Keep track of the questions you answer again and again
Version 1.1 · Kramaniti Kosh
Intended outcome
A simple log of the questions customers and staff keep asking, who asks, who answers, where the answer is kept today and what the asker needed to decide, with one repeated question chosen to get an agreed answer in one agreed place, owned by a named person, before anyone builds a bot, an FAQ page or a new form.
Before you begin
- Two to four weeks of real questions from calls, WhatsApp, email, the counter and staff chats, or a few days of writing them down as they arrive
- A short chat with the people who answer questions most often
- Someone who can approve what the correct answer is and where it should be kept
How to use
- For two to four weeks, write down each question as it arrives, in the asker’s own words. Note who asked, where it came in and who answered. Do not tidy or merge questions yet.
- At the end, group questions that ask the same thing. For each group, record roughly how often it came up (a tally from the log, not a guess), where the answer is kept today and what the asker was trying to decide.
- Pick one question to fix first. Write the agreed answer, choose the one place it will live, name an owner who keeps it correct and set a date to check whether the question still comes back.
Working template
Log header
Business or team:
Log owner:
Start date and end date:
Where questions were collected (for example: phone, WhatsApp, email, counter, staff group chat):
Question log
Add one line per question as it arrives. Copy the asker’s words; do not rewrite them.
- Date:
- The question, in the asker’s words:
- Who asked (customer, staff member, supplier, partner, other):
- Where it came in:
- Who answered:
- How it was answered (from memory, looked it up, asked someone else, could not answer):
Repeated questions
At the end of the log period, group questions that ask the same thing. Fill one block per group.
- The question, in plain words:
- How many times it appears in the log (count the lines; do not estimate):
- Who usually asks:
- Who usually answers:
- Where the answer is kept today (someone’s head, a notebook, a price list, a WhatsApp message, a document, nowhere):
- What the asker was trying to decide or do next:
- Does everyone give the same answer (yes, no, not sure):
Where the answer should live
For each repeated question, pick the smallest place that would help. Choose one.
- A line on an existing price list, card or notice
- A standard reply the team saves and reuses
- A field or question added to an order or booking form the business already uses
- A short written note or checklist for staff
- A page or section on the website
- A rule about who decides, written down and shared
- Keep it with a person: the answer depends on judgment each time
Flags
Mark every flag that applies to each repeated question.
- Only one person knows the answer
- Different people give different answers
- The answer involves money, a promise or a commitment to a customer
- The answer changes often (prices, stock, timings)
- The question is really a complaint or a sign that something went wrong
Pick one question to fix first
A good first pick:
- Comes up often in the log
- Has an answer the business can agree on today
- Does not need a new tool to answer well
- Takes pressure off the person who answers most
Answer card
The question:
The agreed answer (in plain words a customer or new staff member would understand):
Who approved this answer:
Where it will live:
Who keeps it correct:
When it must be checked again (for example, when prices change):
How we will know it helped (what you will count in the log, and when):
Review date:
Stop rules
- Do not build a chatbot, an FAQ page or a new form until the log has run for the agreed period and one answer card is approved.
- Do not invent how often a question comes up. Count it from the log, or leave it blank.
- Questions about money, refunds, warranties, delivery promises or complaints stay with a named person. Write the answer down for staff, but do not let it go out automatically.
- If two people give different answers, record both and ask the owner which one is right before writing the card.
- Keep customer names and phone numbers out of the log unless the owner agrees to keep them there.
Demonstration
This is an illustrative scenario, not a client case study or a measured result. Do not reuse its details as facts about your work.
A sample family-run home appliance repair and service business in Bengaluru has an office run by the owner and his wife, with a small team of technicians who visit homes. Customers call and message all day, and technicians call the office from the field. The owner wants a WhatsApp bot, but nobody has yet written down which questions actually keep coming in.
Sample inputs
Demonstration inputs only. No real counts, costs or customer details are used; tally marks are shown as placeholders. Over three weeks, the owner’s wife writes down questions from the office phone, the business WhatsApp number and technician calls: customers ask when the technician will arrive, whether a repair is covered by warranty, what the visit charge is and whether the business services a certain brand; technicians ask whether a spare part is in stock and whether to collect payment for a repeat visit.
Example output
Log header
[Fact within this demonstration] Log owner: [Name the owner’s wife]. Collected from the office phone, the business WhatsApp number and technician calls over three weeks.
Repeated questions
[Fact within this demonstration] When will the technician come? Asked by customers. Answered by the owner’s wife, who phones the technician first. Kept in: the technicians’ heads and the day’s job list on paper. Count: [tally from the log].
Is this covered under warranty? Asked by customers. Answered by the owner, from memory. Kept in: the owner’s head and brand paperwork in a file. Different answers have been given. Count: [tally from the log].
What is the visit charge? Asked by customers. Answered by whoever picks up. Kept in: nowhere written; the owner and his wife quote it from memory. Count: [tally from the log].
Is the spare part in stock? Asked by technicians. Answered by the owner, who checks the shelf. Kept in: the stock shelf and a notebook. Count: [tally from the log].
Do I collect payment for a repeat visit? Asked by technicians. Answered by the owner. Kept in: the owner’s head. Count: [tally from the log].
Where the answer should live
Visit charge: a standard reply the team saves and reuses, plus a line on the printed rate card.
Warranty: keep it with a person for now; write a short staff note on what to check before answering.
Repeat visit payment: a rule about who decides, written down and shared with technicians.
Technician arrival: needs the job list to be visible to the office first; left for later.
Flags
Warranty: different people give different answers; involves a promise to a customer.
Repeat visit payment: only one person knows the answer; involves money.
Visit charge: the answer changes when rates are revised.
Answer card
[Recommendation] Question: What is the visit charge?
Agreed answer: [The owner writes the current visit charge and what it includes].
Approved by: [Name the owner].
Where it will live: a saved reply on the business WhatsApp number and a line on the printed rate card in the office.
Keeps it correct: [Name the owner’s wife].
Check again: whenever the owner revises rates.
How we will know it helped: for two weeks, keep the log running and see whether staff use the saved reply and whether customers still ask follow-up questions about the charge.
Review date: [Two weeks after the saved reply goes live].
This recommendation is not the business’s decision.
Stop rules applied
No WhatsApp bot was set up. The warranty question stays with the owner because the answers did not match and it involves a promise. Customer names and numbers were left out of the log.
Quality check
Every repeated question has its count taken from the log, who asks, who answers, where the answer is kept today and any flags; different answers are recorded rather than smoothed over; one answer card has an approved answer, one place to live, an owner and a review date; nothing was built and no money or warranty answer was set to go out automatically.
Limits and human review
The log shows which questions repeat and where the answers sit; it does not prove that a bot, FAQ page or form is the right fix, and it does not check consumer, warranty or data protection rules. An approved answer card is not approval to automate replies or to promise anything new to customers. Keep consequential actions with the named human owner.
Edition notes
New in Kosh at version 1.1. Provider-neutral Markdown instructions; no installation or platform compatibility is implied. Runtime behaviour has not been verified across AI providers. Reuse terms have not yet been published. Background reading: Capture the Question Before Building the Answer and Let the Repeated Question Pick the System. Turning repeated questions into a clear answer and the right place to keep it is part of Kramaniti’s Systems Engineering work.