What do missed calls actually cost a small firm?
The short answer: often the job itself, because about one caller in four rings someone else
Most firms also miss more calls than they think. In a study of 1,000 recorded calls, owners believed they answered 97%. The recordings showed 66%. Put in your weekly calls and your average job value, and the calculator shows what the missed ones cost you each month.
≈ €1,600 a month walks away.
Estimate. Model: assumes 1 in 4 missed callers books elsewhere, industry studies put the miss rate higher. Your real numbers replace it on the call.
The methodology
Every assumption on this page is editable. Change the bands, the model recalculates. The defaults come from published studies and worked models, each one cited below.
The math, step by step
- Missed calls a month10 × 4.33 = 43.3
- Callers who book elsewhere43.3 × 25% = 10.8
- Value of those jobs10.8 × €150 = €1,600
Sources: HBR lead-response audit (2,241 firms) · practitioner-reported no-show curves (labelled model) · industry answer-rate studies · our own worked models, stated openly. Where a number is a model, it says so next to the number.
Further reading
- Where every number on this site comes from →
- What an automation costs, and what drives the number →
- Which gap to automate first, and the four-question test →
- Why AI projects fail small firms, and what works instead →
- Is an AI phone agent legal in Germany? →
- AI receptionist, answering service or voicemail: compared →
The calculator shows the gap. The analysis shows the fix.
Where do the default numbers come from?
Published studies and worked models, each cited under the calculator. Every assumption is editable, so your numbers replace ours in seconds.
Is this a quote?
No. It's the size of the gap, not the price of the fix. The fix gets a fixed quote after a free analysis.
Can I save the result?
The exit file has the same math for your industry, and the free Inefficiency Scan emails you a full report.