Learning objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Describe Pinevon and Anchor in one sentence each.
- List the main parts of Anchor: catalog, orders, quotes, conversations and the two assistants.
- Say which decisions stay with a person.
Pinevon and Anchor
Pinevon is the company. It builds AI technology for businesses. Anchor is its business product: one working system for a business that sells products from a catalog.
Each business in Anchor has its own records. Every request is checked against the business it belongs to, so one business never sees another’s data.
The parts of Anchor
- Catalog: your products, prices, variants, attributes and stock.
- Quotes and orders: a quote copies catalog prices and becomes an order only when the customer accepts it.
- Conversations: questions from your website widget and the messaging channels you connect, in one inbox.
- The customer assistant: answers product questions from your catalog.
- Owner questions: plain-language questions about your own sales and stock.
- Suggestions: drafts such as a follow-up for a quiet quote, which wait for approval.
What stays with a person
Anchor answers and drafts; people decide. A person replies when the assistant hands a conversation over, approves or rejects suggestions, and accepts nothing on the customer’s behalf. Anchor does not process payments.
Illustrative example · fictional data
A first week with Anchor
A made-up shop that sells lamps, to show how the parts connect.
- Monday: the owner adds 40 products, each with a price and stock.
- Tuesday: the website widget goes live and answers "Is the walnut lamp in stock?" from the catalog.
- Wednesday: a buyer asks for a quote for 10 lamps; it becomes an order when the buyer accepts.
- Friday: a suggestion appears to follow up an unanswered quote; the owner edits the wording and approves it.
Practical exercise · planning
Map Anchor to your business
- Write down the three questions customers ask you most.
- For each one, note which record would answer it (a price, a stock level, a description).
- Write down one decision you would always want a person to make.
This is a planning exercise on paper; it does not change anything in Anchor.
Recap
- Pinevon is the company; Anchor is its product for catalog-driven businesses.
- Anchor brings catalog, quotes, orders and conversations together, with two assistants on top.
- People reply to hand-offs and approve suggestions; Anchor does not process payments.
Knowledge check
Three questions. Choose an answer, check it and read the explanation; you can try again as often as you like.
Your answers are not saved or sent anywhere.
Further reading
Finish this lesson
When you have read the lesson and tried the exercise and knowledge check, mark it complete. Progress is saved on this browser only.