Find out who you can help, and who should talk to them next, without turning the chat into a form.
Qualifying a lead over chat is a conversation, not a questionnaire. inChat is being built so the answers people give in WhatsApp and SMS end up as fields on the record, and the handoff to the right person happens with context attached.
inChat is in early access. Features shown are in development.
- 1Agree on three to five questions
- 2Answer first, then ask
- 3Record answers as fields, not memory
- 4Decide the outcome explicitly
- 5Hand off with a note and a new owner
The answers are in the thread, but nobody can find them later
Most teams already ask qualifying questions. The trouble is what happens to the answers. They stay buried in a chat on one person’s phone, so the person who takes the next step asks the same questions again, and the customer wonders whether anyone was listening.
- 01
Everyone asks different questions
One person asks about budget in the first message; another never asks about timeline at all. Without a shared list, you can’t compare leads or decide consistently who gets a call.
- 02
Answers don’t become data
The customer said “we need it before September” and “two of us are applying.” That lives in message 14 of a WhatsApp thread, not in a field you can filter, so nobody can see which leads are urgent.
- 03
The handoff loses the context
When intake passes a lead to the person who quotes, consults or closes, it happens by forwarding screenshots or a hallway summary. The next person starts from zero.
A chat qualification process in five steps
Here’s how to structure qualification so it feels like help to the customer and produces clean records for your team. The AI side of this, suggesting answers from message content, is covered on the AI lead qualification page; this page is about the process your team runs.
Agree on three to five questions
Write down what you actually need to know before the next step: what they need, when, where, and whether they’re the decision-maker. Skip anything you can learn later. Our lead qualification question templates are a starting point.
Answer first, then ask
Respond to what the customer asked before you ask anything. Then ask one or two questions per message, in plain language. People answer short questions in chat; they ignore lists.
Record answers as fields, not memory
Each qualifying question maps to a custom field on the contact or deal: service type, timeline, location, decision-maker. Fill them in as answers arrive. The AI assistant (in development) can suggest field values from the thread for a person to confirm.
Decide the outcome explicitly
Mark the lead as qualified, not a fit, or needs more info. If it’s not a fit, say so kindly and, where you can, point them somewhere useful. A clear no is better than a slow one.
Hand off with a note and a new owner
Reassign the conversation to the person who takes the next step and leave an internal note summarizing what you learned. The customer keeps the same thread; the new owner sees everything above the note.
Intake at a small immigration law office
Lucía asked three short questions, recorded the answers as fields, and handed off with a note. The consult team booked the meeting without asking Tomasz anything twice.
Fictional business and sample messages.
The parts of inChat that matter here.
Custom fields for your questions
Turn each qualifying question into a field you can fill, filter and report on.
Set up custom fieldsLead stages and status
Move a lead from qualifying to qualified or not a fit, so the list of open leads stays honest.
See lead managementSuggested answers from the thread
An assistant that proposes qualification fields from message content for a person to confirm (in development, concept stage).
Read about AI lead qualificationNotes and reassignment for handoffs
Leave an internal note and reassign the thread in the same place the customer is talking.
How handoffs work- Qualification in chat is about routing the inquiry, not giving advice. Regulated professions (legal, financial, health) should decide in advance what intake staff may and may not say in writing.
- Custom fields, lead stages and notes are in development as launch scope. AI lead qualification is an in-development concept: it suggests, a person confirms, and it does not score leads on its own.
- Don’t ask for sensitive personal details in chat unless you have a reason and a policy for storing them.
Lead qualification: your questions.
What inChat is designed to do for lead qualification, and what’s still being decided.
Ask us something elseNo. This page describes the process your team runs. The AI lead qualification feature, an in-development concept, would suggest field values and a qualification status from what the customer wrote, and a person confirms or edits each suggestion.
Frameworks are useful as a checklist, but in chat, keep it to the few questions that decide your next step. For many service businesses that’s need, timing, location and who decides. See the BANT glossary entry if you want the background.
Not as an autonomous score. The plan is for the assistant to suggest a qualification based on message content and for a person to confirm it. You decide the criteria.
Answer what they asked, ask one question at a time, and explain why you’re asking (“so I book the right type of meeting”). If they still don’t answer, mark the lead as needs more info and set a follow-up rather than guessing.
It’s in development and offered through early access. Pricing isn’t published yet.
Other ways teams use inChat.
Lead response
Answer new inquiries while they’re still warm, including after hours.
ExploreSales follow-up
Follow up over SMS and WhatsApp, and stop the moment the customer replies.
ExploreChat to deal
Turn a conversation into a deal with fields and stages, without copy-paste.
ExploreCustomer communication
Reminders, updates and service questions after the sale, in one history.
ExploreMake every conversation count.
Join the early-access list to see inChat in action, help shape what we build next, and be first to know when your team can start.
- A walkthrough built around your channels
- Early look at pricing and plans
- A direct line to the product team