What to do about missed calls when you can't answer the phone

There are five realistic options: let it go to voicemail, hire an answering service, put a staff member on the phone, set up an automatic text-back, or use a system that replies and books the job. Voicemail is the most expensive of them despite being free, because most people who reach it never leave a message and simply ring the next business instead.

Option one: voicemail

Costs nothing and catches almost nothing. The great majority of people who hit a tradie's voicemail hang up and ring the next number, because they are shopping around and have three other options open.

Voicemail works when someone specifically wants you. It does not work for a first enquiry, which is most of what you are missing.

Option two: an answering service

A human answers in your business name and takes a message. Typically $400 to $1,500 a month in Australia depending on volume and whether you pay per call.

The catch is what happens next: you still have to ring the person back. If you could reliably ring people back within a few minutes, you would not have missed the call in the first place. It moves the bottleneck rather than removing it.

Option three: put someone on the phone

The best answer if you can afford it and have the volume to justify it. A part-time admin person who knows the trade can qualify, quote simple work and book jobs properly.

For most owner-operator green trades the maths does not work yet. You are paying a wage against fifteen to forty enquiries a month, most of which arrive outside the hours you would be paying for anyway.

Option four: an automatic text-back

When a call rings out, a text goes back automatically. Cheap, fast to set up, and much better than nothing.

The limit is that it is one message. 'Sorry we missed you, we'll call back' still leaves the callback on your plate, and it does not capture what the job is, so you start the conversation from zero when you finally ring.

Option five: a system that has the conversation

The reply goes out in seconds, then keeps going: what the job is, whereabouts, when suits, and a booking in your calendar with the details attached.

This is what Cushy does, so treat that as the biased option on the list. The honest framing is that it is worth it when your average job is big enough that one extra job a year covers it, and it is not worth it if your enquiry volume is very low or your work is all repeat customers who already have your number.

How to choose

Roughly, and allowing that we sell one of these.

• Very low volume, mostly repeat work: voicemail and a good habit of ringing back
• You need a live human voice: an answering service
• High volume and you can afford a wage: hire someone
• Tight budget, want a quick improvement: an automatic text-back
• Enquiries arriving at all hours and jobs worth thousands: a system that books them