Editor's Note: This is an installment of our new series called Things Every Alexa Skill Should Do, which highlights the important features and lessons that every skill builder can use to make their skills more engaging for customers. Follow the series to learn, get inspired, and build engaging Alexa skills.

When we build our intents and sample utterances, we often think about the ways that someone would ask for those intents. For example, with the Dev Tips skill, the core functionality is to answer common questions that developers might ask, but it is very command focused. Sample utterances include:

“Alexa, ask Dev Tips about {topic}.”

“Tell me about {topic}.”

“How do I use {topic}?”

In each of those cases, Alexa delivers an answer to the customer’s specific request. The downside is that the skill is loaded with the assumption that the customer knows what they’re looking for. What if they want something they haven’t heard of before? What if they want to learn something new?

Consider the Customer’s Intentions

When one of your customers opens your skill, what are they expecting? What are the things they want to do? In the case of Dev Tips, we anticipated four different scenarios:

1. Customer asks about a specific topic, like monetization or HTTPS calls
2. Customer asks about “what’s new” to get the latest Alexa developer news
3. Customer asks for a random topic to learn something new
4. Customer asks to hear (or see with Echo Show or Echo Spot) a specific Alexa feature, like display templates or speechcons

You might notice a pattern in the list above—they all assume the customer is asking for something. They are trying to get something “out” of our skill. Is that really the only way someone might use Dev Tips? What about if a customer is trying to contact an Alexa evangelist, or a customer wants to offer feedback on the skill? In each of these situations, the customer is trying to put something “into” our skill.  These kinds of interactions are commonly overlooked, but serve your customers in a far more interactive way. Building a skill that anticipates your customer’s intentions will be more engaging than one that has to explain its capabilities.

Talk to Potential Customers about Your Skill

As a single developer (or even a small team), it can be hard to anticipate every customer’s intent when using your skill. I prefer to write a short “elevator pitch” about what my skill is and then ask potential customers what they think it does.

If you haven’t heard the term “elevator pitch” before, imagine this scenario: You walk into an elevator and your perfect customer is already inside. You have until the doors open again to explain what your skill is and why they should use it. What would you say in those 15-20 seconds?

More importantly, what would that customer think they could say to the skill? Would it just be a series of questions, like the Dev Tips skill? Would it be more interactive? Spend the time to ask 10 to 15 potential customers what they would expect to be able to say to your Alexa skill. You’ll be surprised at the responses, and it will help you to make a better, more rewarding skill for you and your customers.

Optimize Your Intents for In-Skill Purchasing

These practices also apply to in-skill purchasing for Alexa skills. What do your customers want?  What is their expectation for what should be free? What would they be willing to pay for? It is only by talking to real customers that you can truly understand how to optimize your skill. These conversations will help you understand how to craft an effective subscription model or identify which pieces of premium content would be best suited as a one-time purchase for your customers.

Get the Guide: 10 Things Every Alexa Skill Should Do

With more than 40,000 skills in the Alexa Skills Store, we’ve learned a lot about what makes a skill great and what you can do to create incredible voice experiences for your customers. Download the complete guide about 10 Things Every Alexa Skill Should Do for more tips, code samples, and best practices to build engaging skills.

Build a New Skill, Earn Developer Perks

Bring your big idea to life with Alexa and earn perks through our tiered rewards system. US developers, publish a skill in May and earn an Alexa developer backpack. If 1,000 customers use your skill in its first 30 days in the Alexa Skills Store, you will also earn a free Echo Plus to help you make Alexa even smarter. If you're not in the US, check out our promotions in the UK, Germany, and India. Learn more about our promotion and start building today.