The Catering Company That Doubled Leads with a Chatbot

Maria ran a catering company in Boston. She was great at cooking, terrible at answering her phone. Her problem: catering inquiries come at the worst times — evenings, weekends, when she's elbow-deep in prep work. By the time she called back, prospects had already booked someone else.

The Problem

• Missing 60% of inquiry calls
• No way to capture leads after hours
• Same questions answered 20 times a week
• Competitive bids going to competitors who picked up faster

The Solution

Maria set up BotForge in under an hour. She uploaded her menu, pricing sheet, and service area info. The chatbot was ready to answer questions immediately.

She added it to her website and set the greeting: "Hi! Planning an event? I can tell you about our menus, pricing, and availability. What would you like to know?"

The Results After 30 Days

• 24/7 coverage — Every inquiry answered instantly, even at 11pm
• Lead capture — Emails collected even when she couldn't answer
• Qualifying questions — Bot asked about event date, guest count, and budget
• Human handoff — Hot leads flagged for same-day callback

The Numbers

BotForge's cost: $79/month. New revenue from the extra leads: $8,400. That's a 100X return.