Writing a Procedure

Writing a good Procedure requires choosing the right category and writing AI-friendly instructions

When we write Procedures, we have two goals in mind:

  1. Procedure Descriptions — Helping your AI choose the correct Procedure for the given guest query

  2. Procedure Instructions — Helping your AI run the Procedure to completion

We'll address how to achieve each goal in the sections below.

Helping your AI choose a Procedure

To ensure that your AI chooses the correct Procedure for a given guest query, we have three main levers that we can pull on: Category, Title and Description.

☑️ Category

The Category is the most important indicator to your AI of when it should use a given Procedure. We have pre-defined some common categories for you, such as Early Check-in, Lost & Found and Maintenance Request. When possible, you should use one of the existing Categories; however, we also provide a Custom Category if your Procedure does not match one of the pre-defined options (e.g., "Service Animal Requests").

🏁 Title

Your Procedure's Title should be brief and to-the-point, capturing the essence of your Procedure. Here are some examples:

Examples: Procedure Titles

✅ Good Procedure Titles

These titles are short, descriptive and capture the essence of the Procedure

  • "Early Check-in Procedure"

  • "Bag-drop Procedure"

  • "Invoice Processing Procedure"

❌ Bad Procedure Titles

These titles are either undescriptive or else far too long and noisy

  • "Procedure #2"

  • "Bags"

  • "Procedure to use when processing invoices but not if the stay hasn't started yet"

❓Description

The Procedure Description is read directly by your AI when choosing which Procedure to run. Therefore, the Description should carry key details about when to run a given Procedure, as well as when to not run a Procedure.

Examples: Procedure Descriptions

✅ Good Procedure Descriptions

Good Descriptions are clear, descriptive and non-contradictory. They share clear instructions for what the Procedure does and when it should be used.

  • "Use this procedure to handle all early check-in requests"

  • "Handles all guest questions related to service animals. Do not use this for general questions about the pet policy, unless they explicitly mention service animals or emotional support animals"

  • "Run this procedure for all non-internet related maintenance requests"

❌ Bad Procedure Descriptions

Poor Descriptions are contradictory, unclear and/or lack enough detail to inform your AI.

  • "For dog requests" <- does not specify type of requests or if this should apply to non-dog pets

  • "This procedure can be used for any serious requests from the guest" <- does not adequately describe the triggering situation

  • "All early check-ins should be denied" <- includes instructions, but not a description of what the Procedure does / when it should be used

Procedure Instructions

Once your AI chooses a Procedure to run, it will read through the Procedure Instructions (Contents) and either respond to the guest or route to the host accordingly.

What can the Procedure tell my AI to do?

Fundamentally, a Procedure allows your AI to take two types of actions: send a message to the guest (or not) and notify the host (or not).

  • Send Message to Guest — First, your Procedure Instructions can tell your AI how and when it should respond to a guest. For example, the instructions for an Early Check-in Procedure could say something like "If the night before the guest's arrival is available, then offer them an early check-in. If it isn't then don't respond."

  • Route Message to Host — Similarly, your Procedure Instructions can guide your AI as to when it should notify you, the host. Let's use the same Early Check-in as an example: "If the guest asks for an Early Check-in on the day of their arrival, then notify the host."

Put together, you can write nuanced Instructions that will allow your AI to handle an array of possible scenarios.

Example: Full Procedure Instructions

Below is an example of a well-rounded Early Check-in Procedure designed with Cortado AI customer Skyshare Management.

🌅 Early Check-In Procedure

Key Inputs:

  • 💸 Upsell: to guarantee early check-in, we offer guests the option to pay a $[fee] fixed fee to secure early check-in (as early as [early_time]), which will block the night prior to their originally-scheduled check-in date.

  • 🧳 Bag Drop Policy: unless explicitly available per our property-level documentation, we do not promise pre check-in luggage storage or early bag drop to guests.

