Would better call handling cover its cost?
Use this missed-call cost calculator to explore a scenario for your plumbing, roofing, HVAC or other service business. Start with your own numbers; a missed call is not automatically a lost job.
Use your call log. Remove repeated calls about the same inquiry.
Exclude spam, existing-customer calls and inquiries you cannot serve.
Count completed, paid jobs. Exclude work you would already win through callbacks or another channel. This is your assumption, not a benchmark.
Job payments collected minus direct costs such as materials, labor, travel and payment fees. Enter USD to the nearest cent, not total job revenue.
Include the base fee, expected usage charges, taxes, monthly setup-cost allocation and other fees. Enter USD to the nearest cent; avoid counting the same cost twice.
Your monthly scenario
All results depend on the assumptions you enter.
Fill in all five assumptions to see the calculation. Zero is a valid input.
Fractional jobs are a monthly scenario average. This is not measured lost revenue, a forecast, or business profit. Fixed overhead, income taxes and unmodeled costs are excluded. Better answering does not guarantee additional jobs.
No signup required. Calculator inputs are not submitted. Standard site analytics still apply.
Before choosing an answering service
- Review your call log and callbacks first. Separate unanswered new-customer inquiries from spam, repeat calls and work you already recovered.
- Ask for the full cost: included usage, overages, setup, taxes and cancellation terms. Use that total in the calculator.
- Test routine inquiries, after-hours calls, transfer failures and requests the service cannot handle. Keep your existing urgent-call process in place.
- Confirm which appointments can be booked, who approves the hours and services, and how to correct a mistaken booking.
- Check caller disclosure, recording/privacy practices and the fallback when the service is unavailable. Verify messaging availability separately.
- Compare actual outcomes after setup with your previous process. Count additional completed, paid jobs and direct costs, not just calls answered.
The scenario formula is unanswered calls × potential-new-customer share × additional-job share × contribution per job, minus monthly answering cost. It estimates a possibility, not Lottie performance or measured lost revenue.
Review the published scope and setup steps before purchasing. The calculator does not establish that a particular integration or call workflow is available.