Missed leads calculator
Work out the real cost of missed calls, slow replies and messages left on read. Put in how many enquiries you get and how many slip through, and see the jobs and money your business loses every year.
- Free
- No sign up
- Works on your phone
These are example numbers. Change them to yours.
This assumes the missed enquiries would have booked as often as the ones you catch. Use a lower close rate if you think they were weaker leads.
How to use it
- Count your enquiriesAdd up the calls, forms, messages and DMs you get in a normal month. A rough number is fine to start with.
- Be honest about the ones you missThink of the voicemails you never returned, the forms you saw the next day and the messages left on read.
- See what they cost youAdd your close rate and job value to see the jobs and money you lose each year, and what catching half of them would win back.
What counts as a missed lead
A missed lead is anyone who got in touch and didn’t hear back while they were still looking. The usual ones are:
- a call that goes to voicemail and never gets returned
- a form that sits in an inbox until tomorrow
- a DM or WhatsApp message left on read
- a missed call from a withheld number, so you can’t ring back
Count the late replies too. If you got back to someone the next day and they’d already booked another business, that enquiry was missed, even though you did answer it.
How the calculator works it out
The sum behind it is simple:
Work lost = missed enquiries × your close rate × average job value
Your close rate is how many of the enquiries you answer quickly turn into jobs. The missed leads calculator assumes the ones you miss would have booked just as often. If you think they were weaker leads, put in a lower close rate and watch the figure change.
You won’t catch every enquiry, and you don’t need to. That’s why it also shows what catching half of them would win back. It’s a sensible first goal.
Why missed calls cost more than they look
A missed call feels small at the time. You were up a ladder or with a patient, and you’ll ring back later. The trouble is what the customer does in the meantime.
People often contact two or three businesses at once, then go with whoever gets back to them first. They aren’t being disloyal. They want the leak fixed, the tooth seen to or the quote booked in, and the first business to answer gets the job. By the time you ring back, it may already be booked.
You’ve also already paid for that enquiry. Your ads, your website, your reviews and the sign on your van all did their job when that person picked up the phone. Let the enquiry go cold and that money is wasted. To see what each lead is worth to you, try the Facebook ads ROAS calculator.
And a customer is often worth more than one job. Happy ones book again and tell their friends, so the real cost of missed calls for a small business can be bigger than the figure above.
How to stop losing enquiries
What you’re aiming for is a short lead response time: the gap between someone getting in touch and hearing back from you. You can’t answer every call yourself, but you can make sure nobody waits in silence.
- Send an instant reply. An automatic text or WhatsApp goes out the moment someone calls, fills in a form or messages you. It tells them a real person will get back to them, which buys you time to finish the job you’re on.
- Put every enquiry in one place. Calls, forms, Facebook and Instagram messages and WhatsApp should all land in one list (a CRM), not five different inboxes. One list is much harder to lose things in.
- Set a reminder to chase. Anyone who hasn’t been contacted after an hour should flag up for someone to call. Give every enquiry an owner, so it’s clear whose job it is.
- Make it easy to message you. Plenty of people would rather send a message than ring. A WhatsApp link on your website, ads and social profiles lets them start a chat in one tap. Make yours with the WhatsApp link generator.
- Know where your enquiries come from. Tag the links in your ads, emails and posts, so every enquiry shows where it came from. Then you know which ones matter most and where to spend your time. The UTM link builder does it in seconds.
That’s the system we build for service businesses: a CRM where every enquiry lands, instant replies that go out while you’re busy, and follow up reminders so no enquiry sits unanswered. See how our systems and app builds work.
Questions people ask
What counts as a missed lead?
Anyone who got in touch and didn’t hear back while they were still looking. That’s a call that goes to voicemail and never gets returned, a form that waits in an inbox until the next day, a DM or WhatsApp left on read, or a missed call from a withheld number. Late replies count too: if they’d booked someone else by the time you answered, the lead was missed.
How fast should I reply to a new enquiry?
As fast as you can, ideally within minutes, while they’re still looking and before they try someone else. That’s hard when you’re on a job or with a patient, which is where an instant automatic reply helps. A quick text or WhatsApp saying you’ve got their message, and when you’ll call, buys you time.
Is this figure realistic?
It’s only as good as the numbers you put in. The one assumption is that the enquiries you miss would have booked as often as the ones you catch. If you think they were weaker leads, put in a lower close rate. That’s also why the calculator shows what catching half of them would win back: it’s a more cautious number to plan around.
How do I find out how many enquiries I miss?
Keep count for a fortnight. Check your phone for missed calls and voicemails you didn’t return, then look through your forms, messages and DMs for any you answered more than an hour after they came in. Compare that with all the enquiries you got in the same fortnight. If 4 out of 20 slipped through, that’s 20%.
Can a CRM really fix this?
It stops enquiries waiting where nobody can see them. A CRM puts every enquiry in one list, with someone responsible for it and a reminder if it hasn’t been answered, so nothing sits in an inbox. Add an instant automatic reply and people hear back straight away, even when you’re busy. You still need someone to make the call, but nobody gets forgotten.
More free tools
See all 7 tools →Want every enquiry answered while it’s hot?
We build the CRM and instant replies that make sure every call, form and message gets a fast answer, even when you’re on a job.
You speak to Maciej, our founder, not a salesperson Thanks, we’ve got your enquiry.
We’ll be in touch soon. If you’d rather talk sooner, pick a time that suits you.
Pick a day and time
Loading the free times…
