage
Write it as a task for a new employee who can only chat.
A good instruction:
- names what to find out or do: "Ask what service they need and whether they prefer a day or time."
- sets the order and the pace: "One question at a time."
- says what not to do yet: "Do not offer options until you understand the need."
- is about conduct, not facts: it tells the bot how to handle the lead, and leaves prices and availability to your catalog and services.
| Example | |
|---|---|
| Good | Ask whether they want to buy or rent, in which area and with what budget. One question at a time. |
| Good | Recommend the option that best fits what they said and answer their questions about price, availability and conditions. |
| Good | An advisor from the team leads the negotiation; answer general questions only. |
| Bad | Qualify the lead. |
| Bad | The facial costs 45 and the massage 60, offer a 10% discount. |
| Bad | If they write "price", send the price list. |
| Bad | Move the lead to the next stage when they are ready. |
Why the bad ones fail:
- "Qualify the lead" does not say what qualifying means for you. Name the two or three facts you need.
- Prices in an instruction go stale and the bot does not treat them as facts. Keep them in your catalog or services.
- Keyword rules break as soon as a customer words it differently. Describe the situation instead: "When they ask what it costs…".
- Moving leads is not something you tell the bot here; that is the job of the exit condition.
Never tell the bot to mention the stage or the process to the customer. It is instructed not to.
When it leaves this stage
This is the most important text in the pipeline. The bot proposes a move only when the customer's own words in the conversation meet it, and it quotes those words as evidence. A stage with this field empty is never left automatically.
A good exit condition:
- describes something the customer said or did in the chat;
- is one condition, or two joined by "and";
- can be answered yes or no by someone reading the conversation;
- is written as a result, in the past tense.
| Example | |
|---|---|
| Good | The customer said which service they need. |
| Good | The customer gave an area and a budget. |
| Good | The customer chose a day and a time. |
| Good | The customer confirmed what they want to order and how to receive it. |
| Bad | The customer is interested. |
| Bad | The bot explained the plans. |
| Bad | The customer paid by bank transfer. |
| Bad | The customer is ready. |
| Bad | After two days. |
Why the bad ones fail:
- "Interested" and "ready" cannot be answered yes or no. Say what an interested customer does: "asked how to buy", "asked to see it".
- What the bot said never counts; only what the customer said.
- A bank transfer happens outside the chat; the bot cannot see it. Make that stage Only a person, or word it as what the customer says: "The customer said they already paid" — and let a person verify before closing.
- The bot does not move leads on a timer.
For things ReadyChatAI records itself — a confirmed appointment, a confirmed order — do not rely on the exit condition. Set the Automatic event on the stage where those leads belong.
Where it can go next
Leave it empty: the bot uses the next stage on the Board, which is right for a straight path. Tick stages only when a lead can truly skip one ("from New straight to Booked") or branch into two paths. Remember it limits the bot only.