Independent real estate agents: do you lose leads because follow-up slips through the cracks?

Hey everyone, I’m not selling anything here, just trying to get honest opinions from people actually working in real estate.

I’ve noticed that for a lot of independent agents and small teams, leads come in from a lot of places. Website forms, portals, Instagram, WhatsApp, referrals, etc. Even when you’re working hard, some people don’t get answered fast enough or don’t get followed up properly. Not because you don’t care, but because things get busy and everything is spread out.

I’m thinking about a very simple solution, not a new CRM and not some complicated software. The idea is just to make sure every lead automatically goes into one place, gets an instant reply so they don’t feel ignored, and then reminds you when it’s time to follow up. Also, old leads that went cold could be re-contacted automatically instead of being forgotten forever.

I’m trying to figure out if this is actually a real problem or if I’m overthinking it.

Do you personally deal with this kind of thing, or do you already have a system that works well? If you do use a CRM, what parts of follow-up still feel annoying or broken? And honestly, if something like this was simple, low-maintenance, and actually saved you from losing deals, would you pay a small monthly fee for it, or is that a no for you?

I’m looking for real answers, even negative ones. If this idea is useless or already solved perfectly, I’d rather know now.

Thanks for taking the time to read and reply.