The cost of missed calls: count the losses

The cost of missed calls

in short

You can calculate the losses from missed calls in one evening: multiply the number of missed calls in a month by your conversion and by the margin on a deal. Add the advertising cost that brought those people to you. The one thing not to do while counting is mixing missed calls inside working hours with those outside them, because they are different faults. Then check how many of those callers rang back themselves, usually fewer than half.

The formula

Lost money equals the number of missed calls multiplied by your enquiry-to-payment conversion and by the margin on an average deal. That is a lower bound: it leaves out everyone who went to a competitor and will never come back.

What else to count

how many of the missed calls you returned yourself, and how quickly
how many of the people you called back went on to buy
how many missed calls fall inside working hours and how many outside
which hours of the day produce the most missed calls

The last one often gives you the simplest change: if half the missed calls land at lunchtime, the answer is a rota, not a new hire.

Three reasons calls get missed

No rule about who picks up when the main person is busy.
No list of missed calls that the rep can see.
No reminder to call back, so it gets lost among everything else.

What to put in place

Forwarding to a second rep after three rings.
An automatic missed-call list, marked with who has already been rung back.
A callback standard: within fifteen minutes during working hours.
A message to the customer if the call came outside hours, saying when somebody will be in touch.

Questions people ask

Do I have to call back every missed call?

Yes, and the sooner the better: somebody who called you is usually calling your competitors too.

How do I count missed calls outside working hours?

Separately. That is not the rep's fault, it is a question of the rota, or of an automatic reply that states a time.