How to write your shop's knowledge base for an AI receptionist

Contour reads your website and learns a lot from it. But a website is written to attract customers, not to answer them. It rarely says what you do not do, which zips you turn down, or how to handle the caller who asks "how much to replace a water heater" at 9 pm. That is what a knowledge base is for.

One honest page covers almost every call. Here is what to include, a template to copy, and a fictional example.

What to include

Work through these in order. If a section does not apply, write "none" so we know you considered it.

Services you do and do not do

List the work you want booked. Then list the work you turn away; that list matters more, because a receptionist who books it wastes a truck roll.

Common "do not do" lines: septic, well pumps, and commercial for plumbing; oil burners and window units for HVAC; solar and generators for electrical.

If you refer out, name the company you refer to. Contour can pass that along.

Service area by county and zip

Contour confirms the address is in your area before booking, so be exact. Counties are a start; zips are better. List towns inside your counties that you avoid as exceptions. If you charge a trip fee past a certain distance and want Contour to mention it, say so.

Hours and after-hours policy

Your office hours. Your field hours, if different. Which days you run. Then the after-hours policy in one sentence: "We take emergency calls 24/7 and charge an after-hours rate," or "We only dispatch after hours for active leaks and no heat below 40°F." See the emergency triage guide for how to turn that sentence into rules.

Diagnostic fee and what to say about price

Contour never guesses at pricing. It says only what you have approved. So decide:

1. Do you have a diagnostic or trip fee? What is it? May Contour state it?
2. Does the fee get waived if the customer approves the repair?
3. Is there an after-hours rate? May Contour state it?
4. For everything else, what should Contour say? Most shops use something like: "Our tech will give you a firm price on site before any work starts."

If you want Contour to never mention any number, say that. It will take a message for any price question instead.

Current promotions and when to mention them

Write down the offer, the expiration, and the trigger. "Mention the drain cleaning discount when a caller books a drain job" is a trigger. "Mention it to everyone" is not; callers with a burst pipe do not want to hear about coupons. Tell us when it ends so Contour stops saying it.

Financing

Do you offer it, through whom, and what one sentence may Contour say? Contour should not quote rates or approve anyone.

Brands you service

Mostly for HVAC and water heaters. List brands you install, brands you service, and brands you will not touch, so Contour does not book a call your tech will walk away from.

Warranty policy

Labor warranty length, parts warranty if you offer your own, and how to handle a caller who thinks a job is under warranty (Contour can book it as a warranty callback and flag it in the notes). Say whether warranty calls are free after hours.

What counts as an emergency

Plain words: "water you cannot stop, sewage coming up, no water, gas smell, no heat under 40°F outside." Then what Contour does for each: shutoff walkthrough, transfer to on-call, book tonight, or book tomorrow. The triage guide has the full version.

FAQs callers actually ask

Not the FAQs on your website. The ones your office manager answers ten times a day. Common ones:

• Are you licensed and insured? (Give the license number if you want Contour to read it.)
• Do you charge to come out?
• Can you come today?
• Do you do free estimates?
• Do you work weekends?
• Will the tech wear boot covers / bring a mask / call before arriving?
• Do you take credit cards?

Write the answer you want in one or two sentences each.

Tone and greeting

Write the greeting word for word, including your legal recording notice. Then a line about tone: "Friendly, direct, no small talk," or "Warm, patient, a lot of our customers are older." Say how to refer to the company and what Contour should say if a caller asks who they are talking to.

Fill-in template

Copy this into a document, fill it in, and bring it to the onboarding call. Anything you leave blank, we will ask about.

[Shop name] knowledge base

### Company
- Legal name:
- Name to use on calls:
- License number(s):

### Services we DO
-
-

### Services we DO NOT do (and who we refer to)
-
-

### Service area
- Counties:
- Zips:
- Towns we skip inside those counties:
- Trip fee beyond: [distance / zips, amount, may Contour state it? yes / no]

### Hours
- Office hours:
- Field hours:
- Days closed:
- After-hours policy (one sentence):

### Pricing Contour may state
- Diagnostic / trip fee: $___ (may state: yes / no; waived with repair: yes / no)
- After-hours rate: $___ or "do not state"
- For all other price questions, say:

### Promotions
- Offer:
- Ends:
- Mention when:

### Financing
- Provider:
- One sentence Contour may say:

### Brands
- We install:
- We service:
- We do not service:

### Warranty
- Labor:
- Parts:
- How to handle a warranty call:

### Emergencies
- Urgent if:
- Same-day if:
- Never book, take a message if:
- Freeze threshold: ___ °F

### FAQs (question, then the answer we want)
- Q: / A:
- Q: / A:
- Q: / A:

### Tone
- Greeting (word for word, with recording notice):
- Tone in one line:
- If asked "who am I speaking with":

### Notifications
- Text these numbers after every call:
- Urgent calls also go to:

Example: Northside Plumbing & Heating

This is a fictional shop. The details are made up to show what a finished knowledge base reads like.

Northside Plumbing & Heating knowledge base

### Company
- Legal name: Northside Plumbing & Heating LLC
- Name to use on calls: Northside Plumbing
- License number: [number] (read if asked)

### Services we DO
- Residential plumbing repair and replacement
- Water heaters, boilers, hydronic heat
- Drain cleaning up to the main line

### Services we DO NOT do
- Septic (refer to a local septic company)
- Well pumps
- Commercial or new construction
- Forced-air furnaces or AC

### Service area
- Counties: Middlesex, Worcester (east half)
- Zips: [list]
- Towns we skip: anything west of Route 495
- Trip fee beyond: none

### Hours
- Office: Mon to Fri 7:30 am to 5 pm
- Field: Mon to Sat 8 am to 6 pm
- After-hours policy: We dispatch 24/7 for active leaks, sewage, no water, and no heat below 40°F outside. Everything else books next morning.

### Pricing Contour may state
- Diagnostic fee: yes, state it; waived if the repair is approved
- After-hours rate: do not state a number; say "there is an after-hours rate and the tech will confirm it before starting"
- All other price questions: "Our tech gives you a firm price on site before any work begins."

### Promotions
- Offer: fall boiler tune-up discount
- Ends: November 30
- Mention when: caller books a boiler or heating job that is not an emergency

### Warranty
- Labor: 1 year, parts: manufacturer
- Warranty calls: book as "Warranty callback," flag in notes, no diagnostic fee

### Emergencies
- Urgent: active leak, sewage backup, no water, gas smell (safety script), no heat below 40°F
- Same-day: no hot water above 40°F, slow heater leak, only toilet down
- Never book: anything out of area, septic, well, commercial, price-only questions
- Freeze threshold: 40°F

### FAQs
- Q: Do you charge to come out? A: Yes, there is a diagnostic fee, and it is waived if you approve the repair.
- Q: Free estimates? A: Free on replacements (water heaters, boilers). Repairs are quoted on site after the diagnostic.

### Tone
- Greeting: "Thanks for calling Northside Plumbing, this call is recorded for quality. How can I help you today?"
- Tone: friendly and direct, no filler
- If asked who they are speaking with: "I'm the after-hours assistant for Northside; I can get you booked and the team will follow up."

Keep it current

A knowledge base rots quietly. Set two habits.

1. Change it when the business changes. New fee, new promotion, new tech who does not do gas, new zip you stopped serving. Tell us the same day. Updates take effect in your Contour settings right away.
2. Read five call summaries a week. Any question Contour could not answer, or answered in a way you did not love, is a missing line. Add it.

See how it works for how the knowledge base feeds a live call, the plumbing, HVAC, and electrical pages for trade examples, and forwarding your line when you are ready to go live.