What Missed Calls Cost a Small Business

Missed calls cost a small business more than most owners think, because many callers who reach nobody simply call the next business on the list. The fix is to find out how many calls you miss and when, send calls to more than one person when the front desk is busy, and call back quickly when one slips through.

You do not need industry numbers to see what this means for you. A little arithmetic with your own numbers is enough.

What Does a Missed Call Cost You?

Try this example. Say a typical new job is worth $300 to your business. If one new customer a week calls, gets no answer and calls someone else, that is $300 a week, or $15,600 over a year. If your average job is bigger, or you miss more than one a week, the number grows fast.

Use your own figures: the average value of a new customer, and a guess at how many you lose. The point is not the exact total. It is that a few missed calls a week can be worth more than the phone bill itself.

And some missed calls are not new business at all. They are existing customers with a question, who now think you are hard to reach.

Why Do Calls Go Unanswered?

Most missed calls come from a few ordinary situations:

• The front desk is busy. Someone is checking in a customer or already on another call.
• Lunch and the end of the day. The person who answers steps away, and nobody covers.
• Everyone is out. A small crew on job sites, with the office line ringing an empty desk.
• The phone rings one person only. If they are busy, nobody else even knows a call came in.
• Hours that don't match. The phones go to voicemail at 5, but customers call at 5:15.

How Can You Tell How Many Calls You Miss?

Look at your call analytics. In the Telonium portal, you can see how incoming calls ended (answered, voicemail or missed) by day or by hour, your busiest times of the week, and the most calls you had at once. There is also a list of missed calls showing which ones you reached later.

Check it after a normal week. Look for the hour with the most missed calls. That is usually where a small change makes the biggest difference. The call log shows every call too, and you can download it as a spreadsheet (CSV).

Who Should the Phone Ring When the Front Desk Is Busy?

More than one person. A call group rings several phones at once, such as the front desk, the office manager and the owner's cell, and whoever is free picks up. Team members can answer on a desk phone, a computer or the Telonium app on their cell phone, so it works even when people are out of the office.

If calls often arrive several at a time, a call queue holds callers in line with hold music and hands each one to the next person who is free. A live board shows who is waiting. Our post on ringing everyone or letting callers wait in line explains which fits your team.

What Should Happen After a Few Rings?

A call should never ring forever. Decide where it goes when nobody answers:

• Voicemail, sent to email. Each message arrives in an inbox with the recording attached, so someone sees it right away.
• A backup person or group. Such as the owner's cell phone during lunch.
• A menu option. An auto attendant (the "press 1 for..." phone menu) can let callers choose to leave a message instead of waiting.

Also check your hours. Each number has a schedule by day and time. If customers often call just after closing, consider staying on the phones a little later, or make sure the after-hours greeting says when you will call back.

How Do You Follow Up on a Missed Call?

Speed matters most. A caller who hears back within the hour often has not called anyone else yet.

• Decide who owns missed calls. One person checks the list a few times a day.
• Call back from the business number. The app calls out on your business number, so customers recognize it.
• Leave a message if they don't answer. Say who you are and why you are calling.
• Check the list at the end of each day. The analytics show which missed callers you reached later, so nobody falls through.

Our post on how fast to return a customer's call has a simple callback rule you can adopt.

A Missed Call Checklist

• Estimate what one lost customer is worth to you.
• Check analytics for the hours with the most missed calls.
• Ring a group, not one person, for the main number.
• Set where calls go after a few rings.
• Send voicemail to an inbox someone watches.
• Name one person to own callbacks.

Call groups, queues, analytics and voicemail to email are part of every Telonium plan. See them on our features page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I See My Missed Calls?

The Telonium portal shows missed calls by day and hour, your busiest times, and a list of missed callers with whether you reached them later.

Can Missed Calls Ring My Cell Phone Instead?

Yes. Add your cell phone to the call group through the app, or set it as the place calls go when the front desk does not answer.

What Is a Good Time to Return a Missed Call?

As soon as you can, and the same business day at the latest.