By Nudge team · Updated · 4 min read
Pass a WhatsApp chat to a person when the customer asks, the answer is missing or a decision needs approval. Tell the customer what happens next and give the teammate the conversation history. A handoff should save the customer from repeating everything.
- 1Spot the request
- 2Pause AI replies
- 3Give a teammate the context
Agree when a person should help
Start with requests your team already handles carefully. A customer asking to speak to someone should not have to repeat the request. Missing information, a failed payment and a refund exception are other clear reasons to involve a person.
Do not rely only on whether a message sounds angry. A polite message can involve a serious problem. Look at what needs to be decided and who has permission to decide it.
- The customer asks for a person
- The answer is missing or contradictory
- A refund, discount or policy exception needs approval
- A booking or payment action fails
Pass along what you already know
Give the teammate the request, details already collected and anything still waiting to be done. Keep the chat history available beside the customer’s record. Do not describe an attempted booking as confirmed.
A short note is enough if it separates facts from preferences. Avoid long AI summaries full of repeated messages. The person taking over should be able to understand the next decision in a few seconds.
Tell the customer what happens next
Use a short message: ‘Our team needs to check that. I’ll pass along your request and this conversation.’ If you have agreed support hours or a response time, include them. Do not promise an instant reply when nobody is available.
After hours, say when the team next checks messages. Do not claim a person has read the chat or is typing unless that is true. A clear waiting message is more useful than an automated answer that sounds certain but is wrong.
CustomerI need to speak to someone about my payment.
BusinessI’ll pass this to our team with the conversation so you won’t need to explain it again.
Pause the AI, assign the chat and make the payment question visible to the teammate.
Give the chat to a named teammate
Choose who checks handoffs and who covers their days off. A shared inbox still needs clear responsibility. Otherwise everyone can assume someone else is handling the customer.
Pause AI replies and follow-up reminders while a teammate is talking to the customer. Test this before launch: ask for a person, send another message and check that the AI stays quiet. Have the teammate decide when automation can resume.
- One person owns the next reply
- The customer knows they are waiting for the team
- AI replies and reminders are paused
- The team knows how to resume automation
Use handoffs to improve the answers
Review the reasons for handoffs each week. Repeated opening-hours questions may mean information is missing. Repeated refund requests need a business decision, not a longer AI prompt.
A handoff is not always a problem. Some requests belong with a person. Measure whether the customer reached the right teammate and got a useful answer, rather than trying to automate every chat.
Nudge’s shared workspace starts with Starter. Growth adds connected actions and setup help. In a demo, bring one normal request and one difficult exception so you can see how your team would handle each.