The Challenge: Unqualified Lead Focus

Most sales organisations don’t fail because of a lack of leads, but because reps spend too much time on the wrong ones. Without clear visibility into purchase intent and winnability, deals look similar in the CRM. Reps chase whoever replied last, opened an email, or booked a meeting — even if the underlying fit, urgency, or budget was never there.

Traditional approaches like static lead scoring models, rigid qualification checklists, or gut-feel prioritisation simply don’t keep up with modern buying behaviour. Scoring rules are rarely updated, sales and marketing data sit in silos, and manual qualification notes get buried in call logs and email threads. As a result, a lead that just clicked a generic ad may be treated nearly the same as a stakeholder who has engaged deeply across multiple touchpoints.

The business impact is significant: slow response to hot prospects, bloated pipelines full of zombie deals, and lower revenue per rep. Managers struggle to forecast accurately because the pipeline is noisy. Marketing keeps pumping in volume without a clear feedback loop on which campaigns actually produce qualified opportunities. Over time, competitors who use data and AI to focus effort on truly winnable deals start to close faster and at better margins.

This challenge is real, but it’s also very solvable. With today’s AI, you can analyse conversations, emails, and deal history at scale to understand what a winnable opportunity actually looks like in your context — and then operationalise it. At Reruption, we’ve helped teams replace manual, subjective qualification with AI-driven decision support. In the rest of this page, you’ll see how to use Gemini to clean up your pipeline, protect your reps’ time, and systematically improve deal conversion.

Need a sparring partner for this challenge?

Let's have a no-obligation chat and brainstorm together.

Innovators at these companies trust us:

Our Assessment

A strategic assessment of the challenge and high-level tips how to tackle it.

From our work building AI solutions for sales and commercial teams, we see a clear pattern: the biggest uplift in win rates comes not from more leads, but from better focus. Google’s Gemini, when connected to your CRM, Google Workspace, and ad platforms, is well suited to tackle the unqualified lead problem because it can reason across emails, meetings, campaigns, and deal outcomes — and then recommend concrete qualification rules and lead scoring models tailored to your pipeline. With Reruption’s hands-on implementation experience, Gemini becomes a practical engine to reallocate sales effort toward deals you can actually win.

Start with a Clear Definition of a “Good” Deal

Before you connect Gemini to every tool in your stack, get explicit about what a qualified, high-quality opportunity looks like in your business. This is not just BANT on a slide; it’s the specific patterns you see in won deals: typical company profiles, buying roles involved, activities before the first call, deal cycle length, and common objections that still lead to wins.

Strategically, this gives Gemini a target. When you later ask Gemini to analyse historical opportunities, it can contrast your definition against real data instead of making generic assumptions. In workshops, we often have sales, marketing, and customer success jointly define these criteria, which also surfaces misalignment that previously led to unqualified leads being pushed into the pipeline.

Connect Sales, Marketing, and Product Signals Before You Optimise

Unqualified lead focus is rarely just a sales problem; it’s a systems problem. Reps chase bad leads because marketing signals, product usage data, and CRM fields are fragmented. Strategically, you want Gemini to see the full picture: where a lead came from, how they engaged with content, who attended calls, and what happened after closing.

That means involving marketing ops and sales ops early to map out which tools feed the pipeline. Connect Gemini to key sources (CRM, Google Workspace, ad platforms, web analytics) so it can detect patterns like “leads from Campaign X that never reach stage 3” or “product trial sign-ups that convert at 5x the average.” The mindset shift: treat Gemini as a cross-functional analysis layer, not just another sales add-on.

Use Gemini as a Recommendation Engine, Not an Autopilot

From a risk perspective, it’s tempting to let an AI assign lead scores and automatically route deals. But if you jump straight to full automation, you risk reinforcing existing biases or overreacting to outliers in the data. Strategically, treat Gemini as a recommendation engine first: it surfaces suggested scores, next best actions, and disqualification reasons, while reps and managers remain in control.

This approach builds trust and gives you time to calibrate models. Managers can review where reps override Gemini’s suggestions and use that feedback to refine qualification rules. Over a few cycles, you’ll know which recommendations are reliable enough to automate and which should remain human-reviewed.

