Lofty speed to lead is easy to misread. Chime Technologies rebranded to Lofty on 7 November 2023. The CRM still captures the portal lead. Lofty’s own AI Sales Agent says it engages in under five seconds - via text, email, and web chat. Their FAQ is blunt: it primarily communicates via text and email. That is not a phone call.
A five-second text is a fast notification. Speed to lead is a live conversation. Do not let a Marketplace tile rename the job.
This page is what Lofty actually ships, where teams leak, and what has to hit the person record so the next agent is not calling blind.
Chime is Lofty. The clock did not reset.
Lofty’s own announcement, Chime is now Lofty, is the rebrand note. If your Slack still says Chime, you are in the same database. Portal leads still land as people. Someone still has to talk to them.
Convert a Zillow connection is still a claim race. Lofty will store the name. It will not pick up Zillow’s live transfer for you.
Oldroyd 2007: 5 vs 30 minutes, about 100× contact and 21× qualify. HBR 2011: 42-hour average among firms that replied within 30 days. A polished SMS at second four does not start that contact clock. A ring does.
What Lofty’s AI Sales Agent is - and is not
Lofty’s AI Sales Agent page is the source, not a tweet:
- Engages new leads in under 5 seconds on text, email, and web chat.
- FAQ: it primarily communicates via text and email.
- It is not positioned as a first-line voice ISA.
If they publish a “convert up to 3×” line, treat it as a vendor claim. Do not put it in a brokerage dashboard as a measured result.
Qualify still needs a voice or a buyer who will actually type budget, timeline, and intent. Most portal buyers will not complete a second questionnaire after they already sent the form. Two viewing times belong on a call, then in the text as a receipt.
This is the same pattern as HubSpot: a strong system of record plus a channel that is not the first ring.
Teams like the 5-second tile because it is easy to screenshot for a meeting. The owner sees “instant engagement.” The buyer sees a text from a name they do not know while Zillow is still offering a live transfer to the next Premier Agent. If you want the tile, keep it. Put a call next to it. Then show both medians. A brokerage that only reports Lofty’s send time will never fund a night ISA - they already think they bought one.
Chime-era habits die slowly. Agents still open the app when they park. The person record from 11am waits until 2:40. Lofty did not cause that. The queue did. The rebrand did not hire a Sunday shift.
What write-back has to look like on the Lofty person
A “contacted” badge because the AI sent SMS is how owners get lied to. The person needs:
- First live voice attempt time.
- Reached or missed.
- Budget, timeline, intent if you talked.
- Viewing hold if you booked.
- The text thread sitting next to that note, not in a side inbox nobody opens.
mergro is a live Lofty / Chime integration: ring on create, then WhatsApp, SMS, and email, with the outcome on the Lofty person. Get started if five-second text is doing the job a call should do.
How teams use Lofty without confusing chat for coverage
- Portal or site creates the person.
- Lofty can send the fast text. Fine. It does not replace the dial.
- Voice - an ISA, an agent on duty, or mergro - starts immediately.
- Notes land before the listing agent drives to the next tour.
Do not turn off Lofty’s text. Do not let it be the only motion after 6pm.
If the buyer replies to the 5-second SMS with a time, treat it as a requested slot until access is confirmed. Write that reply onto the Lofty person the same hour. A chat “Saturday works” that lives only in the SMS inbox is how two agents book the same lockbox - or nobody does.
What should you measure this week?
Do this afternoon. In Lofty, open last week’s new people.
- Median time to first SMS or email - Lofty may already win this.
- Median time to first live call on the same set. If that number is hours, the 5-second tile did not buy you speed to lead.
- Holds with a call note versus people who only have an automated text.
If you cannot split those two medians, you are reading marketing as operations.
Common mistakes
Telling the owner “we have Lofty AI, so we’re instant.” Instant chat. Not instant voice.
Repeating a 3× conversion claim in a board deck. Vendor language. Not your file.
Leaving the first call to whoever opens the app at lunch. That is the Chime-era queue with a new logo.
Qualifying only in SMS. You will get one-word answers and no Saturday hold.
Skipping the person note because “the AI logged it.” Logged a send. Not a conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lofty the same as Chime?
Yes for the product formerly called Chime Technologies. The November 2023 rebrand is on Lofty’s site.
Should I turn off the 5-second text if I add voice?
No. Send the text after or with the call. Just do not let text be the only attempt.
Can Lofty’s AI book a showing?
If it can collect a time in chat, write it as a requested slot until a human or a calendar confirms access. A typed “Saturday” is not a hold.
Do I need to keep the Chime name in my CRM reports?
Use whatever the UI says so agents can find the record. The job does not change with the logo.
Sources
- Lofty, Chime is now Lofty (7 November 2023).
- Lofty, AI Sales Agent.
- James Oldroyd, Kristina McElheran, and David Elkington, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads, Harvard Business Review, March 2011.
Want a ring on the Lofty person, not only a five-second text? Get started.