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Quick Start

Get your Hay AI assistant up and running in less than 10 minutes! Follow these simple steps to start automating your customer support.

Before You Begin #

Make sure you have:

  • A Hay account (sign up at your organization's Hay dashboard)
  • At least one support document or FAQ (we'll use this to train your agent)
  • 10 minutes to complete the setup

Step 1: Choose Your Integrations #

Hay works where your team already does. You can connect integrations now or skip this and come back later.

  1. Click Integrations in the left sidebar
  2. Browse available integrations (Shopify, WhatsApp, Zendesk, etc.)
  3. Click on an integration you want to add
  4. Follow the simple connection steps

Popular integrations:

  • Web Chat - Add a chat widget to your website
  • WhatsApp - Handle WhatsApp Business messages
  • Shopify - Access order and product information
  • Zendesk - Sync with your help desk

Tip: You can start with just the Web Chat widget and add more integrations later!

Step 2: Create Your First Agent #

Your agent is your AI assistant. Give it a personality and purpose.

  1. Go to Agents in the left sidebar

  2. Click Create Agent

  3. Fill in the basic information:

    • Name: Something descriptive like "Customer Support Agent"
    • Description: What this agent handles (e.g., "Handles order questions and product inquiries")
    • Tone: Choose how your agent should communicate (Professional, Friendly, Casual, etc.)

  4. (Optional) Add specific instructions:

    • How to greet customers
    • What topics to avoid
    • When to escalate to a human

  5. Click Create Agent

Example: "Support Agent" with a "Friendly" tone that "helps customers with orders, shipping, and product questions"

Step 3: Upload Training Documents #

Teach your agent by uploading your existing support materials.

  1. Go to Documents in the left sidebar

  2. Click Import Documents

  3. Upload files or paste text:

    • PDFs - Product manuals, policy documents
    • Text files - FAQs, support scripts
    • Direct text - Paste in common questions and answers

  4. Wait a few seconds while Hay processes and learns from your documents

What makes good training material?

  • ✅ Frequently Asked Questions
  • ✅ Product documentation
  • ✅ Return and refund policies
  • ✅ Shipping information
  • ✅ Common support scenarios

Tip: Start with your top 10-20 FAQs. You can always add more later!

Playbooks are step-by-step instructions for handling specific situations.

  1. Go to Playbooks in the left sidebar

  2. Click Create Playbook

  3. Set up the basics:

    • Title: "Welcome New Customers"
    • Trigger: "greeting" or "hello"
    • Instructions: What should happen when triggered

  4. Write instructions in plain language:

    Greet the customer warmly. Ask how you can help them today.
If they ask about orders, check their order status.
If they need help with products, provide relevant information.

  5. Click Save and Activate

Common playbook examples:

  • Order status lookups
  • Return and refund requests
  • Product recommendations

Step 5: Test Your Agent #

Before going live with customers, test how your agent responds.

  1. Go to Conversations in the left sidebar

  2. Click + Conversation Playground

  3. Start typing messages like a customer would:

    • "Hi, I need help with my order"
    • "What's your return policy?"
    • "Do you ship internationally?"

  4. Review the responses - do they sound right?

  5. If needed, go back and:

    • Add more training documents
    • Adjust agent instructions
    • Update your playbooks

Tip: Test with real questions your support team receives daily!

You're All Set! 🎉 #

Your Hay agent is now ready to start helping customers!

What Happens Next? #

  • Automatic responses: Your agent handles incoming questions instantly
  • Human escalation: Complex issues are automatically sent to your team
  • Continuous learning: Your agent gets smarter with every conversation

Next Steps #

Now that you're up and running:

  1. Monitor the Queue - Check for conversations that need human attention
  2. Review Analytics - See how your agent is performing
  3. Add More Documents - Keep training your agent with new information
  4. Create More Playbooks - Automate more types of requests

Need help? Head to the Dashboard guide to learn about monitoring your conversations.

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