How much do missed calls really cost a Canadian small business?

Ask a small-business owner what missed calls cost them and most won't have a number. This post gives no industry average. It gives a formula you fill in with your own numbers in a few minutes, from your call log, one worked example, and four things you can do today, from the cheapest to the most complete.

The formula, with your own numbers

Three numbers, all yours:

• Missed calls a week: incoming calls nobody answered.
• The share that would have booked: out of your answered calls from new customers, how many turn into paid work. One in four is 25%.
• Your average job value: what one job brings in.

Missed calls a week × share that would have booked × average job value = what a week of missed calls costs. Multiply by 52 for a year.

A worked example

This is an example with made-up numbers, not a statistic. A business misses 4 calls a week. About one in 4 of its new-customer calls books. Its average job is $300.

4 missed calls × 1 in 4 × $300 = $300 a week. Over 52 weeks: $15,600 a year.

Your numbers will differ, and they are the only ones that count. Two adjustments keep the result honest. Take out the missed callers who called back or left a message and booked anyway: they were not lost. And if your customers come back year after year, as a dental patient or a lawn-care client can, use what a customer spends in a year instead of one invoice.

Where to find each number

• Missed calls: your call log, which is the recent calls on your cell phone, or the call history in your phone company's online account or your office phone system. Count the unanswered incoming calls over the last four weeks and divide by four. Leave out numbers you know are spam.
• The share that books: count last month's answered calls from new customers, and how many became paid work. If you don't track it, tally two weeks on paper: a mark for each new call, a circle when it books.
• Average job value: add up your last 20 invoices and divide by 20, or ask your bookkeeper.

Check when the calls came in

In the same call log, sort the missed calls by time: before you open, after you close, on weekends, and during the day while you were on a job or with a customer. Calls outside your hours are calls nobody in the business could take, even on a good day. Calls during the day mean the person who answers is busy doing the work. The fix depends on which pile is bigger.

What to do today, in order

From the cheapest fix to the most complete. Each step helps on its own.

1. Record a greeting that says when you will call back. A caller who knows when to expect you has a reason to leave a message instead of calling the next business. For example: "You've reached [Business name]. We're on a job. Leave your name, your number and what you need, and we'll call you back before [time]." More examples in English and French: business phone greeting examples.
2. Forward the calls you miss. Your line can usually forward a call when you are busy or don't answer, so your phone still rings first. Send those calls to someone who can pick up, or to an AI receptionist (step 4). Our call forwarding guide has the steps for Canadian phone companies.
3. Text back every missed call. Within the hour, from your phone: your name, that you saw the call, and when you will call. The caller knows they reached the right place and can reply with what they need. It takes a minute a call, so it works while the count is small.
4. Let an AI receptionist answer. Cedri answers the calls you forward, asks the questions you would, books the slot during the call and texts the caller a confirmation. You get a text recap when the call ends. It costs $18.99 CAD a month, with 30 answered calls included, or $189.99 a year. Past 30, the line keeps answering, and extra calls come in packs on the web: 10 for $12.99, 25 for $29.99 or 50 for $49.99. See what the plan includes, and set that price next to your weekly number. To compare it with a human service: AI receptionist or answering service.

Your trade

The questions a caller asks, and what a job is worth, depend on the trade. Each of these pages shows what Cedri asks on that kind of line: plumbing, heating and cooling, electrical, roofing, cleaning, auto repair, dental and salons and spas. Every trade: the AI receptionist pages by trade.