As a home service professional, you know all about the costs that impact your bottom line—things like paying your team, buying materials, and maintaining your general operating expenses. But here’s something that could be costing you more than you realize—missed calls.
Picture this: Your phone rings, but you’re up on a roof fixing a leak or knee-deep in a plumbing issue. You miss the call, thinking you’ll get back to them later, but by the time you do, it’s too late. You’ve lost the job to your competitor.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone. According to Invoca, home services businesses miss around 27% of their inbound calls.1 That’s nearly a third of potential business slipping away because you’re tied up with hands-on work.
How Missed Calls Impact Your Business
We all know it’s impossible to juggle everything at once. Between navigating multiple jobs and managing your team, there’s little room to be glued to your phone. And during peak seasons or busy times of the day, it’s even more difficult.
But those missed calls could be the difference between a satisfied customer and one who moves on to the next service provider. Here are a few ways missing customer calls can impact your business.
Lost Revenue
Unanswered calls mean missed opportunities to secure a job and generate income for your business. Let’s talk numbers—studies show that the average revenue lost per missed call can be huge. According to research by Invoca, home service businesses can miss out on an average of $1,200 per missed call.2
But one missed call can have bigger implications than the immediate loss of revenue from a single job. It could mean missing out on the potential lifetime value of that customer. And in an industry where word-of-mouth reputation is everything, every missed call leaves an impression on your pool of potential customers. Plus, a negative first impression could result in a direct loss of revenue if customers run to your competitors instead.
Damaged Reputation
Speaking of reputation, let’s not underestimate the damage a missed call can do to your business’s credibility. It’s not just about the inconvenience for the customer on the other end of the phone—it’s about the perception it can create that you’re unreliable or too busy to handle their needs. And in today’s digital world, one negative online review can spread like wildfire and chip away at your hard-earned reputation.
On top of that, missing a call directly impacts the overall experience for your potential customers. And believe it or not, that one interaction can be enough to sway them.
In fact, 80% of customers say the experience they receive from a business is as important as its products or services.3 Talk about pressure! Plus, after having more than one bad experience with a business, around 73% of customers say they’d rather give their business to a competitor.4
Reduced Efficiency
Last but not least, let’s not forget about the time wasted dealing with missed calls and voicemails. As a home service business owner, your time is valuable. There are plenty of better ways to spend your time than chasing down missed calls. Managing all those missed connections is a huge drain on productivity and efficiency. Time spent playing phone tag could be better spent serving your customers or scaling your business.
And while you might think that most customers would rather send a text, email, or even a direct message on social media, 60% of consumers still choose to reach out by phone to call local businesses after discovering them on Google.5
The Solution for Missed Calls
So, how do you fix the ongoing issue of missed calls? By analyzing call data, tracking missed calls, and identifying patterns, you can make some small changes to improve your systems. Of course, training your office staff on phone etiquette can also help ensure that every call is answered as quickly and professionally as possible.
Midsize Businesses
For midsize businesses ready to add additional people to the team, hiring a Customer Service Representative (CSR) to answer calls is an option. Just remember, hiring a CSR is like adding a full-time employee. You’ll need to train them, plus pay for their vacation and sick days.
Or you can utilize Virtual Assistants (VAs), similar to what we offer in Housecall Pro with our HCP Assist service. With this option, a team of trained agents is available 24/7—including holidays and weekends—to take calls and add jobs directly to your Housecall Pro profile. Virtual Assistants are a great way to extend your team. If you currently have a big CSR team and are looking to scale even more, VAs can offer support by covering calls after hours and on the weekends.
Small Businesses
If you’re a one-person operation or have a small team, having Virtual Assistants or bots accepting calls (both possible through HCP Assist) is essential. When you’re tied up on a job, you don’t want to miss any calls from potential customers. Each unanswered call could mean losing a job opportunity to a competitor. Relying on VAs or bots can ensure every call is handled professionally and efficiently, helping your business thrive while providing excellent customer service.
The Power of HCP Assist
Whether you’re a midsize business looking for after-hours coverage or a small business looking to ensure no potential calls are missed while you’re on the job, the best solution is clear: Let HCP Assist pick up the phone for you.
HCP Assist is Housecall Pro’s integrated 24/7 answering service that allows you to scale your business while reclaiming your time. Our friendly, reliable agents take your calls and provide best-in-class customer service to book jobs and estimates directly onto your calendar. Enlisting HCP Assist will help enhance your customer experience, improve your reputation, and can even boost your bottom line.
Ready to take the next step and leave missed calls behind? Sign up for a demo of HCP Assist today and see firsthand how it can transform the way you manage your calls.
