Why Speed to Lead Is the Real Growth Multiplier

Juliana Yorio

Alright, welcome back to another episode of Prosprus: AI Insights. I'm Juliana Yorio, and I’ve got Simon with me—hey, Simon.

Simon Carver

Hey, Juliana. And hey everyone! Glad you’re tuning in because honestly, this one... I think it’s the heart of what’s changed in 2026. It's, uh, speed. Speed to lead. I know we always say this but, wow, it’s never been truer than right now.

Juliana Yorio

Exactly. And we talked about this in the last episode, but I don’t think you can overstate just how differently businesses are thinking about speed this year. There’s so much focus on ‘who’s fastest’—not just with product, but in how quickly you actually reach out to leads. It’s the difference between closing a deal and, well, missing it completely.

Simon Carver

Totally. I mean, if you’re still measuring follow-up in hours instead of, like, minutes or even seconds… you're falling behind. Literally every data set I've seen this year shows a massive drop-off if you wait. There was a stat from a real estate firm—well, I’ll use that example because, uh, it’s painful. They waited two hours to get back to this one high-net-worth lead and, by the time they called, the client had already signed with another agency. That’s not an edge case, either—it is the reality for a lot of people now.

Juliana Yorio

Yeah, and you see it everywhere. If response time slips from, say, five minutes to thirty? Your win rate drops off a cliff. It's not just ‘nice to have’—it’s revenue walking out the door. And after-hours? That's when so many hot leads come in, but hardly anybody’s actually on.

Simon Carver

Right—this isn’t just theoretical. If a team treats speed as their lever, makes it their daily habit, they’re seeing consistent growth. You wait? You lose. I mean, it’s brutal, but... accurate.

Juliana Yorio

We’ve seen a shift from ‘how sophisticated is my tech stack?’ to ‘how quickly can I talk to this person, right now?’ And, honestly, if you’re listening and think it’s not happening in your industry—I would check again. Odds are your best prospects are the ones you’re losing first.

Simon Carver

So it’s not just about being quick yourself, though. Nobody can be everywhere at once. Which is where these AI voice and SMS systems come in—first-touch automation changes everything.

Juliana Yorio

Yeah, I get questions all the time, like, ‘Does it really work, or is it just another buzzy thing?’ But the best part of these tools is they're, uh, boringly practical. I’ll give you a real example. We had a retail client who switched from letting store staff call back leads to dropping instant SMS follow-ups via AI—and their conversion rates jumped forty percent. Forty. Just by closing that gap between the first touch and actual conversation.

Simon Carver

That's wild. Was that with existing CRM tools or something custom?

Juliana Yorio

Nope, integrated right into their regular CRM. Honestly, I think a lot of operators overcomplicate this stuff. These voice and SMS automations are meant to run in the background; the AI just plugs in wherever you’re tracking leads anyway. It’s meant to keep things lightweight, especially if you’re on a small team—so you’re not juggling three new dashboards or twelve different tools just to respond fast.

Simon Carver

Yeah, it’s not about replacing your workflow, just—streamlining the slowest part. Instead of ‘Billy calls them back when he gets to it,’ it’s: ‘The second a lead comes in, they get a text, maybe a short voice drop, whatever fits, and you’re immediately in that buyer’s head as the company that actually responds.’

Juliana Yorio

Exactly, and it’s consistent. No guessing, no hoping someone remembered. It’s always covered. And—building on what we talked about in previous episodes—this is when AI really pulls its weight, right? It just takes that repetitive, quick-touch stuff and gets it done, no matter the hour, no matter the size of your team.

Simon Carver

It’s like—voice AI and SMS, they're the safety net. They catch the stuff everyone means to do, but, you know, we’re human, things slip. The AI doesn’t let the good ones slip by.

Juliana Yorio

Yeah, which leads right into the big question a lot of founders ask: does all this actually let you do more with less? Or are you just, I don’t know, replacing people with bots and losing your soul a little?

Simon Carver

That’s where it gets interesting—and honestly, I might push back a bit. 'Cause I think there’s a line, right? One of our insurance clients automated their first outreach—like, just the ‘hey, we saw you’re interested, let’s get you a quote’—total autopilot. But once someone actually replied, it was all live agents. They didn’t add new staff, didn’t pile on tech. But their close rate, I wanna say it doubled? Hm, I always mix this up—was it two times or a bit more? Either way, it was a massive lift.

Juliana Yorio

Right, and that’s the thing. You let the tech do the parts people find repetitive, help you follow up instantly and consistently, but then you still hand off to your team at the right moment. Automation’s not about cutting the personal touch—it’s about freeing up humans for the high-value conversations that actually build relationships.

Simon Carver

Yeah, I mean—if your client can’t ever reach a real person, you’ve gone too far. But if your team is only focused on warm leads ready to take action, that’s a better job for them, honestly. It makes everyone happier—and, like, the results kind of speak for themselves.

Juliana Yorio

Totally agree. And this is where the leverage comes in. If you’re a founder, you don’t have to choose between throwing bodies at a problem or ignoring speed. The right AI tools let you squeeze more out of your existing team, and do it without adding complexity or breaking what’s already working. That’s what we’re seeing drive measurable growth right now.

Simon Carver

So, yeah, it’s not about bots taking over; it’s giving your team better leverage so they can do what humans do best.

Juliana Yorio

Alright, I think that’s a good spot to wrap up for today. We hit on why speed to lead isn’t a gimmick—it’s the growth lever for 2026, and when you layer in practical AI, you multiply the effect. Thanks for hanging out, Simon.

Simon Carver

Always a pleasure, Juliana. And thanks to everyone listening. We’ll have more real-world examples and practical strategies coming up in future episodes, so stick with us.

Juliana Yorio

Catch you next time on Prosprus: AI Insights!