How this AI bot closes sales for service firms within 5 minutes

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

Photo credit: Jingjing Zhong.

While growing Helpling Singapore to US$30 million in revenue, Jingjing Zhong relied on 80 human operators. They handled customer inquiries to ensure fast responses. To automate this heavy operational load, she launched Superbench.

😟 Problem

Service businesses often receive client inquiries outside of standard working hours. Data shows that replying within five minutes boosts conversion chances by 80%. Owners previously had to handle after-hours messaging themselves or hire telesales staff.

💡 Solution

Superbench automates the entire booking process for service businesses through existing messaging channels, including: 

• Qualifies clients by assessing incoming inquiries via WhatsApp, SMS, or email.
• Provides quotes by automatically scoping the job and pricing it.
• Handles scheduling to coordinate timing, locations, and staff availability.
• Secures bookings by sending payment links and dispatching the final job.

Image credit: Superbench AI

📊 Market size

The company targets mid-market and large service providers across Singapore, Australia, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Core verticals include home services, aesthetic clinics, and education. This presents a target audience of at least 50,000 businesses.

🤝 Team

• Jingjing Zhong. Co-founder and CEO. She previously served as general manager at Helpling Singapore and worked as an investment banking analyst at Houlihan Lokey.
• Yan Kai Ng. Co-founder and CPTO. He previously served as head of product at Advocado, where he helped scale the platform to one million users.

🚀 Traction

• Secured 20% of the Singapore home cleaning market.
• Expanded the client base into Australia and the UAE.
• Enables clients to automate chat-to-appointment flows within two weeks.
• Generates 80% of sales for active users via AI automation.

🏆 Competition

Generic chatbot builders like Intercom use standard retrieval systems that lack service-specific understanding. Other platforms like Avoca focus strictly on emergency dispatch.

Superbench uses a typed ontology covering 48 service types. This allows the AI to track pricing modifiers, scheduling constraints, and exclusion triggers. It actively tracks conversation states to maintain context across quotes.

💰 Financials

The platform charges a base rate plus a sales commission to service businesses. Mid-market companies pay a base of $S25,000 per year, while larger accounts pay $S100,000 or more, plus sales commission.

🚩 Risks