On this page
Your bot talks to every lead the way a good salesperson would: it keeps the conversation going, asks everything you want to know, says what is good about your business, and does not close the door on someone because of one answer. If you would rather it politely stopped once a lead clearly does not fit, you can choose that too. What it cannot know is how far your business bends. A tour operator who will never run a two-night trip and one who happily will are different businesses, and no template can tell which you are.
So setup asks you. This page lists the choices, what each one does to a real conversation, and how people in different industries tend to answer.
The choices you make
| # | Choice | Where you make it | If you have not chosen yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | For each rule: is it Hard or Negotiable? | Quick start, the Your rules step, and Rules under Business setup | The rule counts as negotiable |
| 2 | How many hard rules must a lead miss before it is marked Lost? Asked only with two or more hard rules | The same place, under the rules | Nobody is marked Lost |
| 3 | When a lead misses that many, does the conversation end, or does the bot keep talking? | The same place, under the threshold | The bot keeps talking |
Two more things are settled in the same step, because they too are yours to confirm:
- The number on each rule's card. You read it where you choose Hard or Negotiable, and choosing is what confirms it. Until then the bot does not say the number to a lead; it says there is a limit here. A money rule in a currency other than the template's starts blank and off ("What's your minimum? Leave blank for none"), so nothing in the wrong currency is ever quoted.
- Your emergency message, on the Medical and Home safety profiles (clinics, HVAC and home services start there), with a "Use this message for emergencies" tick on the same step. It is sent word for word when a lead writes something that sounds like an emergency, and the right number to call depends on where you are, which no template knows. Change the text and the tick has to be given again.
Four more choices are asked later, on your bot's to-do, because the bot already does something sensible without them and nothing needs them to go live:
| # | Choice | Where you make it | If you have not chosen yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | How hard should the bot sell? Helpful, never pushy, Like a good salesperson or Works hard to close | Business setup, Selling, or the card on your bot's to-do | The bot sells like a good salesperson |
| 5 | For each negotiable rule: what may it offer when a lead misses it, or only a check with the team | The rule's card on Rules, under When a lead misses this, or the card on your bot's to-do | It offers nothing and promises a check with your team |
| 6 | Show leads the options that fit in the chat, and which fields they may see | Matching, or the card on your bot's to-do | The bot closes the chat and your team takes it from there |
| 7 | Let the bot book calls: what the call is, who takes it, and their hours | Next step, or the card on your bot's to-do | The team gets in touch with each ready lead |
Choice 4 is explained in How your bot sells, choice 5 in What your bot may offer, choice 6 in Showing options to leads, and choice 7 in Your next step (below). Booking never holds setup up: it is offered after three real leads have qualified, or when you ask for it.
Quick start does not move on until you have made these choices. The page shows each missing one in red with a line under it. Choice 3 appears once at least one rule is Hard, and choice 2 once two are. With exactly one Hard rule there is no number to choose: a lead that misses it is turned away, and the page says so. That is on purpose: these are the decisions about what reaches your team, what does not, and what a lead who does not fit is told, and we would rather you made them than guessed on your behalf.
If you skip them anyway, nothing is lost. An undecided rule is treated as negotiable, an undecided number is never said to a lead, an undecided threshold marks nobody Lost, and an undecided third choice reads as keep talking, so every lead reaches your team and nobody is sent away. You just get more leads to look at than you need to.
Hard or negotiable
A hard rule is something your business will not do. A negotiable rule is something you would rather have but will discuss. The bot behaves differently on each:
| Hard | Negotiable | |
|---|---|---|
| What the bot says | States the limit, then asks once whether the lead can meet it ("Could three nights work for you?") | States the limit, asks whether the lead is flexible, and if they are not, offers what you allowed, one thing at a time, then says the team will check whether something can be arranged |
| What it promises | Nothing. No exception, no offer, no check | Only what you wrote, and a check by your team. Never a price or a percentage you did not write |
| Does it keep going? | Yes, and asks every remaining question (unless the lead has now missed enough hard rules and you chose to end the conversation, below) | Yes, and asks every remaining question |
| What it counts for | Towards the number that marks a lead Lost | A reason your team looks at the lead |
The same rule can be hard for one business and negotiable for another. Here is how it tends to go in four industries.
| Industry | Usually hard | Usually negotiable |
|---|---|---|
| Travel | Fewer nights than your shortest trip. A region you do not run | A budget a little under your floor: it may fit a shorter or simpler trip |
| Recruitment | A role or skill area you do not recruit for | A salary budget a little under your floor: the role can often be reshaped |
| Real estate | A locality you do not cover. A property type you do not list | A budget under your cheapest listing: other options may fit |
| Clinics | A site you do not have. A specialty you do not offer | A price under your first-visit fee: there may be a cheaper route in |
The pattern: a limit of what you can do is usually hard, and a limit of what the lead wants to spend is usually negotiable. It is a pattern, not a rule. A boutique that never discounts can mark its budget floor hard.
