The sum in one line
Missed calls in a month, times the share of them that would have become a job, times what a job is worth to you. That is the money walking past your phone each month. If it is bigger than the monthly price, the receptionist pays for itself; if it is smaller, it doesn't, at least not on this sum alone.
Turned around, the question gets simpler still. Divide the monthly price by what an average job is worth to you, and you get the number of saved jobs a month it takes to break even. When one job is worth more than a month of the service, a single job saved from voicemail covers the month.
Step 1: count the calls you miss
Use your phone's call history, not your memory. Go back two weeks, count the calls you didn't pick up, and double it for a month. Leave out numbers you know: suppliers, your crew, family. Note when the misses happened, because calls missed during jobs, at lunch and after hours each have a different fix.
If you use a separate business line or an office phone, count that too. A call that rang an empty office at 5:30 p.m. is a missed call even if nobody saw it.
Step 2: how many would have become work
Not every missed call is a lost job. Some are spam, some are existing customers who will call back, some are price shoppers who were never going to book. The honest number is the share of new-customer calls that turn into jobs when you do answer.
Your own answered calls are the best guide. Over the same two weeks, of the new customers who reached you, how many booked? Use that share for the calls you missed. People who reach voicemail on a job they need done today usually call the next company, so a missed call rarely waits for you.
Step 3: what a job is worth to you
Use what you keep, not the invoice total. Take an average job and subtract materials and the labor you pay out. That is the figure to multiply by.
Then think past the first visit. A new customer who likes your work calls again, signs up for a maintenance plan, or tells a neighbor. You don't need to put a number on that to know the first-job figure understates what a missed call costs.
Step 4: compare with the monthly price
Put the value from steps 1 to 3 next to the monthly price. B&G Solutions' starting prices, by kind of business:
| Kind of business | Phone answering from |
|---|---|
| Plans that include phone answering | $149 a month |
| Most trades and shops (auto repair, cleaning, detailing, pest control, watch and jewelry repair) | $297 a month |
| Emergency trades (plumbers, HVAC, electricians, roofers, locksmiths, garage doors and similar) | $497 a month |
| Law firms | $697 a month |
| Nights and weekends only | $99 a month |
The price is flat for the month, so a busy month costs the same as a quiet one. That makes the comparison fair: the value side of the sum goes up in your busy season, and the cost side doesn't.
Run the numbers for your trade
Each of our trade pages has a calculator that does this sum with numbers typical for that trade. Change every number to your own; nothing is sent anywhere until you ask for a check.
Costs the sum leaves out
- Ad money. If you pay for Google Ads or Local Services Ads, each call that reaches voicemail is a click or a lead you already paid for.
- Your evenings. Returning calls at dinner, and deciding which voicemails are worth a call back, is unpaid work.
- Interrupted jobs. Stopping work to take a call slows the job you are on and can cost you the customer in front of you.
- Reviews. A caller who couldn't reach anyone is more likely to remember it than a caller who was answered.
When it is not worth it
Some businesses don't need one, and it is better to know that before you pay.
- You get very few calls, and you can pick up almost all of them yourself.
- Someone already sits at a desk through every hour you take calls, and the calls you miss are only after hours: then a nights-and-weekends plan, or none, may be enough.
- Nearly all your work comes from repeat customers who text you directly.
- Most of your calls need your own judgment on the spot, such as a quote that depends on what you hear, and can't be written down as rules.
Try it on your own numbers
If you want a second opinion, ask us for the free check. We call your business after hours and tell you what your customers hear, so the first number in the sum comes from your own phone instead of a guess. Plans are month to month, or 15% off with an annual plan, and your price is locked for 12 months.