Call math
What do missed calls cost a trade business?
Multiply the calls you missed by the share of calls that turn into booked jobs, then by your average ticket. That’s what went to the next shop on the list.
The formula
booking rate = jobs booked ÷ calls received
missed-call cost = missed calls × booking rate × average ticket
Example: 40 calls and 12 booked jobs is a booking rate of 0.30. Six missed calls × 0.30 × $600 = $1,080 in one week, or about $56,000 a year. Those are example numbers. Yours are below.
Run your numbers
Booking rate
0.30
Lost per week
$1,080
Lost per year
$56,160
Want it on paper, with a week-long tally sheet? Get the free Call Math Worksheet.
Why a missed call rarely comes back
- Missed calls are common. 14% of calls to home-services businesses go unanswered (CallRail, 1.1 million calls analyzed); Invoca puts the share of unanswered calls at 27%.
- Voicemail doesn’t save them. Fewer than 3% of callers who reach voicemail leave a message (Invoca). The rest hang up and call the next shop on the list.
- The worst calls to miss come at the worst times. After hours, on weekends, and while you’re on a job are exactly when the urgent, high-ticket calls come in.
It’s not just HVAC and plumbing
HVAC
A no-heat or no-cool call is urgent, and the homeowner is dialing down a list. The first shop that answers usually gets the repair, and often the replacement quote behind it.
Plumbing
A leak or a burst pipe doesn’t wait for a callback. Water on the floor means the caller keeps dialing until somebody picks up.
Roofing
After a storm, every homeowner on the street is calling for an inspection at once. A missed call is a lost estimate, and roofing tickets are large.
Flooring & drywall
Most calls are estimate requests. The customer calls three contractors, and the ones who answer get in the door first.
Electrical
Outages and safety worries come in at all hours, and panel or service upgrades are high-ticket jobs worth catching.
Every other trade
If your work starts with the phone ringing, the same math applies. Plug in your own numbers above.
How to count your real missed calls
- iPhone: Phone app → Recents → tap “Missed”. Android: Phone app → Recents or Call history → filter to Missed.
- Business line on a VoIP system (RingCentral, Google Voice and others): log into the web portal and open the call log.
- For the last 7 days, count every missed call, how many came after hours or on weekends, and how many of those numbers never called back. The ones that never called back most likely booked with someone else.
09 — Begin
Your next hire
isn’t a hire.
Book a free 30-minute Missed Call Audit. We’ll run the math on what missed calls cost your shop and show you exactly what NH-01 would have caught.
Or have Bobby call you in 60 seconds →
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