Overview
You don’t need special commands to use Fergus Assistant. Describe what you need in plain English, add the details that matter, then check the result.
Use three parts in your request
A useful request usually tells Fergus:
What you want: Draft a follow-up email
What it’s about: The overdue Smith invoice
Which details matter: Keep it short and friendly
“Draft a short, friendly follow-up email for the overdue Smith invoice. Show me before I send it.”
Start with an action
Use a clear action such as:
Find
Show
Create
Add
Update
Draft
Compare
Check
Instead of: “Smith invoice”
Try: “Find the overdue Smith invoice and show me the customer, amount and due date.”
Name the work
Tell Fergus which record or piece of work you mean - add the job number, customer, address, quote, invoice or date when you know it.
If more than one record matches, Fergus may ask you to choose the right one.
Instead of: “Create a quote.”
Try: “Create a draft quote for Rose’s hot water job at 194 Padding Street.”
Add the details that matter
Include anything that could change the result, such as the timeframe, the address, the person assigned, the tone of a message, the items or labour to include, or how you want information grouped
“Show me the completed jobs from this week that haven’t been invoiced. Group them by customer.”
Take it one step at a time
For a bigger job, ask Fergus to complete one clear step, check the result, then give the next instruction. This makes it easier to spot a missing or incorrect detail before the work moves forward.
For example:
“Find the bathroom renovation job.”
“What’s left to invoice?”
“Prepare the invoice.”
“Draft the customer email and show me both before anything sends.”
Keep the conversation going
You don’t need to start again when you want to add detail - continue in the same conversation.
For example:
“What did we invoice last month?”
Then:
“Break that down by customer.”
Then:
“Chart the top five.”
You can also correct or refine a result: “Make the email shorter and less formal.”
Ask to see important work first
Keep control of customer messages, quotes, invoices and important updates by asking Fergus to show you what it’s prepared. Useful phrases include:
“Show me before you create it.”
“Show me the proposed changes first.”
“Draft it, but don’t send it.”
“Check the customer, prices and total.”
“Tell me what you’re about to update.”
Always check important details before confirming or sending anything.
If Fergus needs more information
Fergus may ask a follow-up question when something important is missing or more than one record matches. Answer in the same conversation. If the result isn’t right:
add a job number, customer, address or date
correct the detail directly
make the request smaller and more specific
ask Fergus to show its result before taking the next step
Prompts to try
Find a job: “Have we done a switchboard upgrade for this customer before, and what did we charge?”
Check the schedule: “Who’s free tomorrow afternoon, and which jobs are still unassigned?”
Build a quote: “Start with our bathroom Favourite, add eight hours of labour and show me the margin.”
Prepare an invoice: “The bathroom renovation is done. What’s left to bill? Prepare the invoice and show me before anything sends.”
Find unfinished admin: "Before payroll, whose time is missing this week?”
Ask about the business:“What did we invoice last month? Show it by customer.”
Add an update on Fergus Go: “Log my time on FERG-92 and note that the pump was replaced and tested.”