Pipeline
Recommended pipeline
A lead-capture chatbot only earns its place if the lead does not die in the chat window. The workflow is: engage on the page, structure the details, route to a CRM, then follow up on WhatsApp. The main India decision is that most chatbot tools bill in USD (so budget forex plus 18% GST), while the CRM and WhatsApp layers have genuinely good INR-billed options.
Cost ledger
What this stack costs
You can start this stack largely on free tiers. 5 of 5 stages have a free option. Original estimate from FindThatSoftware's verified pricing.
| Stage | Cheapest option | From |
|---|
| Put a chat widget on the page and train it on your answers | Chaindesk | Free tier |
| Turn the chat into a structured lead | Zoho Forms | Free tier |
| Route every lead into a CRM | Freshsales | Free tier |
| Follow up on WhatsApp | AiSensy | Free tier |
| Measure what the bot captures and fix the leaks | Google Analytics | Free tier |
Starting estimate, not a quote: cheapest paid tier per stage, free tiers counted as Rs.0, usage-based fees excluded. Confirm current pricing on each vendor's site.
Stage 1
Put a chat widget on the page and train it on your answers
3 toolsEngage visitors the moment they land and answer the questions they always ask before buying.
A bot that guesses annoys buyers and burns trust; one trained on your real FAQs, pricing, and policies actually qualifies. In India, where a lot of traffic is mobile and price-sensitive, a fast honest answer is what keeps someone on the page.
Chaindesk trains an AI agent on your own documents and has a free tier, so the bot answers from your content instead of making things up. Chatsimple is an AI website agent aimed at turning traffic into leads. Tawk.to is genuinely free live chat if you would rather have a human reply than an AI. Chaindesk and Chatsimple bill in USD, so add forex plus GST; Tawk.to costs nothing to start.
Setup for Put a chat widget on the page a...
- List the 15 to 20 questions buyers ask most and the honest answers, including price ranges and delivery timelines
- Train the bot on that content and set a clear fallback to a human or WhatsApp when it is unsure
- Add the widget only on high-intent pages first (pricing, product, contact) and watch real chats for a week
Automation for Put a chat widget on the page a...
Caveats for Put a chat widget on the page a...
- An AI bot will confidently answer wrong if your source content is thin or out of date; review its answers before trusting it
- USD-billed bots look cheap at the entry tier but jump once you cross message or seat limits
Stage 2
Turn the chat into a structured lead
3 toolsCollect name, phone, and intent in a shape you can act on, not a chat transcript you have to reread.
A conversation is not a lead until the contact details are captured cleanly. A short form inside or after the chat gives you a consistent record and a phone number, which matters in India where the follow-up happens on a call or WhatsApp.
Zoho Forms is INR-billed, has a free tier, and routes submissions straight into Zoho CRM, so pick it if you are on or open to the Zoho suite. Typeform (USD) asks one question at a time and tends to get higher completion, worth it if drop-off is your problem. Fillout is a capable free-tier option in USD. Prefer Zoho Forms for the India billing and CRM handoff unless completion rate is the deciding factor.
Setup for Turn the chat into a structured...
- Keep the form to phone, name, and one qualifying question so mobile users finish it
- Make phone number required and validate it so follow-up is possible
- Connect the form so a submission creates a CRM record automatically
Automation for Turn the chat into a structured...
Caveats for Turn the chat into a structured...
- Every extra field lowers completion on mobile; ask for less than you want
- Typeform and Fillout bill in USD, so factor forex plus GST if you move past the free tier
Stage 3
Route every lead into a CRM
2 toolsGive each lead an owner, a status, and a next action so none of them go cold.
A chatbot generates leads faster than a spreadsheet can hold them. A CRM assigns follow-up and shows response time, which is the number that decides whether a website lead converts.
Freshsales is India-built, INR-billed, and has a free tier, which makes it the natural first CRM for an Indian SMB. Pipedrive (USD) is a clean visual pipeline if your team thinks in deal stages and does not mind forex plus GST. Start with Freshsales for the local billing and free entry; move to Pipedrive only if your team already prefers its pipeline view.
Setup for Route every lead into a CRM
- Define lead stages (new, contacted, qualified, won, lost) before importing anyone
- Auto-assign new leads to an owner with a same-day first-touch rule
- Track first response time so you can see where leads stall
Automation for Route every lead into a CRM
Caveats for Route every lead into a CRM
- A CRM only helps if people update it; agree the minimum fields before rollout
- Pipedrive has no free tier, so it is a real monthly cost in INR terms once you add forex and GST
Stage 4
Follow up on WhatsApp
2 toolsReach the lead on the channel they actually check, not an email they ignore.
In India a website lead often replies on WhatsApp far more reliably than on email or a cold call. Using the official WhatsApp Business API keeps you compliant and lets you automate the first reply.
AiSensy is India-built, INR-billed, and has a free tier, strong for broadcasts and a first automated reply. Gallabox is India-built and INR-billed with a shared team inbox and no-code bots, better when more than one person handles chats. Pick AiSensy to start cheaply on broadcasts and simple automation; move to Gallabox when you need a proper multi-agent inbox.
Setup for Follow up on WhatsApp
- Get the WhatsApp Business API number approved and set an instant first reply for new leads
- Use approved message templates for the first outbound touch to stay within WhatsApp rules
- Route replies into the same CRM record so the history stays in one place
Automation for Follow up on WhatsApp
Caveats for Follow up on WhatsApp
- WhatsApp charges per conversation on top of the tool fee, so broadcasts have a real per-message cost
- Sending non-template or unsolicited messages risks the number getting blocked
Stage 5
Measure what the bot captures and fix the leaks
2 toolsSee where visitors drop out of the chat-to-lead path and improve it.
Without measurement you cannot tell if the bot is capturing leads or just annoying visitors. Watching where people abandon the chat or form tells you what to fix next.
Google Analytics is free and tracks the traffic and conversion events feeding the bot. PostHog (USD, free tier) adds session replay so you can watch real visitors get stuck in the chat or form. Use Google Analytics for the top-line funnel; add PostHog when you want to see exactly where a visitor gives up.
Setup for Measure what the bot captures a...
- Tag the chat-open, lead-captured, and form-submit events as conversions
- Review session replays of visitors who opened the chat but did not convert
- Change one thing at a time (the greeting, the first question, the form length) and compare
Automation for Measure what the bot captures a...
Caveats for Measure what the bot captures a...
- Session replay captures user behaviour, so mask personal fields to respect DPDP and privacy
- Analytics shows what happened, not why; pair the numbers with reading real chat transcripts