Guide

✦ Skills

A skill is your way of doing a job, taught once. Tell your agent the steps, and it runs them the same way every time, so you stop repeating yourself.

Teaching NoDesk a new-lead skill in chat

Teach it once. It remembers.

What a skill is

Most of your day is the same handful of routines. A skill is one of those routines, handed to your agent so it does the whole thing on its own.

"When a new lead comes in, text them back, add them to Jobber, and tell me." That's a skill. You describe it in plain words one time. After that, your agent just does it, start to finish, without you walking it through the steps again.

Two ways to get a skill

Do it yourself

Teach it in chat

Just tell your agent the routine in a message, like you're training a new hire. It saves it, names it, and runs it going forward. Free, instant, no setup.

We build it

Request a skill

Got something bigger or more technical? Email us what you want it to do and we'll build the skill for you and load it onto your agent. You describe the outcome; we handle the wiring.

How to teach a skill in chat

30 seconds. The clearer you are, the better it runs.

Start with "New skill:"

It's the cue that you're teaching a routine, not asking a one-off question.

Say the trigger and the steps

What kicks it off, then what to do, in order. "When a new lead texts, reply with our intro, add them to Jobber, and text me their name and number."

Confirm it

Your agent repeats the skill back and names it. If it's right, tell it to run automatically. If not, correct it in a message.

It's on

From then on it runs the routine itself. You can change or pause it anytime, just by asking.

💡

Be specific. "Text them our intro" works, but "text them: Thanks for reaching out, we'll call within the hour" works better. The more exact you are, the more it sounds like you.

Skills to steal

Copy one, swap in your words, and paste it to your agent. That's the whole job.

Every trade"Every morning at 6, text me today's jobs and who still owes me money."

New leads"When a new lead comes in, reply in 2 minutes, add them to Jobber, and text me their name and number."

Missed calls"Log every missed call as a lead and text the caller: sorry we missed you, what do you need?"

Getting paid"When an invoice hits 30 days late, send a friendly nudge. At 45 days, tell me to call them."

End of job"When I mark a job done, send the invoice and, a day later, text them a link for a Google review."

Quotes"Follow up on any quote I haven't heard back on after 3 days, and let me know."

Plumbing"When someone asks for a quote, get their address and what's wrong, then text me before you send a price."

HVAC"In July, text every customer we serviced last summer and offer a tune-up before it gets hot."

Skills that log in for you

Some jobs happen on a site with no connect button. Your agent can still do those, using a login you save once.

Save a site in your Logins vault and your agent can sign in and work there, then you teach a skill on top of it. "Every Monday, log into the supplier and reorder anything I'm low on." Save the login once, teach the skill once, and it runs on its own.

🔒

See the Logins vault guide for how your agent signs into no-API sites safely.

Managing your skills

⏸️

Pause one: "Pause new lead intake." It stops running until you turn it back on.

✏️

Change one: just describe the change. "For new leads, also add them to my Google Contacts." It updates the skill.

📋

See what it knows: ask "What skills do you have?" and it lists everything it runs for you.

Want us to build a skill for you?

Email us the routine you want handled, in your own words. We'll build it and load it onto your agent, usually within a couple of days.

✉ support@nodesk.io