How to Build a Lead Generation Chatbot in 2025

Senior Writer: Jainy Patel

Reading Time: 8 Minutes

Published : June 23, 2025

Speed is no longer a basic to-do for business! It’s the expectation of consumers. Especially when 90% of customers say an “immediate” response is very important, you can’t afford to wait.

Businesses that win today do one thing better: they respond faster. A lead generation chatbot offers that speed without sacrificing personalization. It acts like a digital concierge—greeting, engaging, and qualifying potential customers while your team focuses on conversions. 

This guide will show you how to build a lead generation chatbot, its key features, and the top 5 lead generation chatbots in 2025 for your business.

Lead Generation Chatbot

A lead generation chatbot is an AI-powered tool that engages visitors, collects data, qualifies leads, and routes them to sales teams. It automates early interactions to boost conversions and streamline sales processes.

How to Build a Chatbot for Lead Generation?

• Sign in to ControlHippo.
• Create a new chatbot using the lead gen template.
• Configure a welcome message to engage users.
• Request the user's name for personalization
• Collect key information (email, phone number)
• Ask qualifying questions to filter quality leads
• Integrate with CRM or a spreadsheet for data storage
• Set up lead qualification criteria & human takeover option

Benefits of Lead Generation Chatbot

• Qualify leads automatically
• Boost engagement and keep conversations flowing
• Automate customer service and support
• Increase conversion rates with instant responses
• Offer a cost-effective solution for lead generation

Top 5 Lead Generation Chatbots for Sales People

• ControlHippo: No-code builder with AI flows and seamless CRM integration.
• Botsonic: AI-powered, model-agnostic chatbot for fast, accurate responses.
• Landbot: Drag-and-drop builder with conditional flows and multichannel support.
• Drift: Focused on real-time lead qualification and routing for B2B sales.
• Instabot: Quick deployment chatbot platform integrating with popular NLP providers.

What is a Lead Generation Chatbot?

A lead generation bot can be defined as an AI-powered sales chatbot that can attract potential clients, talk to them, and gather their data.

These chatbots can:

• Identify potential customers
• Qualify leads
• Collect personal data
• Connect the support team with prospects

How to Build a Chatbot for Lead Generation with ControlHippo?

Building a strong lead generation bot has never been simpler with ControlHippo’s no-code builder. Follow this step-by-step guide from setup to smooth CRM integration so you can quickly capture leads and funnel them through your sales pipeline.

1. Log in to ControlHippo

Log in to your ControlHippo first. 

Then, navigate to the chatbot area and click on “Create New Bot.” 

Select “Lead Generation” as your purpose to get access to templates and workflows designed specifically for lead capture, qualification, and CRM integration.

2. Develop Your Chatbot

You can either create your lead generation chatbot or tailor one of the pre-made templates to suit your needs. Identify your target group, determine your objectives (such as booking demos or lead capture for B2B), and define the user queries to build your chatbot. 

Usually, ControlHippo caters to industry-specific bots, so whether you are a startup founder or HR manager, your chatbot will be built within minutes.

3. Set up a Welcome Message

First impressions count. Create a warm greeting such as:

“Hi there! Searching for an improved communication tool? I’m here to assist.”

This friendly greeting invites visitors to communicate. Moreover, you can place the chatbot directly on your home page, landing page, or price page and catch users’ attention the moment they visit.

4. Request User Name for Personalization

Personalized experiences convert better. Get the visitor’s name at the beginning of the conversation. That way, your AI bot will be able to respond more naturally while building trust and engagement.

For example,
“Hello Sarah! Can I just ask a couple of quick questions to assist you better?”

5. Collect Contact Information

Encourage users to provide their contact information, name, email address, and phone number. This is key in capturing leads and providing your salespeople with critical information for quick follow-ups.

6. Ask Qualifying Questions to Filter Leads

After capturing their attention, ask qualifying questions that will inform you about the lead’s intent. Then, you can cleverly personalize the flow using conditional logic or decision trees.

Here are some example questions:

• “Are you purchasing for yourself or your team?”
• “How many agents do you have on your current support team?”
• “What is your anticipated monthly call volume?”

This process allows you to qualify leads and focus your attention only on high-intent leads.

7. Integrate with Existing CRM or Spreadsheet

ControlHippo effortlessly integrates with leading CRMs such as Salesforce, Zoho, HubSpot, and others. After a visitor completes the chat, their personal information is synced automatically with your current CRM or spreadsheet—no manual input needed.

