How Many Jobs Are You Losing to Missed Calls Each Month?
Most owners have a gut feeling they’re leaving money on the table. This Play walks you through a simple way to put numbers to it — and what to do about it.
No guilt. No theory. Just a clear look at how missed calls and slow follow-up quietly drain profit from Handyman and Doors & Windows businesses.
Let’s be honest about what’s really happening.
When a new lead calls your business right now, what actually happens?
- You’re on a job, the phone rings, and it goes to voicemail.
- You see a missed call and think, “I’ll call them back later.”
- A text comes in while you’re driving, and by the time you get home, it’s buried.
- Someone leaves a voicemail, you listen, then get pulled into something else.
None of that makes you lazy. It just means you’re running the business and doing the work at the same time.
A simple way to estimate what this is costing you.
You don’t need a spreadsheet or a degree to figure this out. Grab three numbers:
- How many new calls/texts you get in a typical week.
- Roughly what percentage you miss or respond to late.
- Your average job value.
Then use this quick back-of-the-napkin math:
Example: Handyman or Doors & Windows business
Your numbers will be different. The point isn’t to be perfect; the point is to stop pretending it’s “no big deal.”
Where the leaks usually are (it’s not just voicemail).
1. The initial call or text
A new customer calls while you’re in the middle of a job. If you don’t answer, most won’t leave a voicemail. If they do, they’re probably calling your competitor next.
Same with text. If they don’t hear back quickly, they assume you’re too busy or not interested.
2. The “I’ll call them back later” pile
At the end of a long day, you’ve got missed calls, voicemails, and texts. You’re tired. You call a couple back, then life happens. The rest fall through the cracks.
3. After you send the quote
You visit, measure, and send a quote. Then… nothing. You mean to follow up. But you’re back in the field or dealing with other fires.
4. After the job is done
You did great work. The customer is happy. They say they’ll leave a review. Then they get busy, and it never happens. You miss a chance to turn that job into more jobs.
None of this is unique to you. This is normal behavior for almost every home-service business that doesn’t have someone dedicated to the phones and follow-up.
What changes when an AI Front Office handles this instead of you?
An AI Front Office is not a menu tree or some robotic call center. It’s a system that’s trained to sound like your business, ask the right questions, and move every conversation to a clear next step.
On the front end (calls and texts)
- Calls are answered immediately, even when you’re tied up on a job.
- Texts get fast, relevant responses instead of silence.
- Basic questions are handled without pulling you away from work.
- Leads are qualified and their details are captured every time.
On the back end (follow-up and reviews)
- Quotes are followed up with consistent, professional messages.
- Old leads are reactivated with simple check-in texts.
- Review requests are sent automatically after jobs are completed.
- All of this runs without you having to remember to do it.
Run this Play with your own numbers.
Here’s how to turn this from “interesting” to “real” in about 5 minutes:
-
Write down your best guess for:
- New calls/texts per week.
- Percent you miss or respond to late.
- Average job value.
-
Multiply them out:
- Missed opportunities per week = calls × miss rate × close rate.
- Revenue at stake = missed opportunities × average job value.
- Ask yourself one question: “If this is even half right, am I okay leaving it this way for another 6–12 months?”
If the honest answer is “No, not really,” then the next step isn’t to feel bad about it. It’s to put a system in place that keeps you from bleeding like this going forward.
Want to see what an AI Front Office would do to those numbers?
A live demo walks through exactly how CrewMotive would handle your calls, texts, and follow-up, using your reality — not some perfect scenario.
We’ll look at your call volume, your average job value, and how many opportunities you’re likely losing now. Then we’ll show you what it would look like with an AI Front Office plugged in.
If it doesn’t make financial sense, we’ll tell you. If it does, you’ll know exactly why.
