Static chat and slow routing delayed conversations with sales
Kipu Health serves addiction treatment and mental health providers with EHR and practice management software. But when visitors landed on their site, they ran into a fundamental problem: the chatbot was rigid, the routing was slow, and the wrong people kept ending up in front of sales.
Their previous chatbot was "very static. If this is the question, this is the answer." It couldn't distinguish between a prospect ready to buy and a current customer looking for support. Both would book a sales meeting. That meant sales was spending time triaging instead of selling.
Leads also took up to a day before reps were even notified — plenty of time for a buyer to cool off or find a competitor.
And when a data breach at their previous vendor forced an urgent transition, Kipu had to move fast. Chili Piper was already on their radar.
AI chat triages inquiries while real buyers book meetings instantly
Kipu implemented Chili Piper's Chat AI to handle the triage problem that the old chatbot couldn't solve. The AI pulls from Kipu's knowledge base to handle self-serve inquiries on its own.
"A lot of times it's a one-and-done situation where they find the resources they need."
Support visitors get answers. Prospects with buying intent get routed straight to sales — and they can book a meeting in near real time, without waiting for a human to intervene.
Inbound leads now reach sales within minutes instead of a day
The speed difference was immediate.
"Our MQLs are accelerated. It's no longer waiting a day before sales receives them. It's within minutes."
"Sometimes within an hour the rep is already speaking with the prospect."
Salesforce and Marketo receive updates within minutes of a chat conversation starting. The whole lead flow — from first message to CRM entry to rep notification — now happens in minutes instead of hours.
AI filters inbound noise so sales focuses on real buyers
One of the biggest wins has been lead quality. Before, support requests and general inquiries were mixing with actual sales opportunities, forcing SDRs to sort through noise.
Now the AI handles the triage before anything reaches the sales team.
"The leads that get through to sales are certainly higher quality."
SDR triage work is down. Sales conversations are more productive because reps know that what lands in their queue has already been screened.
Sales, marketing, and support all benefit from automation
The benefits extend across all three teams. Support uses the AI to answer repetitive questions without routing them to a human. Marketing surfaces relevant resources and upcoming events through chat conversations. Sales gets pre-qualified leads without the administrative overhead.
"It's taking out extra steps and providing a better customer experience."
The same system is doing three jobs that previously required three different tools and manual coordination between teams.
Why Chili Piper became a critical inbound channel
Kipu now generates 10 to 20 inbound leads every month through chat alone — leads that weren't being captured before.
"If Chili Piper disappeared tomorrow… we'd lose revenue."
"It's a win-win across the board. We actually love the tool."
Results:
- Prospects can speak with sales within an hour of submitting an inquiry
- Sales now receives inbound leads within minutes instead of up to a day
- Higher quality leads reaching the sales team
- 10–20 inbound leads per month generated through chat
- Faster answers for customers through AI-powered self-serve support
Static chat and slow routing delayed conversations with sales
When Mary McMillan joined Kipu’s marketing operations team, inbound conversations on the website were difficult to manage efficiently.
Visitors arrived with many different types of questions. Some wanted to learn about Kipu’s products. Others were existing customers looking for help with login issues or product features.
But their previous chatbot couldn't adapt to those conversations.
“Our last chat bot was very static. If this is the question, this is the answer.”
The process behind the scenes was equally slow.
Leads submitted through chat or forms passed through several systems before reaching the right sales rep.
“Previously someone would submit a form and it might take a day before a rep even knew about the lead.”
In some cases, visitors with simple support questions ended up booking meetings with sales just to get help.
“Someone might be having trouble logging in and they end up scheduling a meeting with sales just to get an answer.”
This created friction for customers and unnecessary work for sales teams.
And a data breach at their previous vendor made the decision final.
"There was a data breach at our last vendor. What really did it was the data breach and the fact that it took close to 3 months, just to get to a point where it could be re-enabled."
With chat offline for nearly three months, the gap in their inbound process became impossible to ignore, and the search for a new solution began in earnest.
AI chat triages inquiries while real buyers book meetings instantly
To improve both customer experience and inbound efficiency, Kipu implemented Chili Piper.
The goal was simple: resolve basic questions automatically and connect real buyers with sales as quickly as possible.
Now the AI chatbot pulls answers directly from Kipu’s knowledge base and directs visitors to the right resources.
“Now it's leveraging our internal knowledge base to direct those inquiries to our self-serve resources.”
Many visitors find what they need immediately.
“A lot of times it's a one-and-done situation where they find the resources they need.”
When someone wants to speak with sales, Chili Piper shows available meeting times instantly.
“Now they can book time in near real time on someone’s calendar.”
Inbound leads now reach sales within minutes instead of a day
One of the biggest improvements was speed.
Previously, it could take hours or even a full day before sales reps saw new inbound leads.
With Chili Piper, that delay disappeared.
“Our MQLs are accelerated. It’s no longer waiting a day before sales receives them. It’s within minutes.”
In some cases, sales conversations now happen almost immediately.
“Sometimes within an hour the rep is already speaking with the prospect.”
Behind the scenes, integrations also simplified the workflow.
“Everything flows through to Salesforce directly, and Marketo receives the update within minutes.”
AI filters inbound noise so sales focuses on real buyers
Another major improvement was lead quality.
Support questions and general inquiries are now handled by AI and self-serve resources before reaching sales.
That means reps spend more time talking with people who are actively evaluating the product.
“The leads that get through to sales are certainly higher quality.”
For Mary’s team, that shift reduces manual work and improves how SDRs spend their time.
“We’re putting less work on our SDRs to try and triage something when people are raising their hand ready to speak with sales.”
Sales, marketing, and support all benefit from automation
The improvements didn’t stop with inbound routing.
Customer support teams now spend less time answering repetitive questions, while marketing can surface relevant resources and events directly through chat.
“It’s created a lot of efficiencies for our sales team and for our marketing team as well.”
The result is a smoother experience for visitors and fewer manual steps internally.
“It’s taking out extra steps and providing a better customer experience.”
Why Chili Piper became a critical inbound channel
Inbound chat has become a consistent source of pipeline for Kipu.
“We generally get anywhere between 10 and 20 leads per month coming in from that chat.”
Because those leads connect with sales quickly, the channel directly contributes to revenue.
“If Chili Piper disappeared tomorrow… we’d lose revenue.”
For Mary McMillan and the Kipu team, Chili Piper transformed inbound conversations from a slow, manual process into a fast and efficient pipeline engine.
Prospects get answers instantly.
Sales teams connect with buyers faster.
And inbound demand turns into real conversations much sooner.
“It’s a win-win across the board. We actually love the tool.”
Kipu Health results with Chili Piper:
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Prospects can speak with sales within an hour of submitting an inquiry.
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Sales now receives inbound leads within minutes instead of up to a day.
-
Higher quality leads reaching the sales team.
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10–20 inbound leads per month generated through chat.
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Faster answers for customers through AI-powered self-serve support.
