Client
An insurance provider receiving hundreds of inbound inquiries every week through web forms, contact pages, email, and paid media campaigns. Its sales and service teams handled product inquiries and quote requests, but growing demand made it increasingly difficult to respond promptly and identify prospects ready for a sales conversation.
Challenges
Marketing campaigns were generating a growing volume of inquiries, while the sales team still reviewed and qualified leads manually. Responses could take hours or days, and experienced representatives spent time filtering inquiries before they could focus on relevant sales opportunities.
The information collected through lead forms was often insufficient to assess insurance needs or buying intent. CRM records were updated manually and inconsistently, leaving representatives without clear qualification notes when following up. Manual handoffs between teams added further delays.
The provider needed a way to:
- respond quickly to incoming inquiries;
- understand insurance needs through targeted questions;
- qualify leads against its own business criteria;
- prioritize prospects ready for a sales conversation;
- coordinate scheduling and handoffs;
- keep CRM records complete without manual data entry.
Solution
We built and integrated a Conversational Voice AI Agent to manage the first stages of lead engagement and qualification. When a prospect calls or requests a callback, the agent conducts a two-way conversation, asks relevant questions, and uses the responses to assess intent and determine the next step.
The solution connects qualification with routing, scheduling, and CRM updates. Sales representatives receive the prospect’s responses, qualification notes, and conversation transcript before continuing the discussion.
The agent can:
- conduct phone conversations and handle inquiries through web chat and SMS;
- ask targeted questions about insurance needs and product interest;
- assess urgency, location, and engagement against qualification criteria;
- score and prioritize leads for follow-up;
- route qualified prospects to available sales representatives;
- schedule meetings and manage follow-ups;
- attach transcripts and qualification notes to CRM records.
How We Delivered
Conversation Testing and Refinement
We tested multiple conversation flows to refine the agent’s questions, tone, and responses. The work focused on making qualification clear and easy to follow while collecting the information required by the business. Voice interactions were adapted to spoken language, including pauses and changes during a response.
Insurance-Specific Qualification Rules
We worked with sales and operations leaders to define what qualified a lead for their business. We translated the provider’s criteria into rules covering factors such as urgency, location, income range, and product interest. These rules gave the agent a consistent basis for assessing inquiries and deciding which prospects should reach sales.
Handoff Thresholds for Sales
We configured qualification thresholds to control when a lead was passed to a representative. The agent evaluates responses and engagement signals against the agreed criteria before initiating a handoff. This reduces the amount of initial filtering required from the sales team and keeps its attention on prospects ready for further discussion.
CRM and Scheduling Integrations
We connected conversation channels, the CRM, scheduling tools, and internal dashboards to support real-time data exchange. Transcripts, qualification notes, and lead scores are recorded against the relevant lead. Representatives can review the information before follow-up, while scheduling and handoffs remain connected to the same workflow.
Results
Within six months of launch, the agent was managing most inbound lead conversations from first contact through qualification. Sales representatives received more qualified opportunities with recorded responses and up-to-date CRM information, reducing the time they spent on initial filtering.
2× more qualified leads passed to sales
The number of qualified prospects reaching the sales team doubled, giving representatives more relevant opportunities to follow up.
80% of inbound lead conversations handled by AI
The agent managed first contact and qualification without human involvement in most inbound conversations, reducing routine work for the team.
Average response time under 60 seconds
Response time fell from several hours to less than a minute, allowing qualification to begin much sooner after an inquiry.
100% CRM coverage
Every AI-handled conversation was logged, scored, and synchronized with the CRM. Representatives could access transcripts and qualification notes when preparing for the next conversation.
