Hey everyone,
I'm in the early stages of building my agency and I'm looking for ways to add more value to local service businesses (home services, contractors, cleaners, locksmiths, etc.) who generate a lot of leads from Yelp, Thumbtack, and Google Local Service Ads.
I came across InstantResponse.ai — it's an AI tool that automatically replies to new leads within seconds on these platforms, sends smart follow-ups, keeps everything in one inbox, and even tracks conversion metrics. The idea is that the first business to respond usually wins the job, so speed + consistent follow-up can significantly boost booking rates.
As an agency, this could be a great add-on service we set it up, customize the AI voice/branding for the client, monitor performance, and maybe charge a monthly management fee on top of our core social media or lead gen work.
A few questions for those who have experience in this space:
Have you (or your clients) used InstantResponse.ai or similar tools (e.g. other Yelp/lead auto-responders)? What were the results like in reality?
Do local clients see enough value in this to pay extra for setup + management, or do they usually want to handle it themselves?
Any red flags I should watch out for? (e.g. platform policy issues with automation, AI sounding too robotic, lead quality problems, etc.)
How would you position and price this as an agency service? Would you bundle it with other offerings or sell it standalone?
Are there better/more established tools in this niche right now?
Looking for honest feedback, both positive and negative. I'm trying to validate if this is worth building into my offer stack for newbies like me who are targeting small local businesses.
Thanks in advance! Appreciate any advice.