No business has a “missed calls” line in its expenses, yet for many SMBs it's one of the biggest sources of lost revenue. You don't see it because nobody measures it: the unanswered call leaves no invoice, just a customer who went to the next provider. Let's measure it.
Where calls get lost
Four points concentrate nearly all the losses and all four are predictable:
Why they don't call back
Instinct says “they'll try again”. Behavior says otherwise: the caller has a need now, an appointment, a booking, a breakdown, a pre-purchase question. Google gives them dozens of alternatives in seconds. Calling the next provider costs them nothing; waiting for you costs an unknown. Most don't even leave a voicemail, the ones who retry are the exception, not the rule.
And there's a worse case than the lost sale: the existing customer who can't reach you when they need you. They aren't lost once, they reconsider the relationship.
The math of the loss
Take a conservative example: a business with 20 calls a day and a 25% missed rate, 5 calls a day, 130 a month. If 70% of those never call back (91 calls) and just 30% would have become customers (27 customers), at a €60 average value the leak is about €1,640 a month, nearly €20,000 a year. From a “negligible” 25% missed rate.
Your variables differ, which is why we built a free calculator where you enter your own numbers and see your own cost, with every model assumption written out transparently.
Try the missed calls cost calculator: 30 seconds, no email, no forms.
What you can do: 5 solutions by cost
FAQ
Measure it, then decide.
Put your numbers in the free calculator and see if the problem deserves a solution.
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