US-based SMB loan originator

The Challenge:

Pascal , the Head of Growth at a tech-focused SMB loan originator with $50M in yearly revenue, faced a critical challenge: doubling the company’s revenue within nine months.

“Our top-of-funnel was performing well, bringing in thousands of leads every day. However, less than 1% of those leads became customers. The potential for revenue growth was enormous if we could move the needle on conversions,” said Pascal.

Pascal observed that leads handled directly by the sales team were 2.4 times more likely to close. Financial products can be complex and intimidating, leading prospects to seek personalized guidance. The potential to grow revenue by improving service quality was substantial, but the team lacked the resources to provide the necessary personalized attention.

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“In the past, we might have solved this by hiring more staff, but budget constraints and pressure from the board to improve margins made that impossible,” Pascal explained.
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Faced with leadership pressure to improve margins, Pascal's team tested Fin, a chatbot from Intercom, hoping to relieve some of the pressure.

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“Our idea was to provide personalized support to each of our leads. Intercom was easy to set up, but we couldn’t get the AI to understand what leads wanted. Nine out of every ten leads would still ask to speak to a human agent.”
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The company was committed to being a trusted partner in improving their users’ credit and financial health. They needed more than a simple chatbot that might raise sales in the short term but ultimately frustrate or alienate their users.
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Partner Considerations:

The company’s goal was to find a solution that would genuinely enhance the customer experience while supporting their ambitious growth targets.

Cautious after the underwhelming performance of old-gen chatbots, the company established key criteria for selecting a technology partner:
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• Advanced AI Technology: A robust AI agent-based product with proprietary architecture, ideally focused on financial services workflows.
• Shared Business Goals: A vendor who understood their business context and sales funnel specifics.
• Customization Capabilities: A solution adaptable to their specific sales processes, not just an off-the-shelf product.
• Proven Success in Loan Origination: A partner with deep experience in the loan origination space, capable of managing their funnel’s nuances.
• Deep AI Expertise: Confidence in being guided by a qualified team of experts in designing, customizing, and deploying an AI agent.
• Scalability: A solution that could support rapid scaling without compromising performance or user experience.
• Seamless Integration: Technology that could integrate smoothly with existing systems via API, minimizing disruption.
• Incentive Alignment: Pricing that rewarded shared success.

“We didn’t want a vendor that just handed us log-ins and said, ‘here’s the platform, have fun.’ We wanted a partner that would work with us to understand what we’re trying to do and help us bring it to life,” Pascal emphasized.
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Working with Konko:

Konko AI was considered alongside five other providers.

“We reviewed the functionality of different vendors. Although Konko was the younger company, it was clear that Jean Marc and Michael understood what we wanted to achieve. They took the time to dive deep into our business, our sales process, and the specific pain points in our funnel to design a real solution,” Pascal said.

The company ultimately selected Konko and chose to deploy a customized version of Kora, Konko AI’s sales agent, to assist leads during their web-based loan application process. Leads could ask questions while completing the application, and Kora would verify required documents on the spot. This automation significantly reduced the time spent on manual document verification, which previously took days. Additionally, Kora re-engaged leads who started the process but did not complete it, even asking those who dropped out to explain why they changed their minds.

“Konko came in with a clear and thoughtful plan that worked around our OKR and holiday calendars. Throughout the entire process, they kept us informed, providing regular updates that made me feel confident we were in good hands. The integration was smooth and didn’t require engineering resources, thanks to their API, which made the whole experience hassle-free,” Pascal reflected.

The Results:

The implementation of Konko AI delivered immediate and measurable results:
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• Drastic Reduction in Application Time: The time required for leads to complete a loan application dropped from four days to under an hour, thanks to the automation of manual document verification.
• Significant NPS Improvement: The lead Net Promoter Score (NPS) saw a substantial increase, rising from 6 to 9, reflecting enhanced customer satisfaction.
• 100% Lead Re-engagement: Konko AI ensured no lead was left behind, increasing the percentage of re-engaged leads from 40% to 100%.
• Optimized Sales Team Efficiency: The sales team, who previously spent 60% of their time on low-value leads, could now narrow their focus to highly qualified leads. “This shift not only made our sales team happier but also significantly improved our conversion rates,” Pascal noted.
• Higher conversion rate: 1.8x end-to-end conversion rate (from ‘lead’ to ‘closed’)

By partnering with Konko AI, the company not only met its aggressive growth targets but also set a new standard for efficiency and customer satisfaction. Reflecting on the experience, Pascal concluded, “It’s been a game-changer, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results. We are actively exploring more use-cases with Konko.”