Domain · Conversation initiation and qualification
What it covers
The moment a renter starts engaging with Rentiful, through to a qualified, profiled renter with an active conversation thread. This domain opens conversations and gives them enough shape that later operations can develop them well.
Activities
- Landing page and entry point optimisation across all initiation routes (both rentiful.ai and partner White Label surfaces).
- First-message handling — whether the renter starts via web form, email, WhatsApp, or another medium.
- Conversation thread creation — establishing one persistent record per renter.
- Qualification — is this a real renter with real intent.
- Profile building — capturing what the renter is looking for, not just basic criteria.
- Initial matching — surfacing first candidate units to seed the conversation.
- Stage assignment within the loop.
- Routing high-value or unusual conversations for personal handling.
Operations
Conversation initiation operation
Signal: Renter makes first contact through any medium. Steps: Message routed and de-duplicated against existing conversations → new conversation thread created or existing one resumed → renter receives initial response in their chosen medium → conversation logged with full state. Closed state: Conversation thread exists or has been resumed; initial response sent; state logged. Cadence: Event-driven. Heavily automated; target sub-5-minute first response.
Qualification operation
Signal: Active conversation reaches a qualification point. Steps: Qualification questions answered (in-conversation, naturally) → qualified / unqualified / needs-more-info classification → conversation routed to appropriate next operation. Closed state: Conversation classified and routed. Cadence: Continuous. Qualification happens conversationally, not as a separate form-filling exercise.
Profile-building operation
Signal: Any renter utterance. Steps: Preferences, constraints, must-haves, deal-breakers extracted from what the renter says → renter profile enriched continuously → profile used by matching operations. Closed state: Profile reflects the most recent signal. Cadence: Continuous. Different from one-off form qualification: the profile keeps growing as the conversation continues.
Initial match operation
Signal: Qualified conversation with seed profile. Steps: Query against live unit inventory → ranked candidate list (with explicit fit reasoning) → presented to renter inside the conversation → engagement signals captured to refine the profile. Closed state: Candidates presented; engagement captured. Cadence: Event-driven.
High-value flagging operation
Signal: Conversation attributes (lease value, complexity, strong intent signals) score above threshold. Steps: Score computed → if above threshold, conversation routed for personal handling rather than continued automated flow. Closed state: Routing decision made. Cadence: Continuous.
Notes
This domain is where the conversation-as-unit really matters. A renter who starts on the website, goes silent, then picks up via WhatsApp two days later should not be a new conversation — they should be the same conversation, with all of its prior context intact. Getting this right is what makes Rentiful feel like a concierge rather than a portal.
On partner (White Label) surfaces, initiation runs identically but the outbound messages are branded for the operator with a co-signed "powered by Rentiful." See vehicles/white-label.md and ADR 0004.