Align Incentives Around Lead Quality, Not Just Volume

Even the best AI-driven lead scoring will fail if your commercial incentives still reward volume over qualified pipeline. Strategically, you should update KPIs and compensation models to reinforce the new reality: it’s better for reps to close fewer, better deals than to carry a bloated pipeline of low-intent leads.

For example, you might track metrics like “percentage of opportunities with Gemini score ≥ X” or “win rate for Gemini-recommended deals” and reflect these in team goals. Marketing can be measured on pipeline quality by Gemini’s qualification score rather than raw MQL counts. This alignment ensures Gemini’s insights actually change behaviour instead of becoming another ignored dashboard.

Invest in Data Hygiene and Governance from Day One

Gemini is only as good as the data it sees. If deal stages are inconsistent, contact roles are missing, or activities are not logged, you will get noisy and sometimes misleading recommendations. Strategically, that means pairing your Gemini initiative with a push on data hygiene, data ownership, and governance.

Define who is accountable for critical fields, which behaviours are mandatory (e.g. logging meeting outcomes), and how often scoring models are reviewed. From a compliance perspective, ensure you have clear policies on what customer data Gemini can access, how long it is retained, and how outputs are audited. This reduces risk and increases the credibility of AI-driven qualification in the eyes of sales leadership.

Used thoughtfully, Gemini becomes much more than a clever chatbot; it’s a way to systematically cut unqualified lead focus and direct your sales effort toward the opportunities you can realistically win. By combining your historical deal data, everyday conversations in Google Workspace, and campaign performance, it can recommend practical qualification rules and scoring models that reflect how your pipeline really works. At Reruption, we specialise in turning these ideas into working AI products inside your organisation — from first PoC to rollout — so if you’re ready to clean up your pipeline and improve conversion with Gemini, we’re happy to explore what that would look like in your context.

Need help implementing these ideas?

Feel free to reach out to us with no obligation.

Real-World Case Studies

From Healthcare to Logistics: Learn how companies successfully use Gemini.

Pfizer

Healthcare

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented urgent need for new antiviral treatments, as traditional drug discovery timelines span 10-15 years with success rates below 10%. Pfizer faced immense pressure to identify potent, oral inhibitors targeting the SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease (Mpro), a key viral enzyme, while ensuring safety and efficacy in humans. Structure-based drug design (SBDD) required analyzing complex protein structures and generating millions of potential molecules, but conventional computational methods were too slow, consuming vast resources and time. Challenges included limited structural data early in the pandemic, high failure risks in hit identification, and the need to run processes in parallel amid global uncertainty. Pfizer's teams had to overcome data scarcity, integrate disparate datasets, and scale simulations without compromising accuracy, all while traditional wet-lab validation lagged behind.

Lösung

Pfizer deployed AI-driven pipelines leveraging machine learning (ML) for SBDD, using models to predict protein-ligand interactions and generate novel molecules via generative AI. Tools analyzed cryo-EM and X-ray structures of the SARS-CoV-2 protease, enabling virtual screening of billions of compounds and de novo design optimized for binding affinity, pharmacokinetics, and synthesizability. By integrating supercomputing with ML algorithms, Pfizer streamlined hit-to-lead optimization, running parallel simulations that identified PF-07321332 (nirmatrelvir) as the lead candidate. This lightspeed approach combined ML with human expertise, reducing iterative cycles and accelerating from target validation to preclinical nomination.

Ergebnisse

  • Drug candidate nomination: 4 months vs. typical 2-5 years
  • Computational chemistry processes reduced: 80-90%
  • Drug discovery timeline cut: From years to 30 days for key phases
  • Clinical trial success rate boost: Up to 12% (vs. industry ~5-10%)
  • Virtual screening scale: Billions of compounds screened rapidly
  • Paxlovid efficacy: 89% reduction in hospitalization/death
Read case study →

PepsiCo (Frito-Lay)

