If you’re drowning in unqualified leads and tired of juggling endless chat conversations, this guide is for you. I’ll show you how to use custom bots in Intercom to automate lead qualification, so you and your team spend less time sorting junk and more time talking to real prospects. No fluff, no magic—just practical steps that actually work.
Why automate lead qualification (and what to watch out for)
Let’s be honest: manually qualifying leads is tedious, inconsistent, and a huge time drain. You want your team focused on closing deals, not asking the same questions over and over.
Automating this step with bots can:
- Filter out tire-kickers and spam before they hit your inbox.
- Give serious leads faster responses (because you’re not buried in noise).
- Make your qualification process consistent—no more “it depends who’s on chat today.”
But, a word of warning: Bots aren’t mind readers. If you set them up poorly, you’ll annoy real leads or let good ones slip through the cracks. The key is to keep it simple, test, and adjust.
Step 1: Map out what actually makes a lead “qualified”
Before you even open Intercom, get clear on what you care about. Don’t just copy some “industry standard” checklist.
Ask yourself: - What do your best customers have in common? (Company size, budget, use case?) - What’s a deal-breaker? (E.g., free email addresses, wrong industry, no budget) - Which signals can a bot realistically capture? (You won’t get a 10-question survey answered.)
Write down your must-have and nice-to-have criteria. For example: - Must-have: Company size over 20 employees - Nice-to-have: Uses a business email, interested in demo
Pro tip: Don’t try to automate everything. Let bots do the first pass—humans can always double-check.
Step 2: Set up your custom bot in Intercom
Intercom’s “Custom Bots” let you build automated flows that pop up on your site or in chat. Here’s how to set one up for lead qualification:
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Go to Automation > Custom Bots
In your Intercom dashboard, head to the Automation section, then click on Custom Bots. -
Choose where your bot should appear
Most folks start with the website chat widget, but you can also use bots in the product or on specific pages (like pricing or signup). -
Start simple: The homepage or your main lead-gen pages.
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Decide when the bot triggers
You don’t want it to pop up instantly and scare people off. Common triggers: - After 10–20 seconds on page
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When someone clicks “Chat” or “Contact Us”
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Build your lead qualification flow
This is where you ask your key questions. Some best practices: - 2–4 questions max. More than that, and people bail.
- Use buttons/choices instead of free text where you can.
(E.g., “How big is your team?” with size ranges.) - Ask the most important question first. If they’re not a fit, don’t waste their time (or yours).
Example flow: - Bot: “Hey! Quick question—are you looking for a solution for your business or just browsing?” - If “Business”: “Great! How many people are on your team?” (show options) - If “1-5”: “Just so you know, our product is best for teams of 20+” (end flow or offer self-serve resources) - If “20+”: “Perfect. Want to talk to sales or see a demo?” (route to team or calendar)
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Set up routing based on answers
Use Intercom’s rules to send qualified leads to sales, and send everyone else to self-serve resources or a polite “thanks.” -
Qualified: Assign to a real human, tag as “Qualified,” or send them a meeting link.
- Unqualified: Send an automated message, tag as “Unqualified,” and don’t alert your team.
Step 3: Connect your bot to your CRM (if you care about data)
If you’re serious about sales, you’ll want those qualified leads to get into your CRM automatically. Depending on your stack, you can:
- Use Intercom’s native integrations (like Salesforce or HubSpot). Set up mapping so the right fields get passed over.
- Use Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat) if your CRM isn’t natively supported.
- At minimum, make sure your sales team gets notified in their workflow (Slack, email, whatever you actually use).
Reality check: Integrations can break, and field mapping gets messy. Test with dummy data and double-check that the info you need actually shows up where you want it.
Step 4: Test your bot like a real user (not just in preview)
Don’t just trust the bot builder preview—run through the flow on your live site.
- Try all possible paths (qualified, unqualified, weird answers).
- See how long it takes and how it feels as a user.
- Check if the right leads get routed and tagged.
- Make sure you’re not asking for information you never use.
What trips people up?
- Asking for a phone number or budget too early—big drop-off risk.
- Vague questions like “Tell us about your needs”—nobody likes essay questions from a bot.
- Forgetting to set fallback replies (e.g., if someone says “other” or enters gibberish).
Step 5: Launch, then tweak ruthlessly
Don’t set it and forget it. After a week or two, look at:
- How many leads complete the flow?
- Are you getting fewer junk leads?
- Is your team happier with the hand-offs?
- Are you missing out on good leads (false negatives)?
Iterate. Cut questions that nobody answers. Tweak timing or wording. If your sales team starts complaining about “the bot sending junk,” listen and adjust.
Ignore the hype:
Intercom (and others) will promise “AI-powered qualification” and “zero effort automation.” In reality, you’ll always need to review and improve. Bots are only as good as the logic and questions you give them.
What works, and what doesn’t
Works well: - Simple flows with clear choices (“How big is your team?”) - Routing based on clear answers (size, use case, intent) - Tagging or segmenting leads for manual review
Doesn’t work: - Overcomplicating with too many branches or vague questions - Expecting bots to “sell”—they qualify, not close - Letting bots run without reviewing performance
What to skip: - Fancy AI “suggested replies” for qualification—not there yet - Asking for sensitive info (phone, revenue) up front - Using bots for existing customers’ complex questions (that’s a job for humans)
Keep it simple and iterate
Automating lead qualification in Intercom with custom bots isn’t rocket science, but it does take a bit of upfront work. Start small. Focus on the must-have questions. Watch how real people use your bot, and don’t be afraid to change things up.
Remember: the goal isn’t to automate everything. It’s to save your team time and get better leads—without turning away the humans you actually want to talk to. Keep it simple, check your results, and improve as you go.