- Estimate the cost with four numbers: calls, missed share, booking rate, job value.
- Speed matters: customers often contact the next company on the list.
- Fix after-hours and peak-hour gaps first.
A four-number estimate
You do not need a consultant to size this. Take the number of inbound calls and web enquiries you receive in a typical month. Estimate the share you miss or answer late. Estimate what share of answered enquiries become booked jobs. Multiply the missed ones by that booking rate and by your average job value.
For example, if you receive 60 calls a week, miss a quarter of them, book three in ten of the ones you do answer and an average job is worth $1,500, the arithmetic quickly lands in the tens of thousands of dollars a month. Your real numbers will differ, so run them in our leak simulator. It is an illustration, not a promise.
Why speed matters more than people think
Someone searching for a plumber or an HVAC company is usually comparing several options and wants an answer now. If your line goes to voicemail, the next number gets the call. A fast, helpful first reply, even before a human is free, keeps the customer with you.
Common causes of missed enquiries
Technicians in the field and no one at the desk. Peak-season surges. After-hours and weekend calls. Web forms that email one person who is away. Text messages that sit in a personal phone.
Practical fixes
Answer every call and message immediately, capture the details and offer the next available slot. Route true emergencies to a person at once. Send the rest into one shared customer record so nothing depends on memory. Read how this plays out for HVAC, plumbing and roofing teams.
If you want to know where your own gaps are, request the free audit.
See where your business is leaking revenue
Send us your website. We will review it and show you where the opportunities are. No obligation.
Get Your Free AI Revenue Leak Audit Talk to us