Ask Better Questions

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Make Clear, Natural Language Questions

• Be Specific: Instead of “Show sales,” ask “Show total sales for the last quarter.”
• Use Exact Words: Say “Count of customers who bought in the last 30 days,” not “Customers buying stuff.”
• Ask for Summaries: If you want totals or averages, say so. For example, “Sum of sales by product” or “Average sales per product.”
• State Time: Always include dates or periods like “Last month” or “Between January and March 2024.”
• Hint at Connections: Use words like “by,” “who bought,” or “per” to show relationships. For example, “Sales by region.”
• Try Different Ways: If a question doesn’t work, try phrasing it differently.

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Ask a Question

1. Navigate to the Search window, in the left sidebar. The Chat page will open.
2. Send a question to the chat.
3. The chat will start preparing the answer. You will be able to see its Workstream:
   • The tool (tabular data or textual) selected,
   • The step-by-step process,
   • Any join constrain validation,
   • The final query.

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Use Filters for Better Focus

• Set Conditions: Don’t just ask for “customers”; ask for “customers in the US” or “customers who spent over $500.”
• Use Comparisons:
  • Equal: where Region is 'North'
  • More/Less: where Sales > 1000
  • Range: where Date between '2024-01-01' and '2024-03-31'
  • Contains: where Product Name contains 'Pro'
• Combine Filters: Use “and,” “or,” and “not” for more detailed questions. For example, “Sales where Product Category is ‘Apparel’ AND Region is ‘West’.”
• Exclude Things: Sometimes it is easier to say what you don’t want. For example, “All customers except those in California.”

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Add or Adjust Filters

1. See the aplied filters, according to your question, e.g.: Stage Label, Dates, etc.
2. Add one or more filters, such as Lead Source. Here, You also have the option to Clear all filters.

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Plan for Follow-up Questions

• Start Broad, Then Detail: Begin with a general question, then ask for more specifics.
  • First: “What were our total sales last quarter?”
  • Next: “Which products sold the most?”
  • Then: “How did our top product sell over the last year?”
• Explore Surprises: If something looks odd, ask why.
  • Problem: “Sales in one area dropped last month.”
  • Ask: “What marketing happened there?” or “Were there many returns?”
• Compare Things: Look for differences and similarities.
  • Question: “How do costs in Q1 compare to Q2?”
  • Ask: “What caused that difference?”
• Look at Different Angles: If you are looking at sales by area, next look at sales by product or by customer.

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Use Business Terms Set by Admins

• What are Business Terms?
  • They are the official words your company uses.
  • They define what “Customer,” “Revenue,” or “Active User” really mean for your business.
  • Admins usually create and manage them, often in a business glossary.
• Why Are They Important?
  • Everyone Understands: Ensures everyone means the same thing by “Sales.”
  • Correct Answers: Prevents mistakes and helps you query the right data.
  • Save Time: Less time spent explaining terms.
  • Trust Your Data: When terms are clear, data is more reliable.
  • Better Questions: Helps you use the exact words WisdomAI understands.
• How to Use Them:
  • Check Your Company’s Glossary: Always look up terms there first.
  • Use Exact Words: If “Sales” is officially “Total Recognized Sales (USD),” use that.
  • Understand What’s Behind It: Even if you don’t use database names, knowing how a term like “Active Customer” is defined (e.g., active in the last 90 days) helps you ask better questions.
  • Ask if Unsure: If a term is unclear, ask your data team. This helps everyone.
  • Help Others: Encourage colleagues to use the standard terms too.

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Next Steps

• Advanced Data Modeling: Creating Knowledge
• Validate and Test Answers
• Provide Feedback to the System
• Turn Answers into Stories