Food Manufacturing

In the fast-paced food manufacturing industry, PepsiCo's Frito-Lay division grappled with unplanned machinery downtime that disrupted high-volume production lines for snacks like Lay's and Doritos. These lines operate 24/7, where even brief failures could cost thousands of dollars per hour in lost capacity—industry estimates peg average downtime at $260,000 per hour in manufacturing . Perishable ingredients and just-in-time supply chains amplified losses, leading to high maintenance costs from reactive repairs, which are 3-5x more expensive than planned ones . Frito-Lay plants faced frequent issues with critical equipment like compressors, conveyors, and fryers, where micro-stops and major breakdowns eroded overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). Worker fatigue from extended shifts compounded risks, as noted in reports of grueling 84-hour weeks, indirectly stressing machines further . Without predictive insights, maintenance teams relied on schedules or breakdowns, resulting in lost production capacity and inability to meet consumer demand spikes.

Lösung

PepsiCo deployed machine learning predictive maintenance across Frito-Lay factories, leveraging sensor data from IoT devices on equipment to forecast failures days or weeks ahead. Models analyzed vibration, temperature, pressure, and usage patterns using algorithms like random forests and deep learning for time-series forecasting . Partnering with cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure Machine Learning and AWS, PepsiCo built scalable systems integrating real-time data streams for just-in-time maintenance alerts. This shifted from reactive to proactive strategies, optimizing schedules during low-production windows and minimizing disruptions . Implementation involved pilot testing in select plants before full rollout, overcoming data silos through advanced analytics .

Ergebnisse

  • 4,000 extra production hours gained annually
  • 50% reduction in unplanned downtime
  • 30% decrease in maintenance costs
  • 95% accuracy in failure predictions
  • 20% increase in OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
  • $5M+ annual savings from optimized repairs
Read case study →

Associated Press (AP)

News Media

In the mid-2010s, the Associated Press (AP) faced significant constraints in its business newsroom due to limited manual resources. With only a handful of journalists dedicated to earnings coverage, AP could produce just around 300 quarterly earnings reports per quarter, primarily focusing on major S&P 500 companies. This manual process was labor-intensive: reporters had to extract data from financial filings, analyze key metrics like revenue, profits, and growth rates, and craft concise narratives under tight deadlines. As the number of publicly traded companies grew, AP struggled to cover smaller firms, leaving vast amounts of market-relevant information unreported. This limitation not only reduced AP's comprehensive market coverage but also tied up journalists on rote tasks, preventing them from pursuing investigative stories or deeper analysis. The pressure of quarterly earnings seasons amplified these issues, with deadlines coinciding across thousands of companies, making scalable reporting impossible without innovation.

Lösung

To address this, AP partnered with Automated Insights in 2014, implementing their Wordsmith NLG platform. Wordsmith uses templated algorithms to transform structured financial data—such as earnings per share, revenue figures, and year-over-year changes—into readable, journalistic prose. Reporters input verified data from sources like Zacks Investment Research, and the AI generates draft stories in seconds, which humans then lightly edit for accuracy and style. The solution involved creating custom NLG templates tailored to AP's style, ensuring stories sounded human-written while adhering to journalistic standards. This hybrid approach—AI for volume, humans for oversight—overcame quality concerns. By 2015, AP announced it would automate the majority of U.S. corporate earnings stories, scaling coverage dramatically without proportional staff increases.

Ergebnisse

  • 14x increase in quarterly earnings stories: 300 to 4,200
  • Coverage expanded to 4,000+ U.S. public companies per quarter
  • Equivalent to freeing time of 20 full-time reporters
  • Stories published in seconds vs. hours manually
  • Zero reported errors in automated stories post-implementation
  • Sustained use expanded to sports, weather, and lottery reports
Read case study →

Klarna

Fintech

Klarna, a leading fintech BNPL provider, faced enormous pressure from millions of customer service inquiries across multiple languages for its 150 million users worldwide. Queries spanned complex fintech issues like refunds, returns, order tracking, and payments, requiring high accuracy, regulatory compliance, and 24/7 availability. Traditional human agents couldn't scale efficiently, leading to long wait times averaging 11 minutes per resolution and rising costs. Additionally, providing personalized shopping advice at scale was challenging, as customers expected conversational, context-aware guidance across retail partners. Multilingual support was critical in markets like US, Europe, and beyond, but hiring multilingual agents was costly and slow. This bottleneck hindered growth and customer satisfaction in a competitive BNPL sector.

