How much are your missed calls costing you?
The customer who reaches your voicemail calls the next company. Put a number on what that represents in a year.
Your numbers
Rough estimates are fine. The goal is the order of magnitude, not bookkeeping.
Evenings, weekends, during a job, second line busy.
When you do answer, how many end up buying.
Revenue lost per year
$78,975
That is 3.4 jobs a week slipping away.
Missed calls per week
8
Revenue lost per week
$1,519
Profit lost per year
$27,641
What an automatic text would recover
A text sent within a minute of the missed call recovers a good share, not all of it, because some callers have already called elsewhere.
Revenue recovered per year
$47,385
Profit recovered per year
$16,585
How the calculation works
It is deliberately simple, so you can redo it on a napkin: calls per week × share missed = missed calls; missed calls × conversion rate = lost jobs; lost jobs × average value × 52 = revenue lost per year; revenue lost × your margin = profit lost.
Two assumptions to watch
The conversion rate: missed calls get the same rate as answered ones. That is cautious, because someone calling a plumber on Saturday morning usually has a more urgent problem than average.
The 60% recovery: an instant text does not bring everyone back, since some have already called elsewhere. 60% is a cautious assumption. What matters most is not the message but the delay.
Why missed calls cost more than you think
A missed call leaves no trace. A lost quote sits in your files; a missed call leaves nothing at all. That is why most owners underestimate the number: they judge losses from what they can see.
Questions
Does an automatic text feel impersonal?
What if I already answer almost every call?
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