8. Set Up Lead Qualification Criteria & Human Takeover Feature

You can give a score based on responses (e.g., budget, size of the team, urgency). If your user reaches your threshold, your bot can do one of two things:

• Automatically route them to your sales team, or
• Initiate a human takeover in real-time for live chat lead generation.

This smart routing ensures your customer service teams and sales reps focus on the most promising leads.

Also Explore: What Are AI Agents? Definition, Types, And Use Cases

How Do Chatbots Help in Lead Generation?

A lead generation chatbot isn’t just another widget on your website. But it’s a full-time digital team member working to generate leads, qualify them, and guide them through the sales process. By 2027, chatbots are expected to become the primary customer service channel for a quarter of organizations.

Here’s how these smart bots drive real growth for your business

1. Qualify Leads Automatically

In contrast to static forms or timed follow-ups, chatbots function in real-time. They chat with site visitors, pose qualifying questions, and evaluate user answers in real-time. By gathering lead data such as company size, budget, and urgency, they assist in revealing sales-ready quality leads.

Here are the steps to qualify leads automatically with the aid of bots.

Step 1: Set Your Qualification Criteria

Before your AI-powered chatbot can filter leads, you first need to establish what a qualified lead is for your company. This may be dependent on:

• Type of industry
• Budget
• Team size
• Use case (Sales, Support, Marketing)
• Purchase timeline

Step 2: Program Your Chatbot to Ask the Right Questions

Once you have established criteria, set your bot to ask relevant questions such as:

• “What is your monthly call volume?”
• “Are you planning to switch from a different provider?”
• “How many users will need access?”

These chatbot flows help you gather the necessary contact information and specific data points to accurately qualify leads.

Step 3: Use a Scoring System for Lead Qualification

Allocate scores to every answer to rank potential leads. For instance:

When the overall score reaches your qualification score, the lead can be directed immediately.

Step 4: Direct Qualified Leads to the Sales Team

When a visitor reaches your desired score, the bot can:

• Send an internal alert
• Transfer lead information to your current CRM
• Pass the lead to a salesperson
• Book a meeting through integrated pop-ups

This prevents genuine leads from going unattended while they are still interested.

Step 5: Keep Refining the Process with Data Insights

Various new-age bots, such as ControlHippo, provide full-fledged analytics. You can:

• Monitor user interactions
• Pinpoint drop-off locations
• Examine which qualifying questions work best
• Optimize your scoring model along the way

2. Boost Engagement and Keep Conversations Flowing

More than 96% of consumers think that businesses that use chatbots take good care of their customers. The chatbot’s conversational format engages users to reply in real-time. Unlike forms that feel like a task, bots simulate a dialogue while keeping visitors engaged for a longer duration. Apart from this, they utilize emojis, auto-suggested responses, and prompt button selections to keep the conversation energetic and drive them through the funnel.

3. Automate Customer Service and Support

Chatbots aren’t just used for lead generation—they also assist customer service teams. An intelligent AI chatbot can answer FAQs, product questions, and onboarding queries while also inquiring if the visitor would like a demo or pricing in the background. These chatbot best practices can increase your productivity without the need to recruit more agents.

4. Boost Conversion Rates with Instant Responses

Speed sells. An AI lead generation chatbot gives instant answers, resolves concerns, and gathers contact information instantly. That’s a deal breaker for conversion rate optimization. Also, your business will be appreciated by the consumers in the long term for addressing their issues without any delays. As a result, chatbots will magnify conversion rates and eventually increase sales by approximately 67%.

5. Provide a Cost-Effective Lead Generation Solution

In contrast to human chat operators or individual outreach, bots are extremely scalable. They are available 24/7, serve global time zones, and don’t require breaks. If you want to expand your business, then an AI-powered bot is an affordable option that can streamline your lead management and create leads in bulk.

Also Read: Ways To Use AI in Customer Service + Examples

Key Features of a Good Lead Generation Chatbot

Your bot needs to be the most intelligent automation to resolve every concern of your prospective clients. Here are the key features that make a conversational lead generation chatbot the smartest tool to engage customers. 

• A good lead generation chatbot uses AI to deliver human-like and natural responses. It understands intent, nuances, and context, making conversations feel effortless and trustworthy to increase the chances of lead capture.
  