Lösung

Klarna partnered with OpenAI to deploy a generative AI chatbot powered by GPT-4, customized as a multilingual customer service assistant. The bot handles refunds, returns, order issues, and acts as a conversational shopping advisor, integrated seamlessly into Klarna's app and website. Key innovations included fine-tuning on Klarna's data, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) for real-time policy access, and safeguards for fintech compliance. It supports dozens of languages, escalating complex cases to humans while learning from interactions. This AI-native approach enabled rapid scaling without proportional headcount growth.

Ergebnisse

  • 2/3 of all customer service chats handled by AI
  • 2.3 million conversations in first month alone
  • Resolution time: 11 minutes → 2 minutes (82% reduction)
  • CSAT: 4.4/5 (AI) vs. 4.2/5 (humans)
  • $40 million annual cost savings
  • Equivalent to 700 full-time human agents
  • 80%+ queries resolved without human intervention
Read case study →

Ooredoo (Qatar)

Telecommunications

Ooredoo Qatar, Qatar's leading telecom operator, grappled with the inefficiencies of manual Radio Access Network (RAN) optimization and troubleshooting. As 5G rollout accelerated, traditional methods proved time-consuming and unscalable , struggling to handle surging data demands, ensure seamless connectivity, and maintain high-quality user experiences amid complex network dynamics . Performance issues like dropped calls, variable data speeds, and suboptimal resource allocation required constant human intervention, driving up operating expenses (OpEx) and delaying resolutions. With Qatar's National Digital Transformation agenda pushing for advanced 5G capabilities, Ooredoo needed a proactive, intelligent approach to RAN management without compromising network reliability .

Lösung

Ooredoo partnered with Ericsson to deploy cloud-native Ericsson Cognitive Software on Microsoft Azure, featuring a digital twin of the RAN combined with deep reinforcement learning (DRL) for AI-driven optimization . This solution creates a virtual network replica to simulate scenarios, analyze vast RAN data in real-time, and generate proactive tuning recommendations . The Ericsson Performance Optimizers suite was trialed in 2022, evolving into full deployment by 2023, enabling automated issue resolution and performance enhancements while integrating seamlessly with Ooredoo's 5G infrastructure . Recent expansions include energy-saving PoCs, further leveraging AI for sustainable operations .

Ergebnisse

  • 15% reduction in radio power consumption (Energy Saver PoC)
  • Proactive RAN optimization reducing troubleshooting time
  • Maintained high user experience during power savings
  • Reduced operating expenses via automated resolutions
  • Enhanced 5G subscriber experience with seamless connectivity
  • 10% spectral efficiency gains (Ericsson AI RAN benchmarks)
Read case study →

Best Practices

Successful implementations follow proven patterns. Have a look at our tactical advice to get started.

Use Gemini to Analyse Historical Deals and Derive a Win-Likelihood Model

Start by giving Gemini access to a representative set of past opportunities (won, lost, and no decision) from your CRM, plus related emails and call notes stored in Google Workspace. The goal is to identify which attributes and behaviours actually correlate with wins in your sales process.

Export a sample of deals with fields like industry, company size, role of main contact, opportunity source, deal value, stages touched, key activities, and outcome. Then provide Gemini with that data and prompt it to detect patterns and propose a scoring framework.

Example Gemini prompt for analysis:
You are a sales analytics assistant.

I will give you a table of historical opportunities with these columns:
- Outcome (Won/Lost/No decision)
- Lead source and campaign
- Company size and industry
- Main buyer role
- Number of meetings
- Time from first contact to proposal
- Key objections mentioned
- Deal value

Tasks:
1) Identify the top 10 patterns that distinguish Won deals from Lost/No decision.
2) Propose a lead scoring model (0–100) that uses only attributes we can observe within the first 2 weeks of contact.
3) For each scoring factor, explain how strongly it correlates with wins.
4) Flag any lead sources or campaigns that systematically produce low-scoring (unqualified) deals.

