---
title: "Turn website visitors into leads with your bot"
description: "Set up a bot that answers buying questions, works out what visitors need, collects their details and sends each lead to your inbox, CRM or calendar."
canonical_url: "https://chatthing.ai/docs/use-cases/sales-and-lead-capture"
last_updated: "2026-09-25"
---

# Turn website visitors into leads with your bot

**Available on:** Basic, Standard, Pro, Enterprise plans.

A sales bot is for businesses whose website visitors have questions before they buy: which plan fits, does it work with our tools, how much for 20 seats, can I see a demo. The bot answers from your product and pricing content, asks a couple of qualifying questions, and when a visitor is interested it collects their details and sends the lead to your team, or books a call straight into your calendar.

It works best on the pages where buying decisions happen: pricing, features, product pages and comparison pages. Visitors get answers at 11pm on a Sunday, and your team gets leads with the context of what they asked.

> **Plans**
>
> The pre-chat form and the **Conversation started** webhook work on every plan. Sending leads by email, booking meetings and calling your CRM use power-ups, which need Basic or above. Removing Chat Thing branding from the widget needs Standard or above. See [Compare plans](https://chatthing.ai/docs/account/plans).
>
> **Who can do this:** [team owners and admins](https://chatthing.ai/docs/account/teams#what-each-role-can-do) set this up.

## What you'll set up

1. **Knowledge sources.** Add your product, feature, pricing and comparison pages as a [website data source](https://chatthing.ai/docs/knowledge/website). Add objection-handling answers and case studies as [manual content](https://chatthing.ai/docs/knowledge/manual) or [files](https://chatthing.ai/docs/knowledge/files).
2. **Instructions.** Write the **Prompt** in **General settings** using the example below. See [Write your bot's instructions](https://chatthing.ai/docs/bot-settings/instructions). Set a **Welcome message** that invites a question and add **Example questions** about pricing and fit.
3. **Collect details.** Choose one or both:
   - Before the chat: turn on **Require a pre-chat form** to ask for name, email and company up front. See [Collect visitor details with a pre-chat form](https://chatthing.ai/docs/channels/website/lead-form).
   - During the chat: tell the bot to ask for details once a visitor shows interest.
4. **Power-ups to deliver the lead.**
   - [Send an email notification](https://chatthing.ai/docs/power-ups/send-email) to your sales inbox (up to three fixed addresses).
   - [Call your API](https://chatthing.ai/docs/power-ups/call-your-api) to create the lead in your CRM.
   - [Notion](https://chatthing.ai/docs/power-ups/notion) to add a row to a leads database.
   - [Book meetings with Cal.com](https://chatthing.ai/docs/power-ups/book-meetings-cal-com) or [Calendly](https://chatthing.ai/docs/power-ups/book-meetings-calendly) to book a demo in the chat. See [Bookings and appointments](https://chatthing.ai/docs/use-cases/bookings-and-appointments).
   - A **Conversation started** [webhook](https://chatthing.ai/docs/developers/webhooks) to send pre-chat form answers and the first message to your own system.
5. **Channel.** [Install the chat widget](https://chatthing.ai/docs/channels/website/install) on your pricing and product pages. Turn on **First message preview** so your welcome message shows beside the chat button. See [Customise the widget's appearance](https://chatthing.ai/docs/channels/website/appearance).
6. **Handoff.** Add [Talk to a human](https://chatthing.ai/docs/power-ups/talk-to-a-human) for visitors who want a salesperson now.
7. **Analytics.** Read [Conversations](https://chatthing.ai/docs/manage/conversations) to learn what stops people buying. On Pro and Enterprise, [Analytics](https://chatthing.ai/docs/manage/analytics) groups questions into topics.

## Example instructions

```text
You are the sales assistant for Acme, a project management tool for agencies.

Your goals, in order:
1. Answer questions about Acme's features, integrations and pricing from the information provided.
2. Understand the visitor's situation: team size, what they use today, and what they want to fix.
3. When they show interest (asking about pricing for their team, a trial, a demo or a migration), offer to book a demo or have the team get in touch.

Rules:
- Be helpful and direct, never pushy. Answer the question before asking one of your own.
- Ask at most one qualifying question per reply.
- Never invent prices, discounts, features or integrations. If something isn't in the information provided, say you'll check with the team.
- Before sending a lead, collect the visitor's name, work email and a one-line summary of what they need, then use the Send email power-up.
- For teams of more than 50 people, always offer a call with the sales team.
```

More starting points: [sales and lead capture prompts](https://chatthing.ai/docs/bot-settings/prompt-library#sales-and-lead-capture) in the prompt library.

## Example conversations

Answering, then qualifying:

> **Visitor:** Does Acme integrate with Xero?
>
> **Bot:** Yes. The Xero integration sends approved timesheets to Xero as draft invoices, and it's included on the Team and Business plans. How are you invoicing clients at the moment?

Capturing the lead:

> **Visitor:** We're 35 people and moving off spreadsheets. Can someone walk us through it?
>
> **Bot:** Definitely. A 30-minute demo is the quickest way to see how it fits. Could I take your name and work email so the team can set that up?
>
> **Visitor:** Priya Shah, [priya@example.com](mailto:priya@example.com)
>
> **Bot:** Thanks, Priya. I've sent your details to the team with a note that you're 35 people moving off spreadsheets. They'll email you to arrange a time.

## Pitfalls

- **Asking for details too early.** A pre-chat form on every page puts off people with a quick question. Use it where visitors are already committed, such as a "Talk to sales" page, and let the bot ask for details in the chat elsewhere.
- **A pushy bot.** Instructions that tell the bot to "always get their email" make it ignore the question. Answer first, qualify second.
- **Made-up pricing.** If your pricing page isn't in the knowledge, the bot has nothing to quote from. Add it, and keep it synced.
- **Leads that go nowhere.** Test the full journey (ask, show interest, share details) and check the lead arrives where your team works. If the bot never uses the power-up, make its **Description** say exactly when to use it.
- **Not saying it's AI.** Make it clear visitors are talking to an AI assistant, for example in the welcome message.

## Related

- [Ask visitors for their details before they chat](https://chatthing.ai/docs/channels/website/lead-form): Add a pre-chat form to your web chat that collects a visitor's name, email or other details before the chat starts, and send the answers to your systems.
- [Webhooks](https://chatthing.ai/docs/developers/webhooks): Send Chat Thing events such as new conversations, escalations and syncs to your own systems, Slack or Discord, and trigger data source syncs from a URL.
- [Let customers book appointments and meetings in the chat](https://chatthing.ai/docs/use-cases/bookings-and-appointments): Set up a bot that answers questions about your services, then books a demo, consultation or appointment in the chat with Cal.com or Calendly.