Missed calls are costing you more than your ad budget
The average trade business we audit misses about one call in five. Here is what that is worth, and four fixes.
Owen BartlettReporting and call tracking4 min read
The short version
- In sample audits, 22% of inbound calls go unanswered.
- Most callers do not leave a voicemail. They ring the next result.
- A text back within a minute rescues roughly a third of missed calls.
Do the sum
Say you get 80 calls a month, miss 18 of them, close 45% of the calls you answer and average $650 a job. Those missed calls were worth about eight jobs, or $5,200 a month. That is more than most businesses spend on ads.
Why callers do not wait
A customer with a leak has three plumbers on screen. If the first rings out, tapping the second takes two seconds. Voicemail feels like a risk, so most hang up.
Four fixes, cheapest first
- Missed call text-back: an automatic SMS within 60 seconds saying you will ring shortly
- A lunch and after-hours roster so one person always has the phone
- A short voicemail greeting that promises a call back time and keeps the promise
- An answering service for overflow, briefed with your prices and booking rules
Measure it
You cannot fix what you cannot see. Call tracking shows answer rate by hour and day, so you can see whether the problem is Tuesday lunchtimes or every afternoon after three.
Figures in this article are sample numbers for illustration.
See call tracking and reporting