Missed-call math for restoration companies
A worked example with every assumption on the table, so you can replace it with your own numbers.
Illustrative numbers. The figures here are example assumptions to show the arithmetic. They are not measured results. Replace them with your own call records.
Restoration is one of the clearest cases for answering every call. The caller has water in the house, or smoke damage after a fire. They are not browsing. They call a number, and if nobody picks up, they call the next one on the list.
The jobs are also large compared with most home-service work, so a few missed calls can add up. Here is one way to price it. These are example assumptions, not measured results. Replace them with figures from your own phone records.
Example assumptions
- 20 inbound calls in a typical week.
- 15% go unanswered (after hours, busy crews, or two calls at once). That is 3 calls.
- 30% of those callers would have booked an assessment if someone had answered.
- An average booked job of $2,500.
The arithmetic
3 missed calls x 30% = 0.9 jobs a week. 0.9 jobs x $2,500 = $2,250 a week. Over 50 working weeks, that is $112,500 a year.
Change the inputs and the answer moves a lot:
- Low case: 3 missed, 20% would book, $1,500 job = $900 a week.
- Base case: 3 missed, 30% would book, $2,500 job = $2,250 a week.
- High case: 3 missed, 40% would book, $4,000 job = $4,800 a week.
What the math leaves out
It counts one job per call. It does not count referrals from the people you did help, or the property manager who sends you three buildings a year once you are the company that picks up.
It also overcounts if some of the missed calls were wrong numbers, vendors or callers already on a job with you. Sort the log before you trust any of it.
How to get your own numbers
Pull a month of call records. Count total calls, then the ones no person answered. Look at the times. If the misses cluster at night and on weekends, that is where coverage matters most.
Then check your real booking rate: of the callers who did reach you, how many ended up with an assessment on the calendar? Use that instead of the 30% above. Your average job value should come from invoices, not from memory.
Where restoration differs
Many of these calls are urgent, and some involve danger. For active flooding, sewage backups and fire or smoke damage, an AI receptionist reads a fixed safety script and alerts you, or rings your on-call team if live routing is on. It does not diagnose, estimate damage, or promise when a crew will arrive. Those calls are worth more than the average ticket suggests, which is the reason to test how yours are handled before the next storm.