Median speed to lead (down from ~72h)
Lead-to-appointment conversion (up from 9%)
reduction in marketing CAC per appointment
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The problem
Three-Day Response Times Turned Storm Demand into Lost Revenue and Operational Strain
iHail operates nationally in a market where demand spikes the moment a storm hits and decays just as fast. Yet inbound web forms, aggregator leads, and SMS opt-ins often sat in queues for up to three days before a first attempt. The immediate consequence was conversion decay: prospects who were ready to schedule repairs within hours went elsewhere, pushing win rates down even as marketing spend rose.
The second-order effect was operational: because booked volume arrived in unpredictable clumps, field teams alternated between idle days and unmanageable backlogs, which in turn drove reschedules, longer cycle times, and higher no-show rates.
The tertiary effect was strategic: with no reliable mechanism to turn weather events into same-day conversations, iHail’s paid media looked inefficient, DRP/insurance partners saw longer claim cycles, and leadership hesitated to enter new metros despite clear demand signals.
The solution
Automated 30-Second Lead Engagement, Capacity-Aware Scheduling, and Instant Human Handoff
Synthesys re-architected iHail’s “speed to lead” around an always-on AI voice layer that engages every inbound form, SMS keyword, and partner feed in under 30 seconds—24/7, during and immediately after storms. Leads are greeted by a natural-sounding agent that confirms damage details, vehicle VIN, location, insurance status, and availability, then either books a slot directly from capacity-aware calendars or warm-transfers high-intent callers to live estimators.
The system orchestrates follow-ups across voice and text with sub-second latency, retries intelligently on no-answer, and honors TCPA and DNC requirements by design. Because Synthesys integrates with iHail’s CRM and workforce tools, scheduling logic respects real-time crew capacity, travel windows, and parts constraints, smoothing demand spikes instead of amplifying them.
When storm volume surges, the platform scales to thousands of concurrent conversations without additional headcount, while real-time dashboards surface which channels, geographies, and insurers are converting fastest so marketing can shift budget within the hour.
The results
From Days to Seconds: Higher Conversions, Lower CAC, and a Surge-Ready Operation
Within the first 60 days, median speed to lead fell from roughly 72 hours to 30 seconds. The first-order impact was decisive: contact rate rose from 41% to 79%, lead-to-appointment conversion increased from 9% to 26%, and missed-call/abandoned-form loss dropped by 83%. On matched-market storms, booked inspections per event increased by 58% on essentially the same media spend, while automated confirmations and reminders reduced no-shows from 29% to 15%. Cycle time from first contact to windshield inspection compressed from 5.1 days to 1.4 days, accelerating cash conversion and insurer approvals.
Second-order effects improved efficiency and resilience. With capacity-aware scheduling, crew utilization during peak weeks stabilized in the 86–92% range (up from 58–65%), reschedules fell by 31%, and dispatch miles per job declined by 18% as the system clustered bookings intelligently. Marketing CAC decreased by 34% because fewer aged leads were wasted and budget could be reallocated to the highest-yield geographies in real time. Four FTEs worth of manual outreach were redeployed to complex claims and upsells, expanding average ticket values without increasing payroll.
The tertiary effects were strategic and compounding. Faster first contact and shorter claim cycles improved insurer partner satisfaction, helping iHail secure preferred-status volume in two additional regions. Storm-day elasticity—thousands of concurrent conversations with no queue—gave leadership confidence to open three new metros ahead of peak season. Most importantly, the business rewired its growth loop: weather spikes now translate into same-day conversations, conversations into booked inspections, and booked inspections into a steadier, more profitable field operation—powered end-to-end by Synthesys.
Company name
iHail
Industry
Marketing Agency
Company size
SMB
Pain point
iHail’s inbound leads from storm events often waited up to three days for first contact. This delay caused sharp conversion decay, wasted paid media, and scheduling backlogs that stressed field teams. Missed opportunities during peak weather events created revenue loss, operational bottlenecks, and hesitancy to expand into new territories.
Synthesys product used
AI Telecommunications Platform
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