How AI qualifies your inquiries

Every inquiry that lands in your Inquiries is analyzed by Joinways AI before you even open it. Instead of re-reading each email, Instagram message or WhatsApp by hand, you get a pre-structured card with the essentials: date, attendee count (Pax), budget and event type. The goal isn't to decide for you, but to save you the five minutes of reading and re-typing so you arrive on an inquiry that's ready to handle.

In events, speed of reply is often what wins or loses a contract. By sparing you the manual data entry, AI lets you respond faster and with reliable information, without missing anything along the way.

What you'll learn

• How AI detects and reads an incoming inquiry, whatever the channel
• Which details are extracted automatically and how they're pre-filled
• How to read the AI summary, verify the data and keep the final say
• What happens with an ambiguous message and how AI handles doubt
• How your data is protected

Prerequisites

Before AI can work for you, at least one inquiry source needs to be connected to Joinways. Once the connection is made, there's nothing else to configure.

• At least one connected source: Gmail, Outlook, a forwarding address, Instagram or WhatsApp (see Integrations).
• No extra setup: AI analysis is on by default for every inquiry, with no option to toggle.
• You'll find this feature under Settings, Workflows, « AI » tab, as « Incoming inquiry reading ». It is always on and also reads emails sent by booking platforms.

How AI reads an inquiry

As soon as a message reaches one of your channels, AI reads it the way an experienced salesperson would: it spots the date mentioned, the attendee count (Pax), the budget, the event type and the source channel, then pre-fills these fields on the inquiry. You only have to verify what was understood instead of typing everything yourself.

Concretely, Joinways runs four steps in a few seconds:

1. Detection: AI first recognizes whether this really is an event inquiry, and not a newsletter, an invoice or spam. A purely promotional email is set aside so it doesn't clutter your Inquiries.
2. Extraction: it then reads the content of the message and pulls out the key fields (date, headcount, budget…), even when they're buried in a long paragraph.
3. Inquiry creation: a card appears in your Inquiries, along with an AI summary that condenses the message into a few lines.
4. Matching: Joinways ties the inquiry to the right venue and spots whether the same request already exists (duplicate, another of your venues, a platform follow-up).

In the Inquiries list, each inquiry shows a preview written by the AI. When you open it, the « Extracted data » block sits above the original message, which stays readable in full.

What AI extracts

AI systematically looks for the information that structures an event. When a detail is present in the message, it places it in the matching field; when it's missing, the field stays empty so you immediately spot what you'll need to ask for.

• Client name and contact details (email, phone)
• Event type (wedding, seminar, birthday…)
• Requested date(s) and times
• Attendees (Pax)
• Indicative budget
• Special needs (catering, accommodation, technical…)

These fields aren't just labels: the date and headcount feed your availability, the budget and event type power your reporting, and the contact details prepare your reply. A field filled in well today means accurate reporting tomorrow.

A behind-the-scenes reliability index

The AI gives each extraction a reliability index, based on what it found: client, event, date, budget, platform link, full contact details. This index isn't shown in Inquiries. It works behind the scenes, for example to decide whether a pre-filled proposal is prepared when you convert the inquiry.

To prioritize, rely on each inquiry's « Extracted data »: an inquiry with a date, a headcount and a budget is ready to become an event; one without a date first needs a question to the client.

Tip: an incomplete inquiry isn't a bad one. It often just lacks a date or a budget: a precise follow-up is enough to qualify it.

Verify and correct the information

AI proposes, you decide. The « Extracted data » can't be edited on the inquiry itself: you confirm or correct what was understood when you convert the inquiry into an event, and your values are the ones kept.

1. Open the inquiry from the Inquiries section: the card appears with the summary and extracted fields.
2. Review the « Extracted data » block shown above the original message.
3. Click « Convert »: the event creation window opens, pre-filled with this data. Correct or complete any field there, for example a date given as a range or a budget mentioned on the phone.
4. Click « Convert to event »: the event is created with the values you checked, with no re-entry.

Edge cases

Not every message is as clean as "September 12, 120 people." Here's how AI handles the tricky ones.

• Ambiguous date: for "the first weekend of June" or "this summer," AI makes a reasonable guess, which you correct in the conversion window; when the doubt is strong, it leaves the field empty rather than inventing a date.
• Several dates proposed: when the client offers two options, AI flags them in the summary so you settle it together during the follow-up.
• Budget as a range: a budget of "between €10,000 and €15,000" is captured as an indicative value; you refine it when quoting.
• Multilingual or very short message: a message written in several languages or reduced to one sentence can lower accuracy: the inquiry is still created, and it's up to you to complete it.

Best practices

• Always check the date and headcount before creating the event: these feed your availability and reporting.
• Connect all your channels so nothing escapes the unified Inquiries: an unconnected Instagram inquiry is a potentially lost event.
• Reply quickly to complete inquiries (date, headcount, budget): they're ready, and speed of reply is often decisive in events.
• Follow up on incomplete inquiries with a specific question about what's missing rather than a generic message.

Troubleshooting

An inquiry wasn't detected?

Likely cause: the channel isn't connected, or the message had no event intent. Check that the relevant channel is connected and active in Settings > Integrations. Purely promotional emails or messages with no event intent may be intentionally skipped by the AI.

The extracted information is wrong?

Likely cause: an ambiguous or multilingual message. Correct the fields in the window that opens when you click « Convert »: your values are the ones carried into the event.

Some information came in by phone?

It isn't in the written message, so the AI can't extract it. Add the date, headcount or budget in the conversion window before clicking « Convert to event ».

Real-world example

Camille runs a wine estate that hosts weddings. A client writes: "Hi, we're looking for a venue for our wedding on September 12, around 120 people, budget about €15,000." Within seconds, the inquiry shows the « Wedding » type, September 12, 120 attendees and a €15,000 budget in its « Extracted data ».

Camille just checks the Barn's availability, then clicks « Convert » and adjusts the budget if needed before creating the event. The time she would have spent copying details goes into a personal reply.

FAQ

Does the AI handle multiple languages?

Yes. The AI understands inquiries written in French, English and Spanish, among others, and extracts the key fields whatever the language of the message.

Is my data used to train a public model?

No. Your inquiries are used only to power your own Joinways workspace; they never feed a model shared with other customers.

Can I create an inquiry manually?

Yes, via the public inquiry form or by creating an event directly if the request comes in by phone.

What happens if I edit a field the AI filled in?

The « Extracted data » stays as is on the inquiry. You correct the values in the conversion window, and what you confirm is what goes into the event.

Can the AI get the event type wrong?

It can happen with an ambiguous message. The proposed type is only a suggestion: you correct it in the conversion window before creating the event.

See also

• Understanding Inquiries
• Process an inquiry
• Create an event