Cost
A full-time human ISA typically costs $3,000 to $5,000 a month in salary alone, before training, management and turnover, according to Follow Up Ace's comparison. Commission or bonus structures often add to that. An AI ISA from us starts at $750 a month, month to month.
Coverage
A human ISA works set hours and takes holidays. An AI ISA replies at 2 am, on Sunday and during your listing appointment. If many of your leads arrive outside office hours, that coverage gap is where leads go cold.
Where a human ISA is stronger
- Live phone conversations and building rapport by voice.
- Reading complicated situations, such as divorces, estates or relocations.
- Judgment calls that need local knowledge and experience.
Where an AI ISA is stronger
- Replying to every lead within minutes, at any hour.
- Consistency: it asks the same qualifying questions every time and never skips the CRM notes.
- Working large or old databases that nobody has time to call.
- Following up in the language the lead writes in, including Spanish.
Using both together
Many teams get the best results with both. The AI handles first replies, after-hours coverage and long-term nurture. The human ISA, or the agent, takes the warm conversations by phone. The AI's notes mean nobody starts a call cold.
A simple way to decide
- Under 50 leads a month and you answer quickly yourself: you may not need either yet.
- Lots of leads, slow replies, or many after-hours inquiries: start with an AI ISA.
- Lots of phone-ready leads and a team to feed: add a human ISA for calls, with the AI covering the rest.
Run your own numbers in our break-even calculator, or see what our AI ISA does.