What a negotiable rule can offer
Here is what the offers on a negotiable rule tend to look like in the same four industries. They are examples to adapt, not settings someone chose for you, and your template's suggestions arrive switched off.
| Industry | When the budget is under your floor, the bot might offer |
|---|---|
| Travel | A shorter itinerary. Simpler stays. A group rate, for a party of six or more, that the team confirms |
| Recruitment | A less senior profile. A temp-to-hire start. Terms for several roles together |
| Real estate | A nearby locality. A smaller place. Less furnishing |
| Clinics | A video or phone appointment. A General Practice first step. A talk through the ways to pay |
If you offer nothing, that is a fine answer too: choose Only promise a check with the team and the bot says so honestly and hands the lead to your team.
Why the template does not decide
Each template does suggest. Under every rule you will see a line such as "Most tour operators treat a budget floor as negotiable: a lead a little under it is often worth a conversation." It is advice and nothing more: nothing is selected for you.
We built it this way because the template cannot know your business. If it chose, a rule you never looked at could be turning away leads you would have been glad to win, and you would find out when they had gone. Choosing takes a minute per rule and puts the decision with the person who pays for it.
The threshold
The second choice is a number: mark a lead Lost when it misses at least N of your hard rules. It appears once you have two or more hard rules, and it can be as high as the number of hard rules you have. With exactly one Hard rule there is no number to choose, since a lead can only miss that one: the page says "A lead that misses this rule is turned away", and the question returns on its own when you mark a second rule Hard.
A hard rule counts as missed only when the lead's answer is in and fails it. A question not yet answered, or one the lead would rather not answer, is never a miss. So the threshold can be reached in the middle of the conversation, and the lead is marked Lost at that moment.
Here is what it does with three hard rules. Each cell is what happens to a lead that missed the number of hard rules in the left column, and nothing else. Not a fit means the lead is marked Lost; what the lead is told is your third choice, next.
| Hard rules the lead missed | Threshold 1 | Threshold 2 | Threshold 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified |
| 1 | Not a fit | Held for your team | Held for your team |
| 2 | Not a fit | Not a fit | Held for your team |
| 3 | Not a fit | Not a fit | Not a fit |
A lead that misses only negotiable rules is always held for your team and never marked Lost.
Which number? A threshold of 1 means any single hard miss ends it, which suits a business where every hard rule is truly a deal-breaker. A higher number gives leads a second chance: a traveller who wants two nights and a region you do not run is a poorer fit than one who only wants two nights. A threshold of 2 is a common place to start; adjust it once real leads show you what is getting through.
When a lead misses enough: end, or keep talking
The threshold decides only whether a lead is marked Lost. Your third choice decides only whether the conversation goes on. Together they give four cases:
| Threshold not reached | Threshold reached | |
|---|---|---|
| End the conversation politely | The conversation goes on to the end. The lead is qualified or held for your team | On that very turn, even mid-conversation, the lead is thanked, told kindly that you cannot help this time, and marked Lost. The bot stops |
| Keep talking | The same: the conversation goes on to the end | The lead is marked Lost at once, but the bot carries on: it never says no, asks the questions still open, answers what they ask, and closes warmly. Your team sees a note in the thread: "Marked Lost — the bot kept talking (your setting)" |
When the bot keeps talking, a better answer can undo it. If a lead changes a hard answer so that they now pass ("actually, three nights works"), the lead is reopened and the verdict is worked out again at the end. A lead who is still Lost stays Lost, and the bot never promises them a yes. Follow-up nudges are not sent to a lead who is Lost.
Pick end if a quick, kind no saves your time and theirs. Pick keep talking if you would rather every lead leaves with a good experience and you might win some back.
