Unanswered calls
A call after 4 pm or during a meeting ends up on voicemail. Most customers don't leave a message — they call the next supplier on the list. Kolio takes the call and records the inquiry.
Sales · Lead capture → task for sales
AI lead capture by phone, 24/7. Even the inquiry at 10 pm.
Kolio is an AI agent for businesses that captures leads by phone, on the web and by email 24/7 — after hours included. It asks the qualification questions your company defines, records the contact and creates a task for the salesperson in the CRM with a summary and the transcript of the conversation. Your sales team issues the quote or takes the order — the agent deliberately never closes either.
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By the Kolio team · updated
01
01Lost inquiries
How many inquiries are lost after hours?
Most inquiries are lost when nobody is at the phone: on unanswered calls after 4 pm, in email over the weekend and in web forms nobody owns. A Harvard Business Review audit of 2,241 companies shows it isn't just a feeling: 23% never responded to a web inquiry at all, only 37% responded within an hour, and the average response time was 42 hours. Every inquiry that waits until tomorrow has meanwhile been sent to a competitor.
- 23%
- of companies never responded to a web inquiry at all; only 37% responded within an hour (2,241 companies audited)Source: Harvard Business Review, 2011
- 42 h
- average company response time to a web inquirySource: Harvard Business Review, 2011
- 82%
- of consumers rate an immediate response to a sales question as important or very importantSource: HubSpot Research
Email over the weekend
An inquiry sent on Friday evening gets a reply on Monday afternoon without an agent. By then the customer already has two quotes from elsewhere.
Web forms nobody answers
The form lands in a shared inbox where nobody owns it. A week later the customer calls to ask why no one got back to her — like Ms Hartley in the example above.
02
02Qualification
How does the lead qualification Phone agent work?
Lead qualification is the process in which the Kolio agent asks the customer five questions — what, how much, when, for whom and contact details — that your company defines in the instructions in plain sentences. The agent doesn't guess what the customer needs: it asks. The same questions apply by phone, in web chat and by email, and the answers go into the task summary in the CRM so the salesperson doesn't call back just to ask again.
03
03For the salesperson
What does the salesperson get from a captured lead?
From every captured lead, Kolio creates three things: a contact in the CRM, a task with a summary and transcript, and a notification to the assignee. Nothing stays buried in a transcript nobody reads — the salesperson has everything needed for the call-back in CRM and tasks, with no retyping. That matters: according to Salesforce's State of Sales, reps spend just 28% of their time actually selling; the rest goes to admin and looking things up.
Task createdapi:Lina
Call back: Kate Hartley — inquiry about sales-process consulting
AssigneeTRThomas Reed· Head of Sales
ContactKate Hartley · Hartley & Partners
PriorityHighDuetoday
Client called Monday at 18:42 (after hours). She sent an inquiry via the web form last week and hasn't heard back. Wants consulting on the sales process for a team of 4; budget unknown. Asks for a call in the morning. Transcript is on the contact.
Timeline
- api:Lina · Mon 18:46Task created from a phone conversation
- api:Lina · Mon 18:46Assignee: Thomas Reed · priority: high
Contact in the CRM
Kolio saves the name, company, phone and email on the contact in the CRM. If the customer already exists, the conversation is attached to them — no duplicates.
Task with summary and transcript
A task in Kolio has a title, assignee, priority and due date. The description holds a three-sentence summary; the full transcript is on the contact — one click away.
Notification
The assignee is notified when the task is created. If the inquiry came in the evening, it's waiting at the top of the task list in the morning — not on voicemail. They call back straight from the browser via the Softphone.
04
04Boundaries
Why does your sales team issue the quote, not the AI?