Use Gemini’s output as a starting point, then iterate with your sales leaders to adjust weights and ensure the model reflects reality. This becomes the backbone of your AI-assisted lead qualification.

Embed Gemini-Powered Qualification Directly in Your CRM Workflow

Once you have a proposed scoring model, operationalise it where reps live: your CRM. Depending on your stack, you can call Gemini via API or use an integration to compute a Gemini Qualification Score and recommended next best action every time a new lead or opportunity is created.

Design a simple workflow: when a new lead enters from a form, ad platform, or manual entry, trigger Gemini with relevant data (lead source, firmographics, recent website activity, first email interaction). Gemini responds with a score, key reasons, and suggested next steps (book demo, nurture, or disqualify). Display this inside the lead record so reps can immediately see where to focus.

Example Gemini request payload (conceptual):
{
  "lead": {
    "company_size": "200-500",
    "industry": "SaaS",
    "country": "DE",
    "lead_source": "Google Ads - "AI sales assistant"",
    "pages_viewed": ["/pricing", "/case-studies"],
    "first_email_text": "We are exploring tools to improve our SDR efficiency..."
  },
  "task": "score_and_recommend"
}

The expected outcome is that reps no longer start their day by scanning a long list of new leads; instead, they prioritise those with the highest Gemini score and clear buying signals.

Let Gemini Summarise Interactions and Recommend Next Best Actions

Many deals look qualified on paper at first contact, but then stall because follow-up loses relevance. Use Gemini to continuously reassess winnability based on how the conversation evolves. Connect Gemini to call transcripts, meeting notes, and email threads in Google Workspace and have it generate concise status summaries plus next best actions.

After each key interaction, automatically send the transcript or email to Gemini and ask it to classify the opportunity risk, update the qualification view, and propose concrete steps. This helps reps handle objections better and avoid over-investing in deals where the buyer is signalling low intent.

Example Gemini prompt for next-step guidance:
You are a sales coach assistant.

Here is the latest email thread and call transcript for this opportunity.
- Summarise the buyer's situation, urgency, and main objections.
- Assess the likelihood of this deal closing in the next 60 days (High/Medium/Low) and explain why.
- Suggest the 3 most effective next actions the rep should take.
- If the deal looks low-likelihood, suggest how to gracefully downgrade or disqualify.

By standardising this practice, you reduce variance between reps and ensure that qualification is updated dynamically, not just at the first meeting.

Use Gemini to Diagnose and Clean Up Unproductive Lead Sources

Unqualified lead focus often starts with acquisition. If certain campaigns or channels consistently produce low-Gemini-score leads, your reps will always be underwater. Use Gemini to analyse performance across ad platforms, campaigns, and keywords to identify which ones send you weak opportunities.

Feed Gemini data that links lead source information to downstream outcomes (stage reached, win/loss, Gemini score). Ask it to group campaigns by quality and suggest targeting or messaging changes to raise average qualification.

Example Gemini prompt for campaign diagnostics:
You are a B2B demand generation analyst.

I will provide a dataset with:
- Campaign name and channel
- Leads generated
- Average Gemini Qualification Score (0–100)
- Opportunities created
- Wins, losses, no decisions

Tasks:
1) Cluster campaigns into High, Medium, and Low quality buckets.
2) Explain the common characteristics of Low quality campaigns.
3) Suggest concrete changes to targeting, keywords, and messaging to improve lead quality.
4) Recommend which campaigns to pause, scale, or test further.

This creates a feedback loop from sales back to marketing, so you steadily reduce the inflow of unqualified leads instead of just triaging them faster.

Standardise AI-Assisted Qualification Scripts for SDRs and AEs

To truly reduce time on bad leads, frontline reps need consistent discovery calls and emails that surface qualification signals quickly. Configure Gemini to act as a real-time qualification assistant that proposes questions, email templates, and talking points tailored to each lead’s context.

For example, reps can highlight an email in Gmail and ask Gemini to suggest a short, qualification-focused reply, or paste brief notes from a first call and ask for a structured qualification summary.

Example Gemini prompt for SDR support:
You are an SDR assistant.

