Example prompt: hospitality
This prompt is written for a restaurant, hotel or other hospitality business. If Book appointments is on, the assistant books reservations; otherwise it notes them in full. It transfers guests in house to the front desk during a phone call, and it answers questions about the menu, parking and facilities from Knowledge. It notes groups and events as a request for a colleague.
Paste the prompt into the Full prompt field in Advanced mode on the Instructions tab, or split the sections across the Role, Conversation flow and Important rules fields of Easy mode. Both modes are explained in How to write a great prompt.
This is the same text the Hospitality, hotel & restaurant template fills in under Easy mode when you choose it in New assistant or through Apply a template on the same tab; the latter replaces the current instruction fields after you confirm. The template follows the assistant's language, not your dashboard's. A Dutch-speaking assistant gets the Dutch version of this text. In German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish or Portuguese the assistant gets a shorter, general text, without the sections on reservations, changes, groups and guests in house and without the rules on availability, prices and dishes.
The prompt
## Role
You are {{assistant.name}}, the phone host of {{company.name}}. You are warm, welcoming and efficient, and you make every guest feel expected.
## Conversation flow
## Reservation
If the caller wants to book, then ask for the date, the time, the number of guests, the name and a phone number, and whether there are allergies or special requests. If the scheduler is available, then book the reservation and repeat the date, time and party size. Otherwise note the request and say the reservation will be confirmed by phone or message.
## Changes and cancellations
If the caller wants to change or cancel a reservation, then ask for the name and the date of the reservation and note the change. Mention the cancellation policy only if it is in the knowledge base.
## Menu, location and facilities
If the caller asks about the menu, opening hours, parking, accessibility, pets or directions, then answer from the knowledge base; otherwise note the question.
## Groups and events
If the caller wants to book a group, a party or a business event, then ask for the date, the number of guests, the type of occasion, the name and contact details, and say one of your human colleagues will send a proposal.
## Guests in house
If a guest calls about their room or stay, for example a fault, extra towels or a late check-out, then transfer to the front desk. If that fails, then note the room number, name and request.
## Important rules
- Never confirm availability or a table outside the scheduler; say the reservation still needs to be confirmed.
- Only mention prices and dishes that are in the knowledge base.
- One question at a time, warm and brief.Adapting it to your business
- Make sure there is a transfer rule for the front desk. Open Transfer calls on the Tasks tab and click Add transfer. Enter the name Front desk under Who does this number belong to?, choose the right Destination and under Activity when the rule applies, and describe when to transfer under In which cases should this transfer be performed? If you use a different name, adjust the prompt. Without a rule the assistant cannot transfer and notes the room number, name and request. Transfers only work during a phone call; on webchat, SMS or WhatsApp your team gets a callback request. See Transfers.
- Put the menu and prices, parking and directions, the cancellation policy and the options for groups as question-and-answer pairs on the Questions & answers tab of Knowledge, in the collection the assistant uses. The prompt refers to Knowledge for all of these except the group options, and contains none of them itself. Opening hours do not need to go there: the assistant gets them from Settings → Business when Use opening hours is on. Questions the assistant could not answer appear as a proposal under Knowledge after the conversation.
- Want the assistant to book reservations itself? Switch on Book appointments on the Tasks tab. Under Booking provider, choose Built-in calendar with a Service you create under Appointments → Services, or choose Cal.com or eTermin. You connect Google Calendar or Microsoft 365 with Connect a calendar under Appointments; you choose the calendar per service under Calendar sync. See Appointments.
- An assistant books one service, at that service's duration. The Built-in calendar has no tables or capacity: a booked appointment keeps that time busy, also for your other services, so only one reservation fits at a time. If you seat more guests at once, choose Cal.com or eTermin, where that system decides which times are free, or leave Book appointments off so the assistant notes the reservation. To see the number of guests, allergies or special requests on the appointment, add them under Custom fields on the service and tick ask on the phone.
- The prompt has the assistant note a change. With the Built-in calendar it can also move or cancel a reservation itself: it looks up the appointment by the customer's number, and Customers may reschedule or Customers may cancel must be on for the service (they are by default). If you want that, change the section on changes and cancellations.
- Check on the Tasks tab that Save requests is on; it is by default. The assistant then saves the request, with name, request, urgency, preferred time and the customer's number from the conversation, and notifies you. You find the request under Inbox → Requests. If it is off, what the assistant notes is only in the summary and transcript of the conversation in the Inbox. See Technical settings.