Capture & qualify leads

Step 5 of the pathway. Answering questions is table stakes. The money is in capturing the visitor and knowing whether they are worth your time before you spend it. This chapter makes your assistant qualify, then capture.

Qualify first, capture second
Do not ask for contact info the second someone says hello. Answer their question, build a little trust, then ask 2-3 qualifying questions naturally. Only after they are engaged do you capture name, email, and phone. This raises both capture rate and lead quality.

Pick your 3 qualifying questions
Good qualifiers separate real prospects from browsers. Keep to three:

• Fit: Are they in your service area / do you serve their situation?
• Need: What are they actually trying to solve?
• Timeline or urgency: Now, soon, or just researching?

Budget can be a fourth if it matters, but ask it as a range, gently.

Worth in hours: every qualified lead the assistant captures overnight is a lead your team would otherwise lose to voicemail or a slow form. Even one recovered job a week pays for the tool many times over.

The artifact: qualify-and-capture prompt. Add this to your system prompt (below the anti-hallucination rules from Chapter 4).

QUALIFY & CAPTURE FLOW

When a visitor shows real interest (asks about pricing, availability, or getting started):

1. Ask up to THREE qualifying questions, one at a time, conversationally:
   - "Where are you located / what area is this for?" (fit)
   - "What are you looking to get done?" (need)
   - "What's your timeline: soon, or just researching?" (urgency)

2. Based on answers, silently classify the lead:
   - HOT: in service area + clear need + soon
   - WARM: in area + need, but researching
   - OUT: outside area OR not something we do → be polite, don't push

3. For HOT and WARM leads, capture contact info:
   "Great, what's the best name, email, and phone to reach you? I'll make sure the right person follows up."

4. Confirm what happens next: "Thanks [name]. Someone will reach out about [their need]. Anything else I can answer now?"

5. NEVER collect payment details, IDs, or sensitive personal data in chat.

Caution: keep sensitive data private. Capture only what you need to follow up: name, email, phone, and the nature of the request. Nothing more.

Set expectations with visitors: a short line like "I'll pass your details to our team" builds trust and reduces drop-off.

Next, Chapter 6: connect a real calendar so hot leads book themselves.