An agent is only as good as the playbook behind it. SOPs are the step-by-step procedures each agent follows — they live in its function's knowledge base, and this is where you turn a generic agent into your business.
Anatomy of an agent-ready SOP
TEMPLATE
<Procedure name>
Owner: <function · lead agent>
Trigger
What starts it — a form, an email, a schedule, a keyword.
Steps
Do X
Check Y
Produce Z
Tools
CRMInboxDocsKnowledge base
Output
What it hands back — a draft, a record, a message.
Escalation
When to stop and hand to a human.
Example SOPs
SALES · JORDAN
Qualify an inbound lead
Owner: Sales · Jordan
Trigger
New contact-form or inbox enquiry.
Steps
Enrich the company & contact from public data
Score against the ICP (size, sector, budget signals)
Tag hot / warm / cold in the CRM
Draft a tailored first reply
Route to the right rep or book a call
Tools
CRMEnrichmentCalendarEmail
Output
Scored CRM record + drafted reply in the rep's queue.
Escalation
Enterprise / >£10k / procurement request → named rep.
CUSTOMER SERVICE · PEPPER
Handle a refund request
Owner: Customer Service · Pepper
Trigger
Ticket or message mentioning refund / return.
Steps
Pull the order & payment history
Check it against the refund policy
If within policy, draft the approval + next steps
If outside policy or the customer is upset, stop
Tools
HelpdeskOrdersPayments
Output
Drafted response for an agent to send.
Escalation
Out-of-policy, >£X, or an angry / legal tone → human.
SUPPLY CHAIN · SILAS
Raise a purchase order
Owner: Supply Chain · Silas
Trigger
Stock hits its reorder point.
Steps
Confirm the shortfall & lead time
Pick the preferred supplier (price, reliability)
Draft the PO with quantities & dates
Attach it for release
Tools
InventorySupplier listDocs
Output
Draft PO ready to confirm.
Escalation
>£X, a new supplier, or a >10% price rise → buyer.
HR · HARPER
Onboard a new starter
Owner: HR · Harper
Trigger
Offer accepted.
Steps
Raise the accounts & equipment requests
Send the welcome pack & first-day details
Build the week-one schedule & buddy intro
Track the checklist to completion
Tools
HRISEmailCalendarIT ticketing
Output
Live onboarding checklist + scheduled comms.
Escalation
Right-to-work, contract or pay queries → HR lead.
Where to add your SOPs
Your SOPs are what make the blueprint yours. Each function keeps its own procedures in its knowledge base — write them once, and every agent in that function follows them.
Each function has its own SOP folder in its knowledge base. When you brief a lead, it retrieves the matching SOP (semantic search / RAG) and follows it — inside its guardrails. Structure it like: /knowledge/<function>/sops/<procedure>.md.
Sales · Jordan /knowledge/sales/sops/ ＋ add your sales SOPs
Marketing · Nova /knowledge/marketing/sops/ ＋ add your marketing SOPs
Customer Service · Pepper /knowledge/customer-service/sops/ ＋ add your service SOPs
Operations · Otto /knowledge/operations/sops/ ＋ add your operations SOPs
Supply Chain · Silas /knowledge/supply-chain/sops/ ＋ add your supply SOPs
HR · Harper /knowledge/hr/sops/ ＋ add your HR SOPs
Finance · Sterling /knowledge/finance/sops/ ＋ add your finance SOPs
IT / Data · Byte /knowledge/it-data/sops/ ＋ add your IT SOPs
How an agent runs an SOP
Brief → retrieve → follow → check. You brief the lead in plain English. It finds the relevant SOP, follows the steps using its tools, and produces the output. If the SOP or the agent's autonomy level says Amber or Red, it stops for a human before anything leaves the building. Change the SOP, change the behaviour — no re-coding.