What an unanswered call really costs

1 in 3

calls over 15 seconds to home service companies don't reach a person

Invoca, 2026 (vendor call data, company averages, approximate)

You're on a roof, under a house or with a customer, and the phone rings. Some missed calls are spam. Some are jobs. You don't know which.

What the caller does next

Ask consumers what happens after nobody picks up and the answer is blunt. 78% of consumers say they have given up on a business after an unanswered call 21% say they immediately call another business.

72%

of consumers say they are likely to choose the business that responds first

Moneypenny, 2026 (vendor survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers)

It's not the same in every trade

Answer rates run all over the map. 32% to 74% is how far answer rates swing between home service trades. Some trades have this handled. Others leave a lot of callers talking to nobody.

After hours is real, but it isn't the whole leak

1 in 8 calls to trades businesses comes in outside business hours. That matters, but most calls of every kind still arrive during the day, so don't treat this as only an after-hours problem.

What to check this week

• Pull your phone log. How many calls went unanswered last month?
• Call your own number at 6:30 tonight and see what a customer hears.
• Count how many of those callers you ever called back.