• Pre-built chatbot flows and ready-to-use templates simplify setup and ensure you’re asking the right qualifying questions to the right audience. Most templates are tailored by industry, letting you identify high-intent leads fast without coding.
  
• Effective lead generation bots work seamlessly across multiple channels like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Email. This guarantees consistent messaging and effortless engagement, no matter where your prospects are active.
• Multilingual support lets your chatbot interact with international prospects in their native language to break communication barriers.
• Integrating your chatbot with your CRM ensures that captured leads flow directly into your system. And it eliminates manual errors and speeds up follow-ups for your sales team.
• Tracking customer satisfaction scores after each chatbot interaction reveals what’s working and what needs refining. This direct feedback helps optimize the chatbot’s user experience and performance.
• Smart conversational bots handle complex, multi-step questions and unusual queries effortlessly. This keeps visitors engaged, boosts lead qualification accuracy, and nurtures promising prospects.
  

How to Create a Lead Generation Funnel with a Chatbot?

Imagine turning every curious visitor into a promising lead—without lifting a finger. That’s the power of a well-crafted lead generation funnel with the aid of a chatbot. Here is the step-by-step process of building a chatbot funnel:

1. Send a warm, friendly welcome message to instantly build trust and encourage visitors to start a conversation.
2. Follow up with a simple, casual question to learn why they’ve stopped by and guide them toward helpful options.
3. Ask targeted and qualifying questions to gather useful lead details like preferences, needs, or budget.
4. Automatically sort leads into categories like cold, warm, and hot based on their responses for easy prioritization.
5. Share helpful content like blogs, FAQs, or exclusive offers to keep less-ready leads engaged and interested.
6. When a lead’s ready, drop a clear call to action and let them book demos or request quotes right in the chat.

Top 5 Lead Generation Chatbots for Sales People

Choosing the right chatbot can drastically improve your lead generation efforts and streamline your sales process. Here are five of the best chatbots that can boost your lead number, qualify prospects, and increase conversions:

1. ControlHippo

ControlHippo offers an intuitive no-code builder and powerful AI-driven chatbot flows that deliver human-like answers. Below are a few of the standout features of this best chatbot for lead generation:

• AI-driven natural language processing 
• Workflow automation
• Multichannel inbox: WhatsApp, email, website chat, and more
• Hassle-free CRM integrations (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho, etc.)
• Automated lead capture and routing to sales teams
• Real-time analytics and reporting 
• Multi-language support for global customer engagement

2. Botsonic

Botsonic is an AI-powered chatbot platform that automates customer support, sales, and employee assistance by training AI agents on your data. This is a model-agnostic tool! It means Botsonic uses its proprietary AI Model Gateway to dynamically route between multiple LLMs for faster, reliable, high-quality responses. Also, it can solve 70% of customer queries instantly.

3. Landbot

Landbot provides a highly visual drag-and-drop interface to build conversational flows without coding. It’s ideal for salespeople who want to design engaging chatbots with conditional qualifying questions and handoff options. 

4. Drift

Drift specializes in conversational marketing chatbots designed specifically to accelerate the sales funnel. It offers real-time lead qualification and routing to make sure that promising leads reach the right sales representatives immediately. 

5. Instabot

Instabot is an AI-powered chatbot platform built to help businesses create and launch chatbots quickly, often under 20 minutes. No coding skills are required to use this bot. Apart from this, Instabot is also platform-agnostic. It also integrates smoothly with popular NLP providers like Google Dialogflow, IBM Watson, and Amazon Lex. 

Conclusion

Unsurprisingly, several chatbot statistics prove that these bots have evolved as an indispensable business tool for accelerating response times, qualifying leads intelligently, and increasing conversions at scale. From real-time engagement and smart lead scoring to CRM integrations, these AI-driven bots help brands deliver personalized, always-on customer experiences. As customer expectations for tailored interactions continue to rise, integrating a chatbot into your lead generation strategy is no longer optional — it’s a competitive necessity.

Updated : June 23, 2025

Jainy Patel

Jainy Patel is a content strategist who specializes in omnichannel communication solutions. She develops innovative marketing strategies that unify messaging across various channels, ensuring a consistent and engaging customer journey. Jainy is passionate about optimizing communication processes and crafting targeted content that resonates with audiences at every touchpoint.