The Future of Lead Qualification is Conversational AI

AI is far from science fiction nowadays and rapidly becoming a commonplace standard feature of many workplaces. Conversational AI is proving to deliver increased efficiency and boosts productivity across multiple sectors. The issue is that while AI is competent on the operational side of the business, what about the human side?

People do business with people. That’s the old adage. So how does AI fit into that? This is where the latest evolution comes into play—Conversational AI.

Conversational AI has the ability to interact with leads on a personal level with a level of nuance previously only achieved by humans. This means that businesses aren’t so heavily reliant on a manual process of lead qualification. Instead, they can use a streamlined process that is completely led by AI. This truly is the future of lead qualification.

In this article, we take a closer look at: 

• How conversational AI is transforming lead qualification
• The benefits of AI lead qualification
• The impact of of ai-driven lead qualification on business

Conversational AI and Lead Qualification

Conversational AI comes from the marriage of sophisticated machine learning and natural human language models. The language models aim to mimic human language and create interactions that feel personal and humanized. Chatbots regurgitate responses held within a database. Conversational AI becomes part of a two-way conversation. Bringing automated lead qualification a step closer to genuine human intuition.

Traditional lead qualification methods rely on humans. Specifically sales agents. They spend hours of their working week asking repetitive questions in a painstaking process. Often that process resolves with little to no engagement from the lead. Frankly, a lot of the time, it can be a waste of time.

It is, however, a necessary and important part of the sales process. Without qualification, there’s no guarantee that this lead is even considering working with your business. There’s no sales team on the planet that would reject an automated version of this process. Especially one where the customer feels that they’re having a genuine conversation.

Imagine a lead has shown interest in a particular product. Normally they’d have to wait for a human sales representative to respond. Not with a conversational AI such as Structurely. The conversational AI navigates the conversation by referring to pre-set scripts, the responses that the lead gives, and the behavior that it learns from the conversations.

The lead is qualified at the moment that they show interest. Creating a far greater chance of conversion and a better user experience. Plus, the AI adds to its learning. Each conversation adds layers of optimization. Thus making for a lead qualification process that is increasingly precise.

The Case for AI Lead Qualification

 Many businesses are trying various methods of digital marketing to garner as many leads as they can. They might invest in SEO, email marketing, PPC, or content marketing. Whatever they choose to do, there’s the chance that they’ll face a surge of leads.

Imagine you run a real estate business. You launch a PPC campaign and create success. To the point where you’re experiencing 70% more marketing leads than you were before. That’s cause for celebration, but how do you handle this surge and stop it from becoming a nightmare?

The answer is to use AI for lead qualification. Do so, and you’ll achieve:

• Efficiency and speed: Manual lead qualification is as personal as it gets, but it takes a whole lot of time. It takes time for a salesperson to get to the lead, especially if it comes in outside of working hours. AI lead qualification is there instantly, 24/7.
• Scalability: In the scenario presented above, it’d be easy to get overwhelmed and let opportunities slip away. AI lead qualification responds to every lead no matter how many appear.
• Resource allocation: Lead qualification takes up hours of manpower, especially if leads need to be called or emailed. When the process becomes automated, all of those hours are regained for other pressing tasks.
• Consistency: If you’re working in a large team, humans are naturally different from one another. That means one lead might receive a completely different qualification process than another. AI ensures that all leads are qualified in the same way, with the data processed and stored in a standardized, streamlined style.

Sending the initial automation is a great first step. It’s what follows, the conversation, that matters. This is where conversational AI takes center stage. You could hold that conversation by email, but often early, stage qualification can take place through text message. Texts have astonishingly high open rates (up to 98%), and often people respond in less than 2 minutes. Combine this with conversational AI, and you’ve got a rapid, scalable, efficient lead qualification system. 

The Tangible Impact of AI-Driven Lead Qualification

Of course, this all sounds great in theory, but what are some of the outcomes that your business will achieve should you put the systems in place? Those who already have implemented conversational lead qualification have found:

• Higher Engagement Rates: Delivering instant responses means engagement happens right as the lead shows interest. These leads are less likely to move on to a competitor if they’re already locked in conversation. 
• Decreased Operational Costs: AI-driven lead qualification means fewer human hours of manual input. That, in turn, has the opportunity for huge cost reductions.
• Data-Driven Insights: Every conversation holds valuable data. The AI system understands that data and instantly delivers insights on it. This not only leads to a more streamlined AI model but also informs business decisions.

Key Takeaways

Conversational AI isn’t going to be just a passing trend. It’s going to revolutionize how businesses qualify sales leads and talk with their prospects and customers. Manual and time-consuming processes have their number marked. Soon we’ll be in a world of efficient, AI-powered businesses.

• Conversational AI blends the human side of lead qualification with the efficiency of machine models.
• Businesses using AI lead qualification dramatically scale their output.
• AI lead qualification frees up time for human salespeople to focus on more pressing tasks.

Need to know more about AI-powered lead qualification before getting started? Get in touch with our team learn how Structurely can help your sales team reach unprecedented new heights.