AI-Powered Commercial Vehicle Sales & Financing Automation Platform

Please see the attached detailed brief for in depth detail. AI-Powered Commercial Vehicle Sales & Financing Automation Platform Project Overview We are looking for an experienced AI automation / AI agent developer to design and build an AI-powered platform that streamlines the commercial vehicle sales process—from lead capture and qualification through customer due diligence, documentation, and bank financing approval. The objective is to automate the repetitive stages of the sales and financing process while keeping sales representatives involved when human intervention or negotiation is required. The platform will integrate with our existing Zoho CRM and connect with lead sources including website forms, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook. Core Workflow The desired workflow is: Lead Generation → Lead Qualification → Product Selection → Quote → Documentation → Customer Dossier → Due Diligence → Bank Submission → Financing Approval → Salesperson Notification → Deal Closing 1. Lead Capture & Depuration The AI should receive leads generated through: • Website forms • Instagram • Facebook • WhatsApp The system should automatically create/update the corresponding lead in Zoho CRM and begin the qualification process. The AI should identify and collect minimum required information, including: • Customer name • Contact information • Company/business information where applicable • Commercial vehicle/model of interest • Intended use of the vehicle • Cash purchase vs. bank financing • Approximate purchase timing • Other relevant qualification information The AI should also identify whether the lead originated from a specific promotion or campaign with special pricing or commercial conditions. 2. AI Sales Assistant The AI should communicate naturally with the prospect and guide them through the sales process. It should be capable of: • Answering basic product questions • Providing model specifications • Sending the appropriate vehicle specification sheet • Providing a quotation based on the applicable pricing conditions • Explaining financing requirements • Following up with customers who have not completed the process • Maintaining the conversation history • Identifying the customer’s stage in the sales funnel 3. Promotion & Pricing Logic The platform should recognize when a lead is associated with a specific promotion. For example, a campaign may have: • Special vehicle price • Special financing conditions • Limited validity • Specific models • Specific customer eligibility requirements The AI should apply the appropriate commercial rules when generating the quotation and should not provide unauthorized pricing. 4. Customer Documentation & Dossier Management For customers requesting financing, the AI should determine the required documentation based on the customer’s profile. The system should: • Request documents from the customer • Receive uploaded documents • Associate each document with the correct customer • Store/manage the documents securely • Track which documents have been received • Identify missing or incomplete documents • Remind customers about pending documents • Maintain a real-time checklist/status of the customer’s dossier Example: Customer Financing Dossier • ID/passport – Received • Financial statements – Received • Bank statements – Pending • Tax documents – Received • Company registration – Pending • Other required documents – Pending The AI should maintain this information in memory so that customers do not have to repeatedly send documents they have already provided. 5. Dossier Completion & Bank Submission Once all required documentation has been received and the dossier is complete, the platform should automatically initiate the financing process. The system should be capable of sending the completed dossier to a predefined pool of banks/financial institutions. The architecture should ideally allow additional banks to be added in the future without rebuilding the entire platform. Where direct API integration with a bank is not available, the solution should support an alternative controlled workflow, subject to the bank’s available systems and processes. 6. Financing Status Tracking The platform should maintain the status of each financing application. Example statuses: Dossier Incomplete → Dossier Complete → Submitted to Bank → Under Review → Additional Information Required → Approved → Rejected → Customer Declined The system should record relevant dates, communications, documents and status changes in Zoho CRM. 7. Financing Approval & Salesperson Notification When financing is approved, the system should automatically: • Update the opportunity/application in Zoho CRM • Record the approval information • Notify a predefined list of sales representatives by email • Include the relevant customer and vehicle information • Include financing/approval details • Alert the salesperson that the customer is ready for the closing stage The objective is for the salesperson to receive a qualified, financed customer ready to close, rather than spending time manually processing documentation. 8. Human Escalation / Salesperson Intervention A critical requirement is that the AI must recognize when the customer wants to stop or abandon the automated process. Examples include: • Customer asks to speak with a salesperson • Customer wants to negotiate the price • Customer requests a special discount • Customer has a complex requirement • Customer becomes frustrated with the automated process • Customer indicates they are considering another supplier • Customer requests something outside the AI’s authorization In these situations, the AI should immediately escalate the conversation to a designated salesperson. The system should preserve the complete conversation and qualification information so the salesperson can take over without asking the customer to repeat everything. 9. Zoho CRM Integration Zoho CRM is our existing CRM and should be the central system for commercial information. The solution should integrate with Zoho CRM to: • Create/update Leads • Create/update Contacts and Accounts • Create/update Deals/Opportunities • Record lead source and campaign • Record vehicle/model of interest • Record qualification information • Record financing status • Track documentation status • Record bank submission and approval status • Maintain relevant conversation/activity history • Trigger relevant workflows and notifications The developer should recommend the best integration architecture using available Zoho APIs, webhooks and/or automation tools. Required AI Capabilities The AI should be capable of: • Natural-language customer conversations • Lead qualification • Intent detection • Product recommendation • Promotion recognition • Quote generation • Document collection • Document checklist management • Follow-up automation • Customer status tracking • Financing workflow management • Human handoff • CRM synchronization • Email notifications • Audit/history tracking Security & Data Protection Because the platform will handle sensitive customer and financial documentation, security is a critical requirement. The solution should include: • Secure document storage • Access control • Authentication/authorization • Encryption where appropriate • Customer/document association controls • Audit trails • Secure API integrations • Appropriate handling of sensitive financial information • Protection against unauthorized access to customer dossiers The developer should clearly explain the proposed security architecture and hosting environment. Expected Deliverables The selected developer will be expected to provide: 1. Solution architecture 2. AI agent/workflow design 3. Lead capture integrations 4. Zoho CRM integration 5. Customer qualification workflow 6. Quote generation workflow 7. Document collection and tracking system 8. Customer dossier management 9. Bank submission workflow 10. Financing status tracking 11. Approval notification system 12. Human escalation functionality 13. Administrative dashboard/status monitoring 14. Testing and error handling 15. Documentation for future maintenance and development 16. Deployment of the production system Preferred Developer Profile We are looking for a developer or AI automation specialist with demonstrated experience in: • AI agents / LLM applications • AI workflow automation • WhatsApp Business/API integrations • Instagram/Facebook lead integrations • Web forms and lead capture • Zoho CRM API/integrations • Document management systems • OCR/document processing • CRM automation • API integrations • Financial/loan application workflows • Secure cloud architecture Experience with commercial vehicle sales, automotive sales, banking/financing or credit workflows would be a strong advantage. Important We are not looking for a simple chatbot. The desired solution is an AI-powered commercial sales and financing workflow platform that can manage a customer from the initial lead through qualification, quotation, documentation, financing submission and approval, while integrating with our existing CRM and intelligently handing the customer to a salesperson whenever human intervention is required. The developer should propose the recommended technology stack, architecture, AI model(s), hosting environment, integrations and implementation approach. Please include in your proposal: • Examples of similar AI automation projects you have built • Your recommended architecture for this project • Recommended technology stack • Experience integrating with Zoho CRM • Experience with WhatsApp/Instagram/Facebook integrations • Approach to secure document handling • Estimated development timeline • Estimated project cost • Ongoing maintenance requirements/costs PHASES Phase 1: architecture + Minimal Viable Product Phase 2: CRM/lead automation Phase 3: document & financing workflow Phase 4: bank integrations + optimization