Look at when people actually browse a business website. It is rarely at 11am from a desk. It is at 9pm on a sofa, on a phone, after the working day is finished and there is finally time to sort out the dentist, the car, the apartment, the course.
The window is minutes, not days
A person comparing three suppliers at 9pm will message all three. The one who answers first sets the terms of the conversation. By the morning, when your team opens the inbox, that person has already spoken to someone else and formed an opinion.
This is why speed beats polish. A fast, honest answer at 9pm is worth more than a beautifully written reply at 10am the next day.
What answering actually requires
Answering every enquiry within seconds, at any hour, in whatever language the person prefers, is not a staffing problem you can solve by hiring. It is a coverage problem. Somebody has to be awake, informed about your prices, and patient with the same six questions.
That is exactly the job an AI employee does well: it knows your services, it never gets tired of the basics, and it hands your team the conversation the moment it becomes worth a human's time.
Start by measuring the gap
Before changing anything, count two numbers for one month: how many enquiries arrive outside working hours, and how many of them get a reply within an hour. Most owners are surprised, and that surprise is usually the business case.