STRAIGHT ANSWERS
"I already get enough calls." Maybe. Here is how to know, in one week, with your own phone
This is the first thing most contractors tell us, and sometimes it is true. A two-truck company with a full board and a dispatcher does not need us. But "enough calls" usually means "enough of the calls I answered." The ones that rang out are not on any list. Here is how to count them yourself, in a week, without buying anything.
A note on what this is. We do not know how many calls your company misses. Nobody does until it is counted. This is the count, and what to do with the number either way.
THE SHORT ANSWER
Why "enough calls" is usually about the answered ones
Your sense of call volume comes from the calls you took. A missed call is a notification with no name on it, and a caller who did not leave a message leaves nothing to remember. So the week feels full, because the part of it you saw was full. The part you did not see is not in the feeling.
That is not a knock on anyone. It is how a phone in a truck works. The tech under the house cannot answer, and the caller with no AC does not wait for a callback. He dials the next name.
How do you count the calls you missed?
- Open the phone app on the number customers call. Go to the call log for the last seven days.
- Count every incoming call that shows as missed or went to voicemail. Write the number down.
- Now count how many of those left a voicemail. Write that down.
- Subtract. The difference is the callers who rang out and said nothing. Most of them called someone else.
If your number rings on two phones, do it on both. If the office answers during the day, do it for evenings and weekends only. Ten minutes, one week, and you have a number nobody had before.
When is the objection right?
When the gap is small. A company that misses two calls a week and has a full board does not need a text back within a minute; it needs nothing. We would rather say that on the call than sell you a seat you will cancel in March. The guide on measuring your own reply time says the same thing in more detail.
When is it wrong?
When the gap is a few a day, or when it spikes: the August wave for AC, the three weeks after a storm for roofing, a cold snap for plumbing. The calls you miss in those weeks are the biggest jobs of the year, and they go to whoever answered. A text back within a minute, in the caller’s language, with a real way to book, is what keeps them on your board.
Bring the two numbers to a 30-minute call. If they say you are fine, that is what we will tell you.
What the number turns into
Once the system is on, the count stops being a chore. Every call, answered or missed, lands on the job board with the source and the language. The reports show what came in, what got a reply, and what turned into work, by month. The question "do I get enough calls" gets an answer every Monday, from your own numbers, in the language they came in.
Questions we get asked about this
What if I do not know how to see the call log?
On an iPhone, open Phone, then Recents, and look for the red entries. On Android, open Phone, then Recents, and look for the missed-call icon. Count the last seven days. If the number customers call is a landline, the phone company’s portal shows the same log.
Do missed calls really go to the next company?
We have not measured how many. What we know from the phone log is that a caller who rings out and leaves no message usually does not call back. Whether he called the next name is something only he knows. The text back is how you find out, because he answers it.
What if my office already answers every call?
Then count evenings and weekends only. That is where most trade companies miss calls, and where the AC dies at six on a Tuesday.
Related
Counted the week?
Bring the two numbers to a 30-minute call. We will read them with you and tell you plainly whether the gap is worth $149 a month, or whether you should keep your money.