It's 11:47pm. You just got a lead from Zillow. You sleep for three hours and reply at 3:15am. By noon the lead is talking to another LO who answered in 34 seconds. No drama — just math. Speed-to-lead wins. A single minute can be the difference between a calendar appointment and a cold lead that never answers again.
You know the drill: late replies mean fewer app starts, fewer locks, and quieter commission checks. The fix isn't more follow-up attempts. It's a first contact that shows up instantly, qualifies just enough, and hands the good ones to you.
I'll show you the tool that does that, a step-by-step you can implement this week, and the single insight that changes how you prioritize lead response.
Tool: Conversica — AI Sales Assistant
What it does — Conversica runs an always-on conversational assistant that emails and texts new leads instantly, asks qualifying questions, and hands hot leads to you or your AE.
Who it's for — Independent LOs and small brokerages who get 20+ inbound digital leads a month and want instant contact without hiring a full-time inside sales rep.
What it actually costs — Conversica typically starts around $1,000/month per assistant for small teams, with custom pricing for higher volume. Expect extra costs for SMS numbers, phone call channels, compliance logging, and CRM/LMS premium integrations. Upsells trigger on conversation volume, multilingual support, and human-agent handoffs.
Before / After (conservative example) — Before: 50 web leads/month, average first reply 4 hours, ~2 applications. After: instant AI replies under 60 seconds, AI holds the first convo and books qualified calls, ~4 applications. If your average commission per closed loan is $3,000, that’s roughly $6,000 extra per month on those 50 leads.
One limitation / gotcha — TCPA and consent matter. SMS/phone outreach can trigger TCPA risk if you don't have clear prior express consent. Conversica often defaults to email-first or consent-checked SMS workflows for compliance. Also, direct Encompass or LendingPad integration is usually possible but may require middleware (Workato, Zapier, or a vendor connector) and additional cost.
Verdict — Plain and simple: if you're serious about squeezing more apps from inbound leads, a Conversica-style assistant pays for itself quickly, but budget for compliance and integration work.
How To get a lead reply under 60 seconds
Here's exactly how to set up a sub-60-second speed-to-lead workflow this week.
Pick your channel: start with email + SMS; email avoids some TCPA headaches but SMS gets faster responses.
Install an answering assistant: use Conversica, Podium, or a Twilio + ManyChat flow that auto-replies on new leads.
Wire it to your lead source: connect your website form, Facebook leads, or lead vendor to the assistant via native integrations or Zapier/Workato.
Use this short qualifying script: "Hi [Name], I'm [You]. Quick Q: Are you looking to buy or refinance, and when do you want to close? Reply with 1 (buy) or 2 (refi)." The assistant follows up based on the response and books a time or hands off to you.
Set handoff rules: immediately send HOT leads (ready to close in 30-60 days or provided income/SSN) to you via SMS + calendar link; cold or info requests go into a nurture sequence.
This takes about 2–8 hours to set up and tests for a basic flow, and saves roughly 4–10 hours of manual follow-up per week for a solo LO (and can net you an extra 1–3 apps per month depending on volumes).
Insight: Speed is triage, not replacement
One clear trend: big lenders and fintechs are investing in always-on agents that handle first contact and simple verification. Veritus raised $10.1M to scale voice-first AI agents in lending, and platforms like Podium say AI employees let businesses respond instantly across channels. The point isn't that AI sells the loan. The point is it prevents your lead from getting snatched while you're on your way to a showing.
Think of your funnel like emergency triage. The first contact decides who gets immediate human attention. An assistant that replies in under 60 seconds filters the 10% of leads who are hot now, warms the 40% who need nurture, and books a calendar for the top prospects. That approach reduces wasted time and raises your hit rate on high-intent leads.
What this means for your business: prioritize instant first contact, then use you (or a closer) for high-value conversations.
If you want, I can look at your current lead volume and tell you whether an AI assistant pays for itself in your pipeline. Hit reply and tell me: How many new inbound leads do you get per week, and where do they land now (CRM, email, or text)?
- Tyler, The Pipeline
PS: Quick compliance tip — when you add SMS, always include a one-line consent step in your web form: "By providing my phone number I consent to receive texts about my mortgage inquiry." That small checkbox reduces TCPA risk and keeps your AI replies usable. Bonus: use an email-first fallback for unknown consent.