MORTGAGE LENDING

How Hometown Mortgage Booked 24 Meetings With AI Calling, Starting 21 Hours After Launch

24 meetings booked, starting 21 hours after launch

24

24

Meetings booked

21 hrs

21 hrs

From first dial to first meeting

AI Cold Calling

AI Cold Calling

Outbound channel used

CLIENT REVIEW

Hear it straight from the client

It’s pretty impressive. An AI agent called me, answered my questions and booked my demo.

It’s pretty impressive. An AI agent called me, answered my questions and booked my demo.

It’s pretty impressive. An AI agent called me, answered my questions and booked my demo.

Josh Pennebaker, Branch Manager at Hometown Mortgage

Josh Pennebaker

Branch Manager at HOMETOWN MORTGAGE

THE CHALLENGE

Where they were stuck

The Hometown Mortgage is a Kansas City mortgage branch. Branch manager Josh Pennebaker wanted to recruit experienced loan officers and build referral relationships with real estate agents, but both groups are flooded with calls and Josh had no time to make hundreds of them himself.

Loan officers hear from recruiters every week and tune out generic recruiting pitches

Real estate agents get daily calls from lenders asking for buyer referrals

A branch manager with no time to dial hundreds of loan officers and real estate agents a day

THE SYSTEM WE BUILT

How we solved their problems

Two Parallel Campaigns, Two Offers

One campaign offered loan officers a one-on-one growth strategy session with Josh focused on steadier referrals and coaching. The second offered real estate agents a simple plan to get more referrals from past clients. Each script followed strict rules: no rates, no compensation numbers and no knocking a prospect’s current firm.

First Meeting Booked in 21 Hours

Calling from local Missouri and Kansas numbers, the AI never left voicemails and booked interested prospects straight onto Josh’s calendar during the call. The first meeting, with a loan officer at a national bank, was booked 21 hours after the first dial, with 5 meetings booked in week one.

24 Meetings at a 16% Connect Rate

Across 1,500 calls to 680 loan officers and real estate agents, the AI held 240 live conversations (16% connect rate) and converted 10% of those conversations into 24 booked meetings, with every call recorded and summarized so Josh knew each prospect’s goals before the call.

The Hometown Mortgage is a Kansas City mortgage branch led by Josh Pennebaker. Josh had two growth goals: recruit experienced loan officers to the branch and build referral relationships with real estate agents across Missouri and Kansas.

Both goals run through the phone. Loan officers hear from recruiters every week, and real estate agents hear from lenders every day. Josh needed a steady stream of conversations without spending his own days dialing.

Josh found Outbound System the same way his prospects would find him: an Outbound System AI caller phoned him, answered his questions and booked his demo on the spot. “It’s pretty impressive,” he said. “An AI agent called me, answered my questions and booked my demo.”

Outbound System then launched two parallel campaigns for the branch. Loan officers at competing banks were offered a free one-on-one growth strategy session with Josh, with coaching included for anyone who joins. Buyer-side real estate agents were offered a simple plan to get more referrals from past clients. The AI followed strict compliance rules, never quoting rates or compensation and never knocking a prospect’s current employer or lender.

The first meeting, with a loan officer at a national bank, was booked 21 hours after the first dial, and 5 meetings were on the calendar in the first week alone. Across 1,500 calls to 680 loan officers and real estate agents, the AI held 240 live conversations (a 16% connect rate) and booked 24 qualified meetings (10% of connected calls) straight onto Josh’s calendar.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about this case study, answered.

Can AI calling recruit loan officers and book real estate agents at the same time?

Yes. Hometown Mortgage ran a loan officer recruiting campaign and a real estate agent referral campaign side by side on the same account, booking 24 meetings across 1,500 calls (240 live conversations, a 16% connect rate).

How fast can a mortgage branch see results from AI calling?

Hometown Mortgage booked its first meeting 21 hours after the first dial, booked 5 meetings in its first week, and reached 24 booked meetings with loan officers and real estate agents.

How did the branch manager evaluate the AI voice quality?

Josh Pennebaker became a client after an Outbound System AI caller phoned him, answered his questions and booked his demo on the call.

MORE CASE STUDIES

More AI Cold Calling results

See how other B2B teams turned outbound into booked meetings.

