Every SMB owner knows it: a good lead comes in exactly when you are in a meeting. By the time you call back, the client is already with someone else.
The solution does not have to be a chatbot (which mostly just annoys). We build something simpler and more effective.
How it works in practice
- Someone fills in a short intake on your site. 3 fields max.
- Right after, WhatsApp opens with a prefilled message: "Hi! I just filled in the form on your site. Can we talk about [X]?"
- In the background: AI reads the intake, makes a compact summary, and puts it in your CRM.
- You get a short notification ("New lead: aircon Moraira. Marleen, likely high intent"), not a 4-page document.
- The lead gets an automatic WhatsApp within 30 seconds: "Thanks Marleen! We will get back to you today at the latest."
Why AI and not just an auto-reply?
Auto-replies are generic and irritating. AI can:
- Personalise: mentions the name, restates the question, makes clear someone is reading along
- Qualify: recognises from the intake whether someone likely has high or low intent
- Summarise: so you do not have to read through a long story to get the core
- Route: pings colleague X if it is about service X, colleague Y if it is about service Y
What we do NOT do
We do not build chatbots that "have conversations" with the client. People see through them and get frustrated.
Other things we do not do:
- No bots that pretend to be human
- No 24/7 "answer everything" AI that promises things that are wrong
- No automations that take over your client contact — only support it
The tools
We usually work with:
- WhatsApp Business API: for reliable, verified messages
- Make or n8n: for the workflow logic
- OpenAI / Anthropic: for the AI summary (via API, not the ChatGPT UI)
- Your CRM: Pipedrive, HubSpot, or custom
Under the hood no black box. Everything is explainable and portable to another party if you ever want that.
What does it cost?
Setup varies. Roughly:
- Basic WhatsApp flow + AI summary: 1 week of work
- Extended routing + CRM integration: 2–3 weeks
- Recurring cost: ~€30–80 per month for tools + WhatsApp API traffic
Usually you earn that back within 2–3 months on one extra job won.
Want something like this for your own business?
In the growth scan we look at whether this makes sense for you, and roughly what it costs.
A short warning
AI follow-up only makes sense if the process behind it holds up. If you then do not call back for 2 days, the 30-second confirmation is worthless — you just shift the disappointment 30 seconds.
Fix the process first, automate after. Never the other way round.