Here is the inbound message and basic firmographic data.
- Draft a reply that acknowledges their context.
- Ask 3–4 targeted qualification questions about budget, decision process, and timing.
- Keep it under 140 words and in a professional but friendly tone.
- Highlight in bullet points which answers would indicate high qualification.

This reduces the cognitive load on SDRs, shortens time to qualification, and ensures that key signals are captured consistently and can be fed back into the scoring model.

Set Clear KPIs and Review Cadence for Gemini’s Impact

To keep Gemini from becoming a one-off experiment, define measurable outcomes and a review rhythm from day one. Track KPIs such as: percentage of reps using Gemini recommendations, response time to high-score leads, win rate uplift on Gemini-flagged opportunities, and reduction in time spent on low-likelihood deals.

Run monthly or quarterly review sessions where sales, marketing, and operations look at these metrics together. Have Gemini generate a brief report comparing performance before and after implementing AI-driven qualification, and use that to decide which workflows to refine or automate further.

Expected outcomes for a disciplined implementation are realistic but meaningful: a 10–25% increase in win rates on qualified opportunities, 20–40% reduction in time spent on low-intent leads, faster response times to high-intent leads by several hours, and a cleaner, more forecastable pipeline within 3–6 months.

Need implementation expertise now?

Let's talk about your ideas!

Frequently Asked Questions

Gemini reduces time on unqualified leads by analysing historical deal data, emails, and call notes to understand which attributes and behaviours correlate with wins in your specific pipeline. It then applies this understanding to new leads, calculating a qualification score and recommended next steps.

Instead of reps manually scanning every new lead, Gemini highlights which opportunities are most likely to close, which should be nurtured, and which can be safely disqualified early. Over time, it also flags underperforming lead sources and campaigns, so you reduce the inflow of low-quality leads in the first place.

You typically need three capabilities: access to your CRM and marketing data, basic integration or scripting skills to connect Gemini, and sales leadership willing to refine qualification rules. A sales ops or revenue ops function is ideal to coordinate data access and workflows.

On the technical side, someone should be comfortable working with APIs or low-code automation tools to send relevant lead and opportunity data to Gemini and write outputs back into your CRM. On the business side, you need sales managers who can interpret Gemini’s recommendations, adjust thresholds, and update playbooks so reps actually act on the new scores and guidance.

If your data is reasonably clean, you can see directional insights within 2–4 weeks from the first analysis of historical deals. That’s usually enough time for Gemini to propose a first version of a lead scoring model and highlight obviously unproductive lead sources.

Measurable changes in behaviour and win rates typically appear over 8–12 weeks, as you embed Gemini into daily workflows and reps start prioritising based on AI-driven qualification. Significant improvements in pipeline quality and revenue per rep often emerge within one to two quarters, especially when marketing also adjusts acquisition based on Gemini’s feedback.

The direct cost of using Gemini itself is usually modest compared to sales headcount costs; the main investment is in initial setup, integration, and change management. Many teams start with a focused pilot on one region or segment to limit scope and validate ROI before scaling.

In terms of impact, realistic outcomes are a 10–25% uplift in win rates for qualified opportunities and a 20–40% reduction in time spent on low-intent leads. For a team of several reps, that often translates into six-figure annual gains in additional closed revenue and saved time, well exceeding the cost of implementation and ongoing usage.

Reruption supports you end to end, from idea to a working solution in your stack. We typically start with an AI PoC (9,900€) where we connect Gemini to a slice of your CRM and Google Workspace data, validate that it can reliably distinguish winnable from unwinnable deals, and prototype a scoring and recommendation model.

From there, our Co-Preneur approach means we embed with your team like co-founders: we design the workflows, build the integrations, handle security and compliance questions, and coach your sales organisation on using Gemini in daily qualification. Because we focus on AI Strategy, AI Engineering, and Enablement, you don’t get a slide deck; you get a live system that your reps can use to stop chasing bad deals and focus where it counts.

Contact Us!

0/10 min.

Contact Directly

Your Contact

Philipp M. W. Hoffmann

Founder & Partner

Address

Reruption GmbH

Falkertstraße 2

70176 Stuttgart

Social Media