Handling Greetings/Small Talk at the Beginning of a Zobot Conversation

Handling Greetings/Small Talk at the Beginning of a Zobot Conversation

Hello everyone,

I’m currently configuring a **Zobot** in Zoho SalesIQ and everything is working as expected, except for one specific scenario at the very beginning of the conversation.

My target audience has the habit of starting with a **greeting or small talk** (e.g., *“Hi”*, *“Hello”*, *“Good afternoon”*, *“How are you?”*) before exposing their actual need. When this happens, the bot does not recognize the input as a valid response, and it immediately triggers the *“no valid answer / fallback”* flow.

In the following steps of the bot flow (where I use cards for specific purposes), everything works fine. The issue is only in this initial interaction.

### What I want to achieve:

* After the bot auto-starts, the user should be able to send greetings or short circumstantial messages.
* The bot should respond politely with a simple welcome message (e.g., *“Hello! Nice to meet you 😊 How can I help you today?”*) instead of triggering the fallback.
* After that, the user should continue normally into the main bot flow.

### Resources I have available:

* I have access to **all resources in my subscription**, including **ZIA Skills, Answer Bot, ChatGPT integration, and Zoho Desk**.
* I just need to know the best way to implement this specific initial *small talk handling*.

### Example of the problem:

1. Bot auto-starts with a welcome card.
2. User replies: *“Hi”*.
3. Bot: *“Sorry, I didn’t understand. Please try again.”* (fallback triggered ❌)

What I want instead:

1. Bot auto-starts with a welcome card.
2. User replies: *“Hi”*.
3. Bot: *“Hello! How can I assist you today?”* (✅ correct behavior)
4. User continues with their real request, and the main flow proceeds.

Any guidance, best practices, or examples would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
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