Order of Operations:

  1. If early check-in request was received before 8:45pm the night before check-in:

    • Is prior night available? → Offer our upsell for guaranteed early check-in:

      • Guest accepts upsell offer → Flag for reservation modification team

      • Guest declines upsell offer → Ask guest to message us on the morning of their arrival

    • Is prior night booked? → Ask guest to check back morning of arrival

  2. If request was received after 8:45pm the night before check-in:

    • Is prior night booked? → Inform guest cleaning takes time, request update from team

    • Is prior night available? → Request update from team to verify property readiness

📋 Additional Rules & Considerations

Here are some additional rules and guideline for handling common edge cases. When in doubt, however, always flag the conversation for our team and do not respond:

  • Sharing Access Codes: even if explicitly requested by a guest, we do not share access codes early unless the guest has been officially approved for early check-in.

  • Early Bag Drop Expectations: if guests arrive to drop off their bags before the standard check-in time, the property may still be dirty from prior guests. In this case, our cleaning team may not have arrived yet or may still be actively working.

  • Is the guest actually asking about late check-in? It’s fine if a guest checks in late (e.g., if they are arriving a day late), as long as it’s during their confirmed reservation window.

  • Does a guest think their reservation is confirmed, but it’s not? Clarify guest’s intent and notify the team. It’s fine to ask clarifying questions when needed.

  • Did the guest decline our early check-in upsell but is still insisting on checking in early? Simply reiterate that we can’t guarantee early check-in until our team finishes preparing the property.

📣 Example Messages

Responding to Booking Inquiries:

Standard Inquiry Response (Prior Night Available):

Thank you for asking. Early check-in just depends on whether I have guests staying the night before and the time needed for my cleaning team to prepare the space. At the moment I don't have guests staying that night and may be able to accommodate it, but can't guarantee that the calendar stays that way.

If you'd like a guaranteed early check-in, I can offer that for a $[fee] fixed fee, which would block the calendar and allow you to check in as early as [early_time]. You could also proceed with booking and check back in with me the morning of your arrival, and I can let you know if the home winds up being ready ahead of schedule. Would either of those work for you?

Standard Inquiry Response (Prior Night Booked):

Thank you for asking. Right now I can't guarantee an early check-in since I have guests staying the night before your arrival. However, I could definitely confirm the availability of an early check-in if you check back in with me the morning of your arrival. Would that work for you?

Responding to Guests:

Early Check-In Upsell (Prior Night Available):

Our standard check-in time is [checkin_time], and early check-in depends on whether we have guests staying the night before and the time needed for our cleaning team to prepare the space. At the moment we don't have guests staying that night and may be able to accommodate your request, but I'm unable to guarantee that the calendar stays that way.

If you want a guaranteed early check-in, I can offer that for a $[fee] fixed fee, which would block the calendar from having other guests and allow you to check in as early as [early_time]. I hope that makes sense and please let me know if you'd like to move forward with that option!

Cannot Guarantee Early Check-In (Prior Night Booked):

Thank you for asking! Right now I can't guarantee an early check-in since I have guests staying the night before your arrival. However, I could confirm the availability of an early check-in if you could check back in with me the morning of your arrival.

Upsell Declined Response:

No problem at all! Since I can't guarantee early check-in right now, please just check back in on the morning of your arrival and I can let you know if the home is ready ahead of schedule.

Late Request (Day of Check-In, Prior Night Booked):

Thank you for asking— we had guests staying at the property last night and it typically takes our cleaning team several hours to prepare the home to our standards, so please plan for our standard [checkin_time] arrival. That said, I will touch base with our team to get a status update and let you know if we can get you in any sooner.

Late Request (Day of Check-In, Prior Night Available):

Thank you for checking in! Please give me a bit of time to coordinate with our cleaning team to get a status update and I will let you know as soon as possible if we can get you in any sooner.

PreviousOverviewNextRoute to Host

Last updated