# Capture leads from every chat, on WhatsApp and your website

> An AI agent that turns WhatsApp, Telegram and website chats into leads, with each person's details, what they were interested in and the chat behind it.

Canonical: https://heykiko.io/features/lead-capture
Last updated: 2026-11-05

Everyone who messages your business on WhatsApp or Telegram becomes a lead. After Kiko has answered a question, it asks once for the details you track, such as an email or a company name, and website chats become leads the same way, with or without a form. Your team sees where each detail came from and the whole conversation behind it.

## How a lead is captured

1. **A customer gets in touch**: On WhatsApp or Telegram, their first message creates a lead. On your website, a short form before the chat does, or the details they share when Kiko asks.
2. **Kiko starts with what it knows**: Their name from WhatsApp or Telegram, and on WhatsApp their number, so nobody has to ask for it.
3. **Kiko asks, once**: After answering a real question, Kiko asks for the details it doesn't have yet in one short question. A no is respected, and it never asks again in that chat.
4. **Your team follows up**: Every lead is in People › Leads with its chat, what they were interested in and where each detail came from.

Included on every plan, after a 14-day free trial.

## Where leads come from

- **WhatsApp**: A lead for everyone who messages your number, with their WhatsApp name and number.
- **Telegram**: A lead for everyone who messages your bot, with the name Telegram shows.
- **Your website**: A short form before the first message, or no form at all: a visitor who shares an email or phone when Kiko asks becomes a lead.
- **Bookings and requests**: When a customer books an appointment or opens a request, Kiko asks for the contact details it still needs. Details they type are added to their lead.
- **Products they looked at**: When a website visitor taps a product Kiko recommended, their lead shows what they were interested in.

## What your team gets

- **One list of leads**: From every channel, with where each came from, when, and what they were interested in; filter by channel and date and search by name, email or phone.
- **Where each detail came from**: Every lead shows whether a detail came from the form, from WhatsApp or Telegram, or from what the customer said in the chat.
- **The chat behind it**: Open the conversation from the lead, and see the lead's bookings, cases and other activity in one place.
- **WhatsApp alerts**: A message to up to 10 numbers when a new lead arrives, a detail is filled in, the customer uses words like “urgent” or asks for a person, or a chat goes quiet.
- **Export and contacts**: Export leads as a CSV file, or add them to your contacts and lists.

## What you can set

In People › Leads › Lead capture, for each agent.

| Setting | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Details to track | Name, email, phone or any field you add (text, email, phone, long text, number or date), each required or not on the form. |
| Ask for them in chat | On by default: Kiko asks once, after helping, for up to three details it doesn't know yet. |
| Form before website chat | On or off. Off by default; needs at least one field. |
| From WhatsApp and Telegram | A lead for everyone who messages you there. On by default. |
| WhatsApp alerts | Who to tell, and when: a new lead, a detail filled in, your own words, a request for a person, or a chat gone quiet for a number of minutes. |
| At most one alert every | So a busy chat doesn't send a stream of messages; 30 minutes by default. |
| Alert message | Your own wording, with the lead's name, phone, email, channel, reason and their message filled in. |

## Good to know

- **Help first, ask once**: Kiko never asks on a greeting, while a customer is upset or asking for a person, or in the middle of a booking, and never asks a WhatsApp customer for the number they're writing from. Calls don't ask.
- **Alerts need the 24-hour window**: WhatsApp only delivers a free-text alert to someone who messaged your number in the last 24 hours, so each person on the list sends “Alerts on” to your number first. Source: [Meta: customer service windows](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/cloud-api/guides/send-messages#customer-service-windows)
- **Leads per plan**: Each plan includes a number of leads per agent. Past it, newer leads are kept but hidden until you upgrade.
- **Deleting a lead keeps the chat**: Removing a lead doesn't remove the conversation or any contact made from it.

## Questions about capturing leads in chat

### Can a chatbot capture leads on WhatsApp?

Yes. Everyone who messages your WhatsApp number becomes a lead in HeyKiko, with their WhatsApp name and number. Kiko asks once for anything else you track, such as an email, and adds the answer to the lead.

### Does the chatbot ask for the customer's email or phone?

Yes, once. After Kiko has answered a real question, it asks in one short question for the details you track that it doesn't know yet. If the customer says no, it keeps helping and doesn't ask again. You can switch this off, or ask up front with a form on your website.

### Can I add a form before the website chat?

Yes. Turn on the form before website chat and choose its fields: name, email, phone, or your own, such as company or budget. Each can be required or optional.

### Where do I see the leads?

In People › Leads, with the channel, the date, what they were interested in and where each detail came from. Open a lead to read the chat behind it.

### Can my team be told about new leads?

Yes, by WhatsApp. Choose up to 10 numbers and what triggers an alert: a new lead, a detail filled in, words you choose, a request for a person, or a chat gone quiet.

### Can I export leads?

Yes. Export leads as a CSV file, or add them to your contacts and lists.

### Which plans include lead capture?

Leads are on every plan, after a 14-day free trial with no card. Each plan includes a number of leads per agent; see pricing.

## Related

- [Lead generation](https://heykiko.io/solutions/lead-generation)
- [WhatsApp AI chatbot](https://heykiko.io/channels/whatsapp-ai-chatbot)
- [Website AI chatbot](https://heykiko.io/channels/website-ai-chatbot)
- [Appointment booking](https://heykiko.io/features/appointment-booking)
- [Pricing](https://heykiko.io/pricing)
- [Human hand-off](https://heykiko.io/features/human-handoff)
- [Shared inbox](https://heykiko.io/features/shared-inbox)
- [Train on your website and files](https://heykiko.io/features/train-on-your-website)
- [Live answers from your database](https://heykiko.io/features/database-answers)
- [Product recommendations](https://heykiko.io/features/product-answers)
- [Cases and approvals](https://heykiko.io/features/cases-and-approvals)
- [Test and tune your agent](https://heykiko.io/features/test-your-agent)
- [Knowledge access by role](https://heykiko.io/features/knowledge-access)
- [Ask Kiko](https://heykiko.io/features/ask-kiko)
- [Privacy controls](https://heykiko.io/features/privacy-controls)