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Guide
What a missed call actually costs you
Not a scare number. Just the arithmetic, using your own job values.
Start with how many you actually miss
Pull your call log for last month and count the inbound calls under 20 seconds with no callback. That is your miss count, and for an owner-operated shop it is usually between 15 and 40 percent of inbound — higher if your Google listing says you are closed weekends, because those calls still come.
Most of them do not call back
A homeowner with water on the floor does not leave a voicemail and wait. They go back to the search results and call the next one. The ones who do leave a message are usually the ones who already know you.
Put your own number on it
Take your average job value — for most shops around here a service call plus the work lands somewhere between $300 and $600 — and multiply by the calls you missed that would have booked. Even at a conservative one-in-three, a shop missing 20 calls a month is leaving several thousand dollars a month on the table.
What to do about it without hiring anyone
The options are a human answering service that takes messages, a family member who is already busy, or something that actually books the job into your calendar. The first two produce a callback list. Only the third produces an appointment.
Keep reading
Questions people actually ask
How do I count my missed calls?
Your carrier's call log, or your cell's recents. Count inbound calls under 20 seconds with no outbound call back to that number the same day.
Is an answering service cheaper?
Usually not, once you compare per-minute pricing against a flat monthly, and a service takes a message rather than booking the job.
Hear it before you buy it
Call the demo line and you will hear exactly what goes on your phone. No form, no salesman.
TB Solutions · Nick Byrd · Pottstown, PA · serving Chester County, Montgomery County and the 422 corridor
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