What a lead hears
The lead is never told they do not qualify, and never given a flat "no" in the middle of the conversation. They hear this:
| When | What the bot says |
|---|---|
| During the conversation, on a rule they missed | The limit in plain words ("Our trips start from 400 per person"), and a question about flexibility. Which question depends on hard or negotiable (above) |
| At the end, a qualified lead | The bot's closing: it thanks them and says the team will look at what they shared and come back to them. It names no time and asks nothing |
| At the end, a lead held for your team | The same closing. The team then checks the open points, which a negotiable miss may include |
| At the end, a qualified lead, when booking is on | A short closing that leads into times: a few real times, in your time zone, to tap (below). It does not say when your team will be in touch |
| A lead that is not a fit, if you chose end | At once, on the turn the threshold is reached: a warm thank-you, then the message you wrote on the first hard rule they missed, written to leave the door open |
| A lead that is not a fit, if you chose keep talking | Nothing about it. The conversation carries on with the remaining questions and ends with a short thank-you that says everything is noted and passed on to your team. It never promises that anyone will contact them or reply |
Whichever you chose, the lead is asked the questions in the order that suits the conversation, optional ones included, and you keep every word of what they said. No rule stops a conversation early except the one you chose to end. Everyone else is asked what is still open before the verdict is worked out. A question a lead keeps not answering, or a goodbye, lets the bot go on without it (how).
The bot states the limit's number when Tell the lead this limit is on for the rule (it is on by default), you have confirmed the number on the rule's card, and Safe mode is off. In any other case it says only that the answer is a little outside what you usually do. Turn the switch off on a rule if you would rather the bot never named its number.
Not a fit, and Reconsider
A lead that is not a fit is marked Lost quietly. It does not appear under Needs you, it does not raise an alert, it gets no reminders and no matching. It does appear in your leads list under the Not a fit filter, with its reason and every answer it gave.
Nothing is lost. If you open one and think "actually, I would talk to them", press Reconsider on the lead page. Owners and admins see it. The lead reopens as one for your team to decide on, with its matches, and nothing is sent to the lead: the bot stays paused until you reply or accept them.
If you find you are pressing Reconsider often, one of your hard rules is probably negotiable. Change it on the Rules page and the next lead is treated differently.
If the lead writes again. After you chose end, a message within the quiet gap (24 hours by default; the setting is Welcome a lead back after (hours) in Settings) gets one short reply, "Thanks, I've passed that on", and nothing is raised to your team. After the gap the bot welcomes them back and asks whether they want to pick the same enquiry up or have something new in mind (how).
How hard the bot sells
The bot sells with no choice made. This one sets how much: Helpful, never pushy offers one alternative and says one selling point, Like a good salesperson offers up to two and says two, and Works hard to close uses every offer that applies, says three, and asks for the next step again after an objection it has answered. It changes tone and how often the bot asks, never your facts, your offers or what it will never do. People tend to choose it like this:
| Industry | Usually | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Clinics, tutoring | Helpful, never pushy | A patient or a parent should never feel hurried |
| Travel, recruitment, real estate, home services, HVAC, restaurants, creative and casting agencies | Like a good salesperson | A friendly nudge helps people take the next step, and nobody should feel pressed |
It is a pattern, not a rule: your template shows its own suggestion under the cards. (More on selling.)
The next step becomes a booking
Without booking, the next step is small: when the intake ends the closing tells the lead the team will look at what they shared and come back to them. It is a handover, and your team does the rest by hand. The closing asks nothing, and the bot is quiet from then on: a lead who writes again hears "the team has your message", at most once a day. (The bot asks "Shall I pass this to the team so they can put together what fits you?" only earlier, of a lead who says they are ready to go ahead, how.)
With booking on, a lead who qualifies is offered real times instead. The closing leads on to a few free times from your team's diaries, the lead taps one, and the call is in the diary with the person who takes it emailed. Nothing about your rules changes: a lead who is turned away, or held for your team, is never offered times, and nor is one who is upset, complaining, asking for a person or reporting an emergency (the full list). Your team can still book such a lead by hand from the booking card.
How hard the bot sells decides how often it asks, never what it books. A tap on a time is a yes to the next step, and "no, thanks" is final, as it is for any next step: the bot accepts it warmly and your team follows up.
Your template suggests the call, and nothing is applied until you say Yes:
| Industry | Usually offered |
|---|---|
| Recruitment, tech recruiting | A 20-minute screening call, by phone |
| Real estate | A 45-minute viewing, in person |
| Clinics | A 30-minute appointment, in person |
| Travel | A 30-minute planning call, by video |
| Home services, HVAC | A 30-minute site visit, at the lead's address |
| Creative talent, influencer marketing, modeling and casting | A 20-minute intro call, by video |
| Tutoring | A 30-minute trial lesson, by video |
| Restaurants | None: the table is the product, so the team gets in touch |
Try it
The fastest way to see all of this is the playground. Play a lead who misses one rule, then one who misses two, and read what comes back. The side panel shows the verdict as it would stand if the lead stopped there.
The rules themselves, and how a conversation is judged, are in Qualification rules.