A driver stuck on the shoulder of the freeway doesn't shop around for long. They call one towing company, then another, and the first one that answers gets the job. An auto repair shop sees a slower version of the same thing: a customer with a warning light calls a couple of nearby shops and books with whoever picks up and sounds ready.
If your phone rings out while you're hooking up a car or under a lift, those calls go somewhere. Here's a way to estimate what that's worth, with made-up numbers you should swap for your own.
A worked example for a small tow operator
All of the figures below are hypothetical, chosen only to show how the math works.
- For this example, say a two-truck towing company gets 35 calls a week.
- In the example, 7 calls go unanswered because both drivers are on the road.
- For illustration, assume 7 out of every 10 callers who reach someone end up booking a tow, since stranded drivers usually need help right away.
- In this example, the average tow is $150.
In that example, roughly 5 missed callers a week would have booked, which is about $750 of example tows a week. For a repair shop, the example changes shape: fewer calls, a lower booking rate, but a larger ticket once a car is on the lift.
Why these callers move on fast
A stranded driver may be on a busy road, in the cold, possibly with kids in the car. Waiting for a callback isn't appealing. Voicemail feels like no answer at all, so they try the next number.
A repair customer isn't in the same hurry, but they're often calling from work on a break, with limited time to reach anyone. If they can't get through, they book with the shop that answered.
What a text-back can and can't do
When a call goes unanswered, the caller gets a text within seconds. For a tow operator, it can ask for their location, the vehicle and what happened. For a repair shop, it can ask what the car is doing and when they'd like to bring it in. Their reply gives you what you need to call back quickly.
It won't dispatch a truck, give an arrival time or diagnose anything. A stranded driver who needs help now may still call someone else, and that's their right. What the text changes is that your company replied first, with a real question, instead of a voicemail greeting.
Use your own numbers, not ours
Look at your recent missed calls, estimate how many would have turned into work, and use your own average ticket. The missed-call cost calculator works it out and labels the result as an estimate from your own inputs.
If you have a dispatcher who answers nearly every call, the estimate will be small and you probably don't need this. If you're a driver who also answers the phone, it may be worth a look.
Related reading
Missed-Call Text-Back is a text-back tool: it replies to the calls you can't pick up, and it doesn't answer calls for you. It's $89/mo list, or $49/mo at the founding rate while founding spots last, billed monthly with no contract. If it sounds like a fit, see how Missed-Call Text-Back works.