Run the math: what one missed call costs your shop

A simple formula for the revenue you leave on the table every time your phone rings and nobody picks up.

Here's the back-of-the-envelope every trades owner should run once a quarter:

(weekly missed calls) x (average ticket) x (52) x (close rate)

For a mid-sized plumbing shop missing 10 calls a week at a $420 average ticket with a 60% close rate, that's $131,040 a year sitting in voicemail. Even if you only believe a third of that number, it still pays for a journeyman's salary.

Where the leak usually is

It's almost never the 9am-5pm window. It's evenings, Saturdays, and the 11:30am-1pm lunch dead zone when the office manager is out. Look at your phone bill, count the unanswered inbound calls during those windows, and the picture gets clear fast.