The Kolio AI agent captures and qualifies the inquiry but deliberately doesn't issue the quote: price, discount, deadline and promise are made in the company's name by your sales team. The agent only books appointments in the Calendar on its own; everything else it hands to your sales team as a task.
| Step | Who | When |
|---|---|---|
| Taking the inquiry by phone, web or email | Kolio AI agent | 24/7, immediately |
| Qualification questions: what, how much, when, for whom, contact | Kolio AI agent | during the conversation |
| Contact and task with summary and transcript in the CRM | Kolio AI agent | at the end of the conversation |
| Appointment for an intro call or site visit | Kolio AI agent | during the conversation, if the calendar is set up |
| Price, discount, payment terms | your sales team | on the call-back |
| Quote or order | your sales team | after reviewing the task |
| Confirming the deadline, scope and promises | your sales team | in the quote |
05
05For the customer
What does the customer hear with after-hours inquiry handling?
With after-hours inquiry handling, Kolio tells the customer who from sales will call back and when — based on the working hours your company sets. The customer doesn't get "we've passed it on"; at 10 pm they hear: "Our Head of Sales, Thomas Reed, will call you tomorrow morning on the number you're calling from." If they want, the agent books an intro appointment in the meantime.
- 10:00 pmCustomer calls
After hours. The agent takes the call on your number (Phone), asks what sales needs to know and says when sales will get back.
- 10:04 pmTask in the CRM
Contact saved, task created, salesperson notified — all in CRM and tasks. The transcript is on the contact.
- 8:00 amSalesperson calls back
The task is at the top of the list, with the summary. They call back — straight from the browser via the Softphone — and issue the quote.
06
06Example conversation
Example: capturing a phone inquiry at 18:42
In a demo call, Ms Hartley calls Norevia Ltd on Monday at 18:42 — she sent an inquiry through the web form last week and never heard back. Lina, the AI agent, looks her up by name, asks about the size of the sales team and the focus of the consulting, says the Head of Sales will call her tomorrow morning, and books an intro call in the Calendar in the meantime. The salesperson has the task, the contact and the transcript in the CRM before he's even in the office.
23% of companies never responded to a web inquiry at all; only 37% responded within an hour (2,241 companies audited)
From call to task
From call to task: AI intake for sales team in four steps
01 The customer calls, chats or emails — at 10 pm too
The AI agent answers immediately, evenings and weekends included. If the customer already exists in the CRM, it recognises them and picks up where things left off.
02 The AI agent asks the lead qualification questions
What, how much, when, for whom and contact details — exactly the questions you wrote in the instructions. It doesn't guess and doesn't promise prices.
03 It records the contact and creates a task in the CRM
A contact with details, a task with an assignee, priority, summary and a link to the transcript. The assignee is notified.
04 Your sales team calls back and issues the quote
At the time the agent told the customer. Your sales team issues the quote or takes the order; in the meantime the agent has only booked an appointment, if the customer wanted one.
FAQ
FAQ about AI lead capture
How does a phone agent capture an inquiry after hours?
The Kolio AI agent answers calls, web chats and emails in the evening and at weekends too, asks the company's qualification questions, records the contact and creates a task for sales in the CRM. It tells the customer who from sales will call back and when, based on the working hours the company sets.
Does the customer know they're talking to an AI agent?
The Kolio AI agent introduces itself as the company's agent (for example "this is Lina, the agent") and, when asked directly, says it is an AI agent. How it introduces itself is defined by the company in the instructions.
Who gets the task from an inquiry if the company has several salespeople?
The company sets the task assignee in Kolio's instructions: one default salesperson, or a salesperson by area or service. A task can be reassigned in the Kolio CRM at any time, and the timeline shows who took it over.
Does the AI agent send the customer a confirmation of the inquiry?
For an appointment it books, Kolio sends the customer an email confirmation if they gave an address. For an inquiry, it tells the customer who from sales will call and when; the written quote is prepared by the company's sales team.
Can the Kolio AI agent send the quote itself?
The Kolio AI agent does not issue quotes: following the company's instructions, it hands the inquiry to your sales team as a task with the conversation transcript. It only books appointments on its own; the quote or order is issued by the company's sales team, who know the prices, discounts and lead times.
Never miss an inquiry again.
Write the qualification questions, set the assignee and try lead capture in the simulator. No credit card.
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