Lead Capture That Converts: Replacing Forms With Conversations

Traditional contact forms convert ~5–10% of visitors and leave the rest bouncing. Conversational capture flips the script: a friendly, guided chat qualifies the visitor, collects the right details, and books the next step—often lifting conversions toward ~80% when done well.

Why conversations beat forms

• Guided, not guessed. Instead of a wall of fields, the agent asks one clear question at a time and adapts as it learns more about the visitor’s intent. In Andy, behavior instructions and tone controls make these nudges feel on-brand, not robotic.
• Real-time qualification. Capture contact info, detect keywords, and auto-score interest so your team sees who is ready now. Andy’s lead-capture toggles and keyword rules are built in.
• Instant handoff. When a visitor is warm, offer a calendar link or trigger an email/SMS workflow—no manual triage. Andy’s flows are designed for handoffs and notifications out of the box.
• Everywhere your users are. Run the same capture flow on Web, WhatsApp, Slack, and Telegram and route it into a single leads view.
• Ops visibility and trust. You get audit logs, rate limits, and observability so marketing and engineering can ship confidently.

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The 30-minute playbook to replace your form

Goal: guide, qualify, and book in one conversation—then send context to your CRM or inbox.

1) Define the conversation outcome

Pick one: book a demo, collect a brief, or start support. Keep the conversation focused on that outcome; you can branch later for nuance. (Tip: use a short, human welcome + one high-intent question.)

2) Set behavior & tone

Inside Andy, write a straightforward system instruction and pick a tone preset (friendly, concise, outcome-focused). Add 2–3 “must-ask” questions the agent should sequence before offering the next step.

Starter behavior snippet

You are a concise, helpful assistant for {Company}. Goal: qualify leads and book a call.
Ask only one question at a time. If the user is qualified, offer the calendar link.
Always confirm email before handing off.

3) Turn on smart capture & scoring

• Toggle Smart Capture and choose the fields you need (name, email, company).
• Add qualification keywords (e.g., “pilot”, “integration”, “annual contract”) and map them to Interest: High/Medium/Low.
• Enable email or Slack notifications for High interest leads.

4) Plug in knowledge for accurate answers

Upload your pricing FAQ, one-pager, and onboarding steps so the agent can answer confidently during the capture flow. Track training status to ensure embeddings complete before launch.

5) Add your calendar handoff

Paste a booking link (“Book 15 min”) that only appears after qualification (“Looks like a fit—want to pick a time?”). Keep it optional; some users prefer email.

6) Embed in 60 seconds

Drop the HTML/React snippet on your site and allow your domain in settings. You can ship the first version in under a minute.

<script>
	ANDY_CHATBOT_ID = 'your-chatbot-id'
</script>
<script async src="https://unpkg.com/@andesphereai/vanilla@latest/dist/bundle.js" defer></script>

Or install the React/Next.js component if you’re on App Router.

7) Measure and iterate

Use the Leads workspace to sort by status and interest, jump into conversations, and spot drop-off (where users stop). Tune your first two questions and the handoff message weekly.

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Copy you can paste today (3 flows)

A) B2B SaaS demo booking

1. Agent: “Welcome! In 10 seconds I’ll see if we’re a fit. What are you trying to solve?”
2. User answer
3. Agent: “Got it. What tools do you use today?”
4. Agent: “What timeline are you considering?”
5. Agent (if High/Medium): “Sounds like a fit. Want to grab 15 min to see it live?” [Book a time]
6. Agent: “What’s your best email so I can send the invite?”

B) Ecommerce / retail inquiry

1. “Shopping for yourself or for a gift?”
2. “When do you need it delivered?”
3. “Mind sharing your email so I can send options and a discount?”

C) Services (agencies/consultants)

1. “Quick brief: what outcome are you after?”
2. “Rough budget range so I point you right?”
3. “Best email to send a 2-option proposal in 24 hours?”

Keep questions short, avoid jargon, and always confirm contact details before handoff.

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What “good” looks like (simple scorecard)

• Time to first reply: < 2s on web; instant on WhatsApp.
• Lead capture rate: target +30–80% vs your old form (track weekly).
• Qualified ratio (H/M/L): > 40% Medium+ after 2 weeks of tuning.
• Booked meetings from chat: 10–30% of High interest.
• Ops signals: no rate-limit errors, clean audit logs, safe domain allowlist.

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Shipping with confidence (security & observability)

Andy ships with domain allowlists, rate limiting, row-level security, and mandatory activity logs so you can run capture on production without guessing. If something goes off-script, you have the trail.

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FAQs

Will chat slow down my site? The embed is lightweight and loads asynchronously. You can defer it below-the-fold if needed.

Can I localize the conversation? Yes—Andy supports EN/ES from day one so you can greet visitors in their language.

What if I still need a form? Keep a minimal form for edge cases, but route most traffic into the agent. You’ll get richer context and fewer drop-offs.

How do I keep the voice on-brand? Use the behavior editor + tone presets and mirror your founder voice—direct, human, and concise.

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Next steps

1. Turn on Smart Capture and add three qualification keywords.
2. Paste your calendar link for qualified handoffs.
3. Embed on your site—ship in 60 seconds—and iterate weekly with the Leads dashboard.

Ready to try it? Spin up an agent and replace your form today.