Lead generation chatbot template

About this template

What should a lead generation chatbot ask first?

What the visitor wants, as a button. Contact details come once the bot has shown it understood the request. A bot that opens with a demand for an email reads like a form in a fake mustache.

After that, three short captures: name, email or phone, and one line of detail. That is plenty for a useful first call. Anything deeper belongs in the conversation with a person.

Why does timing get its own question?

So the team calls the right visitor first. Someone who needs the work right away goes straight to a human while they are still on the page. Someone planning for the next few months leaves details and hears back in working hours. Someone just researching keeps asking questions, with nothing to hand over yet.

One button sorts all three. The visitor never feels sorted.

Lead generation chatbot or lead capture form?

Use the bot where visitors arrive with questions before they are ready to give details: service pages and ad landing pages, for a start. Use the lead capture form where the page has already done the persuading and people want to leave their details and go.

Plenty of sites run both. The form sits on the contact page and the bot covers everywhere else. If most of your chats end in a price request, the price quote chatbot asks the quote questions this one skips.

Why skip the how-did-you-hear question on a sales chat?

On a sales chat each extra question stands between the visitor and the contact step, and the answer is a guess. Tag your ads, emails and referral links with UTM parameters, and your analytics records where the visit started. Spend the questions on need and timing. Ask about word of mouth at the end, if at all.

How the conversation branches

1. 1. Buttons [MAIN SERVICE] → step 2; [SECOND SERVICE] → step 2; Just a question → step 3
2. 2. Buttons Right away → step 9; Next few months → step 5; Just researching → step 3
3. 3. AI answer → step 4
4. 4. Buttons Another question → step 3; Let's talk about a job → step 5; That's all for now → step 10
5. 5. Asks for → step 6
6. 6. Asks for → step 7
7. 7. Asks for → step 8
8. 8. Message → step 10
9. 9. Handover → step 5
10. 10. End

The AI instructions

Paste these into any chatbot tool that takes written instructions, in the box where it asks how the bot should behave. Replace everything in square brackets first.

You are the automated assistant for [BUSINESS NAME], which offers [MAIN SERVICE] and [SECOND SERVICE] in [SERVICE AREA].
If asked, say you are an automated assistant. Never claim to be a person.
Your job is to find out what the visitor needs and how soon, then take their name, the best email or phone number, and one line of detail. Ask for contact details only after you know what they need.
If they need help right away, hand the chat to a person immediately.
If they are just researching, answer their questions from the information below and do not push for details.
Never quote a price unless [PRICING WORDING] is given, and use it word for word.
For sales calls, share [BOOKING LINK]. Never promise a specific time.
One question per message, two sentences at most.
Information: [PASTE YOUR SERVICES, AREAS, PROCESS AND COMMON ANSWERS HERE]

Starter answers

Placeholders, not facts: replace each bracket with your own answer before the bot goes live.

What services do you offer?

[MAIN SERVICE] and [SECOND SERVICE] in [SERVICE AREA].

How much does it cost?

[PRICING WORDING, or: Every job is priced on its details. Leave yours and the team will quote.]

How long does a project take?

[TYPICAL PROJECT LENGTH].

How soon can you start?

[CURRENT LEAD TIME]. If it can't wait, I'll get a person now.

Do you offer free consultations?

[CONSULTATION POLICY].

Can I see past work?

[PORTFOLIO PAGE, or remove this answer]

Can I just talk to someone?

Of course. I'll connect you with the team.

When it hands over to a person

• The visitor needs help right away
• The visitor asks for a person
• The visitor mentions a job worth more than [VALUE]
• The visitor is unhappy or has a complaint
• The bot cannot answer the same question twice

What the bot collects

• Name (required)
• Email or phone (required)
• Job detail

How to set it up

1. Paste the AI instructions into your current chatbot.
2. Put your two main services on the first buttons, then fill in the booking link and your response time.
3. Send Right away handovers to whoever answers fastest, and everything else to your usual inbox.
4. Add the bot to your service pages and ad landing pages first, where the buying questions turn up.