PRESIDENTIAL BANK

REAL ESTATE LENDING

31

Meetings booked

75%

Meeting show rate

Strategy

Brad Siebert is a loan officer at Presidential Bank with 24 years in the mortgage business, responsible for generating his own business and referrals. His pipeline depends on building relationships with real estate agents across the country who bring him buyers, but working that channel by phone competed directly with the time he needed for loan origination, and on his own he could realistically make only about 50 calls in the time the system makes 250. Brad was initially hesitant about AI, calling it “fake, for lack of a better term,” until research showing AI outperforming human callers and a demo of the natural-sounding voices won him over. Outbound System’s AI was trained on his approach to agents and set to dial 250 real estate agents a day nationwide, handling objections and booking interested agents directly onto his calendar, often the same day. The AI never gets discouraged by a rejection, it just moves to the next call. The system booked 31 meetings at about a 75% show rate, without taking a minute away from originating loans.

Read The Full Case Study →

"Every day is like coming downstairs to the Christmas tree on Christmas morning. There’s a new appointment on my calendar and I didn’t have to stop originating loans to get it. There’s no way I could make 250 calls a day and still do my job. And the agents have no pushback. I’m not even sure they know it’s AI."

Brad Siebert

Loan Officer at PRESIDENTIAL BANK

Brad Siebert

CANDLEWOOD DEVELOPMENT

REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT

61

Meetings booked

13

New qualified partnerships

Strategy

Candlewood Development is a real estate investor and developer that acquires land for new builds and purchases existing homes from sellers as-is. Sean’s growth strategy depends on building a network of real estate agents and brokers who bring deal flow when they encounter sellers needing a fast, certain close. To work that channel at scale, Sean had hired three virtual assistants in the Philippines to call agents on his behalf. The setup produced limited results. Sean replaced all three VAs with our AI calling system at a fraction of the combined cost. The AI was trained on Candlewood’s specific value to agents (referral fees, fast cash close, no contingencies, retain the listing on the next deal) and built to handle natural objections like skepticism toward investors. Voice quality is indistinguishable from a professional human caller, which immediately lifted conversion rates with agents. Calls used local-area caller IDs and ran during peak agent-availability windows. Interested agents were booked directly into Sean’s calendar. Over 4 months, the AI booked 61 meetings with real estate agents and produced 13 new qualified referral partnerships, outperforming the three-VA team Sean had been managing for years.

Read The Full Case Study →

"Had 3 VAs in the Philippines making calls for me. Replaced all of them with the AI for a fraction of the cost and I’m getting better results. The voice quality is unreal. Agents have no idea they’re talking to AI."

Sean Gerrity

Founder at CANDLEWOOD DEVELOPMENT

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CEO at Convert Agents

Turn Cold Emails Into Predictable Revenue

30 minutes. No cost. Just a real plan built for your business.

"Highly recommend Outbound System! I have plenty of experience in lead generation, and they nail it. From excellent prospecting to top-tier account management, they excel in every aspect."

Dean Drumm

CEO at Convert Agents

Turn Cold Emails Into Predictable Revenue

30 minutes. No cost. Just a real plan built for your business.

"Highly recommend Outbound System! I have plenty of experience in lead generation, and they nail it. From excellent prospecting to top-tier account management, they excel in every aspect."

Dean Drumm

CEO at Convert Agents

OS

Outbound System

Get your free growth plan today and stop guessing what works. We'll map your ideal customers, build custom outreach sequences across email, phone, and LinkedIn, and show you exactly how many meetings your outbound should be generating. All backed by data from 52M+ cold emails and tens of thousands of campaigns.

Trusted by 1,000+ B2B companies, Outbound System consolidates your entire outbound tech stack into one done-for-you system. Scale your pipeline across cold email, AI calling, and LinkedIn from a single platform, delivering twice the leads at half the cost while we fill your calendar with qualified decision-makers every month.

© 2026 Outbound System. All rights reserved.

OS

Outbound System

Get your free growth plan today and stop guessing what works. We'll map your ideal customers, build custom outreach sequences across email, phone, and LinkedIn, and show you exactly how many meetings your outbound should be generating. All backed by data from 52M+ cold emails and tens of thousands of campaigns.

Trusted by 1,000+ B2B companies, Outbound System consolidates your entire outbound tech stack into one done-for-you system. Scale your pipeline across cold email, AI calling, and LinkedIn from a single platform, delivering twice the leads at half the cost while we fill your calendar with qualified decision-makers every month.

© 2026 Outbound System. All rights reserved.

OS

Outbound System

Get your free growth plan today and stop guessing what works. We'll map your ideal customers, build custom outreach sequences across email, phone, and LinkedIn, and show you exactly how many meetings your outbound should be generating. All backed by data from 52M+ cold emails and tens of thousands of campaigns.

Trusted by 1,000+ B2B companies, Outbound System consolidates your entire outbound tech stack into one done-for-you system. Scale your pipeline across cold email, AI calling, and LinkedIn from a single platform, delivering twice the leads at half the cost while we fill your calendar with qualified decision-makers every month.

© 2026 Outbound System. All rights reserved.