Case study · Ed-tech · Pan-India

SkillLab Academy: 3.4× lead-to-enrol rate — on WhatsApp, not email.

How SkillLab's counselling team replaced 40% of their cold-call workload with AI-drafted WhatsApp replies — and closed more leads per rep than ever before.

Upskilling & certification · Pan-India · 3,400 new leads / mo

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Challenge

  • Counsellors were making 80 cold calls a day to follow up on new leads — and only 3% picked up.
  • Email campaigns had a 9% open rate and a 0.4% click-through — basically dead.
  • Demo no-show rate was 71% — counsellors were giving slots that never converted.

Solution

  • Every new lead on the landing page auto-triggers a WhatsApp conversation within 60 seconds, with course fit and nearest batch.
  • AI-drafted replies prompt the counsellor with three tailored response options per message — the counsellor picks and edits.
  • Demo reminders fire at T-24h and T-1h on WhatsApp — with a 'reschedule' shortcut that doesn't drop the lead.
  • Zoho CRM logs every WhatsApp touchpoint automatically. Counsellors stop updating the CRM manually — and start selling.

Results

  • Lead-to-enrol rate rose 3.4× vs the email control cohort — measured on a 2,800-lead A/B test.
  • Demo-attend rate hit 62% (vs 29% before). AI-drafted T-24h reminders did most of the heavy lifting.
  • Cost per enrol dropped from ₹190 (cold-call + email) to ₹41 on WhatsApp. Counsellor capacity doubled.
  • Counsellors closed 2× the leads a day — not because they worked harder, but because AI drafted the boring replies.
Week-by-week

How SkillLab Academy went live.

Week 1

Meta Business verification + landing-page hookup. First template for 'Your course fit' submitted.

Week 2

Zoho CRM ↔ WhatsApp sync live. AI-drafted replies turned on for 5-counsellor pilot team.

Week 4

Demo reminder flow rolled out. Demo attend rate jumped 29% → 51% in week-one cohort.

Week 8

AI-drafted replies rolled out to full 18-counsellor team. Cost per enrol stabilized at ₹41.

3.4× lead-to-enrol · ₹41 cost per enrol
AI-drafted replies helped our counsellors close 2× the leads in a day. They stopped typing and started selling — the AI drafts three response options and they pick one. Our cost per enrol dropped from ₹190 to ₹41 in the first two months.
RN
Rahul NairHead of Growth · SkillLab Academy
Stack used

What powered the story.

WhatsApp APIZoho CRMAI-drafted repliesGoogle Sheets
The stack SkillLab Academy uses

Build the same setup

AI WhatsApp platformAI-drafted replies — counsellors close 2× more leadsSee it →Schools & education playbookEnrolment, parent-reminder, and fee flowsSee it →Zoho CRM integrationAuto-log every WhatsApp conversation to the right ownerSee it →Automation softwareTrigger replies within 60 seconds of a new leadSee it →

Want to cut cost-per-enrol? Your first flow can go live in 7 days.

SkillLab was running AI-drafted replies inside 2 weeks. Bring one counselling metric you want to move — enrol rate, demo-attend, CPL — we'll build the flow with you on the call.

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