An auto-reply isn't follow-up. It's a delay.
'Someone will get back to you shortly' closes nothing. The business that responds in five minutes wins the job. The one that responds tomorrow loses the client and pays for the lead anyway. Running ads with no follow-up system isn't a marketing problem. It's an operational one. Every dollar you spend on traffic funds your competitor if you can't respond fast.
What real follow-up looks like
A new lead gets a response in seconds, on the channel they used: text, email, or a call from the voice agent. No answer? The system follows up again on a schedule, until the lead responds or opts out. Every touch logs. Nothing depends on your memory or your free time.
The math you're living with now
You pay for every lead once and lose it for free. If you close 3 of 10 leads because 7 never heard back in time, a system that reaches all 10 changes your revenue without adding a dollar of ad spend. Same leads. Different outcome.
The three things I check in every business
How leads come in. What happens when nobody answers. How follow-up gets handled. Most service businesses pass the first and fail the last two. That's not a work-ethic problem. It's a missing system, and it's fixable.