Missed-call cost calculator

What does a ringing phone actually cost?

Honest maths only: published UK research where it exists, labelled assumptions where it doesn't, and every step of the working shown. No signup, no email gate.

25

Count every ring: enquiries, customers, suppliers, the lot.

33%

Default 33%: roughly 1 in 3 calls to UK micro-businesses go unanswered (Moneypenny, 2016).

20%

Our assumption, deliberately conservative: 1 in 5. The rest are existing customers, suppliers and cold calls.

50%

Our assumption: half. Callers with an emergency tend to keep dialling down their list.

£300

Default £300: the middle of Checkatrade's typical £200–400 range for a UK plumbing job. Set yours.

Estimated cost of missed calls

£1,073

a month

That's £12,870 a year, from 0.8 lost enquiries a week.

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Show your working

The maths, step by step.

The formula is: calls per week × share missed × share that were new enquiries × share never recovered × average job value, then multiplied out to a month (×52 ÷ 12) and a year (×52).

At the defaults: 25 calls a week × 33% missed is 8.3 missed calls. One in five of those is a genuine new enquiry, and you win half back by ringing back, leaving 0.8 lost enquiries a week. At £300 a job, that's £248 a week: about £1,073 a month, or £12,870 a year.

Two inputs are published research, three are our assumptions, and the page labels which is which. We deliberately do not use the figures that circulate in this industry's marketing (62% of calls missed, £24,000 lost a year, 85% of voicemails never left): none of them traces back to published methodology, so they don't belong in your maths.

Sources
  • Moneypenny Small Business Call Report 2016 (survey of 300 UK micro-businesses plus call data from 10,000 businesses): roughly 1 in 3 calls unanswered. Coverage: hpmmag.com, phamnews.co.uk
  • Typical UK plumbing job value £200–400: checkatrade.com plumber rates guide
  • Enquiry share (1 in 5) and ring-back recovery (half): Sayora assumptions, stated as such and adjustable above.
Fair questions

The calculator, explained.

How does this calculator work out what missed calls cost? +

Calls per week × the share you miss × the share of missed calls that were genuine new enquiries × the share you never win back, multiplied by your average job value. Every step is shown on the page and every default is either published research or a labelled assumption you can change.

Where does the 33% missed-call figure come from? +

Moneypenny's Small Business Call Report (2016), a survey of 300 UK micro-businesses combined with call data from 10,000 businesses. It found roughly 1 in 3 calls to UK micro-businesses went unanswered. It's old, and Moneypenny sells answering services, but it remains the cleanest UK figure published; you can lower it if your answer rate is better.

Are the other defaults research or assumptions? +

Assumptions, and the page says so. "1 in 5 missed calls is a real new enquiry" and "you recover half by ringing back" are our estimates, set deliberately conservative. Slide them to match your reality; the maths updates honestly either way.

Why doesn't this show the scary numbers other sites use? +

Because most of them don't survive scrutiny. The widely recycled claims that 62% of trade calls go unanswered and that trades lose £24,000 a year trace back to vendor press releases with no published methodology, so we don't use them, even though they'd make our product look better.

What would Sayora actually change? +

Sayora answers the calls you currently miss: 24/7, in your business name, capturing the details and texting you the lead in seconds. She costs £49 a month flat, so the calculator's monthly figure is the number to compare her against.

Now make the number £0.

Sayora answers every call you can't: 24/7, trained on your business, lead texted to you in seconds. Fifteen minutes with Jacob and you'll hear her work.

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