What a missed call really costs a plumbing or aircon business
When you're on the tools, missing calls is unavoidable. But each one has a price. Here's a simple way to work out what missed calls cost your business, and how to stop paying it.
Why callers don't call back
Someone with a burst geyser or a broken aircon in a heatwave isn't shopping around for the best price. They want someone to answer. If you don't pick up, the next business on Google is one tap away, and once they've booked, they're gone.
Many won't leave a voicemail either. So you don't just lose the job, you often don't even know it existed.
The simple formula
Take the number of calls you miss in a typical week. Multiply by the share you'd normally turn into jobs, then by your average job value. Multiply by roughly 4.3 to get a monthly figure.
As an illustration only: 10 missed calls a week, 40% that would become jobs and a R2 500 average job comes to about R43 000 a month. Your numbers will be different, so try them in our calculator.
The cost you don't see
The first job is rarely the whole story. A happy customer calls you back for the next repair, books an annual aircon service, recommends you to neighbours and leaves a Google review that wins you more work. A missed call can cost years of that.
Five ways to stop losing those jobs
1. Missed-call text-back. Send an instant WhatsApp or SMS to every missed caller: sorry we missed you, here's how we can help. It keeps the customer talking to you, not your competitor.
2. Ask the right questions automatically. What's the problem, which suburb, how urgent, can you send a photo? Then you can call back with a plan, not a blank page.
3. Make it easy to message you. Add WhatsApp to your Google Business Profile and website, so customers can reach you without phoning.
4. Set rules for emergencies. Words like burst, leak or no hot water should reach whoever is on call straight away. Routine requests can wait for business hours.
5. Track it. Count missed calls and how many turned into jobs. Once you see the number every week, it's much easier to decide what to fix.
Where automation helps
Automation covers the phone when you can't. Every missed caller gets a reply in seconds, leads are qualified while you work, jobs are booked into your calendar and emergencies are escalated, so you finish the job in front of you without losing the next one.
