Lead follow-up and AI calling: your questions
Short answers, each linked to the guide that backs it up. General information, not legal advice.
Speed to lead
What is speed to lead?
The time between someone enquiring and your first attempt to contact them. It is the gap between the lead being created and the first call, not the time it takes to read the enquiry. Read the speed to lead guide.
How fast should you respond to a new lead?
As soon as you can, ideally within five minutes. The Lead Response Management study found the odds of making contact fell more than tenfold within the first hour. The data is American, so treat it as direction, not a forecast. If you miss the lead, send a short message straight away and try again at a time you state. See the study and its limits.
How fast should you respond to a Facebook lead?
The same principle applies to any enquiry from an ad: the person asked while their problem was in front of them, and they may be enquiring with several businesses. Get a phone notification the moment a lead arrives, name one person responsible, and ring within minutes. Our guide covers a manual five-minute process and where automation fills the gaps.
What is the average lead response time?
We cannot give you a reliable Australian figure. Widely repeated averages come from US studies or cannot be traced to a source, so we leave them out. The useful number is your own: measure the median time from enquiry to first call attempt for a week.
Does speed to lead matter more than lead quality?
They multiply each other. A fast call to a poor lead wastes the speed, and a good lead called two days later wastes the lead. If you have to choose where to start, response time is usually the cheaper one to fix.
Costs
How much does an AI receptionist cost in Australia?
On the two providers we compared, from $49 a month (Trillet, 150 minutes included) to $449 a month (AiDial Max, 400 calls), with extras for integrations and compliance add-ons. Prices were read on 5 October 2026. See the prices side by side.
Is an AI receptionist worth it for a small business?
It depends on how many calls you miss and what each one is worth. If a missed call is a lost job worth hundreds of dollars, a plan under $250 a month can pay for itself with one or two recovered jobs. If you rarely miss calls, it will not.
What is a good cost per lead in Australia?
There is no single number. It varies by industry, region and how a lead is defined. Compare cost per booked, qualified appointment rather than cost per raw lead. Lead generation pricing models compared.
Is pay per appointment cheaper than a retainer?
At low volumes it can be. The risk is the definition of a qualified appointment and what happens with no-shows, so read that clause before the price.
How much does Target Digital cost?
A one-time setup fee, then a flat monthly retainer, with no lock-in. Starter is $2,000 + $500/month (one engine), Growth is $4,500 + $1,500/month (both engines) and Scale is $7,500 + $3,000/month (both engines, maximum volume). Tool and phone costs are typically $150 to $300 a month, paid directly, and any ad spend is separate.
How it works
What is AI lead qualification?
An AI voice agent asks the questions you would ask, scores the lead hot, warm or not yet, and routes it. In our Outbound Call Engine, hot leads are transferred live to your team and warm leads are booked into your calendar. See how it works.
What is an AI live transfer?
The AI qualifies a lead on the phone, then hands the call to a person on your team while the lead is still on the line. We use it for hot leads. A booking is the alternative for warm ones.
What happens if a lead does not answer?
They get an instant SMS, and the engine retries over three days.
How long until it is live?
Both engines go live within 48 hours of kickoff.
Do I need to run ads to use lead follow-up automation?
No. A lead from your website, an ad form or a missed call is picked up the same way. Ads simply produce more enquiries for it to handle.
Can I try it before I commit?
Yes. The live demo calls your own phone, with your consent, and the calculator shows what slow follow-up is costing you.
Is an AI receptionist the same as AI lead callback?
No. A receptionist answers calls people make to you. Lead callback works on enquiries that have already arrived and goes out to the lead. Which you need depends on whether your problem is unanswered calls or leads that go cold. Read the comparison.
Calling and messaging rules
Do I need consent to call or text a lead in Australia?
Consent comes first, and it depends on what the person agreed to when they enquired. The Do Not Call Register and the Spam Act are separate regimes: the register is about telemarketing calls, and the Spam Act covers commercial SMS and email, including a working unsubscribe. Read ACMA's telemarketing and e-marketing guidance and take advice for your situation. This is general information, not legal advice.
Who is responsible for AI disclosure and consent when I use a provider?
Check your contract. At least one Australian provider's FAQ puts responsibility for telling callers they are speaking to an AI, and for obtaining consent, on the customer. Ask for the answer in writing before you sign.