Your pipeline, moved by the agent that is already talking to the lead
A funnel is a board. Every conversation that arrives becomes a card, and that card moves through the stages you define. The part that makes it different: the AI agent answering that conversation can move the card itself — reading what the customer said, comparing it against the description you wrote for each stage, and reclassifying the lead.
TL;DR
- Funnels → New funnel. Step 1: name it and pick which inboxes feed it. Choose the movement policy before the stages are created.
- Write a description for every stage — it is what the AI reads to decide whether a lead belongs there.
- Choose one movement policy for all new stages. If it includes automation, assign one AI Agent or Workflow.
- Customize any stage later in Funnel Builder → Stages.
- Watch the board. Moves are logged with the agent's reasoning; moves needing approval land in a tray at the top.
Creating a funnel
Creation is two steps, because there are two separate decisions.
Step 1 — policy and lead sources
- Funnel name and movement policy. Choose who may move leads out of stages. This is copied to every stage; automation policies also ask for one AI Agent or Workflow.
- Add new conversations automatically. Pick the inboxes to watch. A new conversation in any of them becomes a card in the first stage. Two WhatsApp numbers can feed two different funnels.
- Import what you already have. Pick an inbox, then pick exactly which conversations come in.
Press Next. Nothing has been created yet.
Step 2 — the board itself
Six stages are preloaded. For each: edit the name, rewrite the description, change the color, drag it to a new position, mark it as a closing stage, or delete it. Add stage adds more.
Press Create funnel. Only now does anything get saved.
Stage descriptions are the whole trick
A stage description has two readers: you, and any AI agent you put in charge of that stage. It is not a label — it is the rule the agent applies. Write the condition, not a restatement of the name.
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| "Qualified leads" | "The contact stated a real need AND has budget approved or explicitly asked to move forward." |
| "Appointment" | "A meeting, call or demo has been scheduled, with a date agreed by the customer." |
| "Lost" | "The contact said they are not interested, or went cold after three follow-ups." |
Descriptions ship in English and are meant to be rewritten in your own words, in your own language. They are capped at 300 characters on purpose: the text is fed to the agent on every message, so a vague paragraph costs you accuracy and money at the same time.
You can edit them in three places: the creation wizard, Funnel Builder → Stages, and the pencil icon on any column header on the board.
Stage movement policy
The creation wizard applies one movement policy to every new stage. In Funnel Builder → Stages, you can customize each stage. If a policy includes automation, assign one AI Agent or Workflow as its owner.
Blocked
Leads stay in this stage. Nobody can move them out.
Manual only
A person can move leads from the dashboard. Automation cannot.
This is the default when creating a funnel.
Automation only
The assigned AI Agent or Workflow can move leads. People cannot.
Manual + automation
People and the assigned AI Agent or Workflow can move leads immediately.
Manual + automation · approval required
People move leads immediately. Automated moves create a pending request in the approval tray at the top of the funnel board. Review the from → to move and who requested it, then press Approve or Reject.
What the agent will and will not do
- It only moves leads on stages it owns. A stage has exactly one owner; with two agents, each stage belongs to one of them.
- It only moves along an existing stage route, and the selected stage policy decides whether the actor may use it.
- It must write a reason (10–500 characters) citing what the customer actually said. That reason is permanent.
- One move per turn, at most.
- It never mentions the funnel to the customer. No "great, I've moved you to Qualified!" — the reclassification is internal and the customer never hears about it.
- In the Test Chat it performs a dry run: it reports what it would have done and writes nothing at all.
One warning worth reading
Keep the stage owner and the inbox handler aligned when using automation.
"This stage is owned by X, but that inbox hands its conversations to someone else"
An agent can only move a lead it is itself answering. If the stage belongs to agent A but the inbox feeding the funnel assigns its conversations to agent B — or to nobody — then nothing ever moves, and no error appears anywhere. Either assign the inbox to A, or make B the owner of the stage.
Who moved it vs who is handling it
Open a card's menu → Stage history. Two things, deliberately separated:
- Handling this conversation now — the agent currently answering, its avatar, and whether it was assigned directly or inherited from the inbox. A hand icon means a human took over and no agent will move this lead.
- Stage history — every change, newest first:
from → to, who did it (agent, workflow, you, or Kronos itself for automatic intake), and the reason.
The distinction matters: the agent that moved a lead last week may not be the one answering today.
Practical tips
- Write descriptions as conditions, then read the agent's reasons. The reasons it writes when requesting approval tell you exactly where your descriptions are ambiguous.
- Start with approval required before allowing automation to move immediately. Approvals cost you seconds and buy you the agent's actual judgment on real conversations.
- Closing stages close the lead. A stage marked "Leads that reach this stage are closed" stops the lead counting toward work-in-progress limits and staleness sweeps. Won and Lost are both closing stages — closed does not mean successful.
- A conversation can live in several funnels. Sales and Support can each hold the same contact without duplicating the deal. The agent sees up to three of them at once.
- Keep the number of destinations small. An agent choosing between three well-described stages is far more accurate than one choosing between nine.
FAQ
Does the customer ever find out their lead was moved?
No. The agent is explicitly instructed never to mention the funnel, the stage, the board, or the move — and never to congratulate a customer on advancing. It is internal bookkeeping.
What stops the agent from moving leads wherever it wants?
Three things, in order. It only sees stages it owns; the stage movement policy decides whether it may move; and every move is re-checked against your current settings at the moment it happens.
What if I change my mind after the agent moved something?
Drag the card back. Your move is recorded in the history just like the agent’s, so the trail stays complete.
Can the agent close a lead by itself?
Only when the stage policy allows automation and the assigned actor can use the existing route. The approval-required policy is useful for closing stages.
Why does my agent never move anything?
Almost always the handler/owner mismatch above: the stage belongs to a different agent than the one answering the conversation. Open Funnel Builder → Stages and look for the amber warning.
Does the Test Chat move real leads?
No. In the Test Chat the agent reports what it would have done and writes nothing — no move, no approval request, no notification.
How many stages should a funnel have?
Fewer than you think. Between 4 and 6 is where most teams land. The limit is 12, but every extra stage is one more judgment call the agent has to make on every message.
Can two agents share a stage?
No. A stage has exactly one owner. If two agents work the same funnel, give each of them their own stages.