What a missed call costs a tradie
Missed calls don’t send you an invoice, so they’re easy to ignore. Here’s how to put a dollar figure on yours, with typical job prices for six trades and a calculator for your own numbers.
The short answer
A missed call costs you the job it would have been, but only when the caller was ready to book and rang someone else instead. So the sum is: missed calls, minus the spam and wrong numbers, times the share who went elsewhere, times what a typical job brings in.
Your phone already has most of that. The call log shows what you missed, and your invoices show your typical job. The only guess is how many rang someone else, and it’s fine to guess low.
You won’t find a scary industry statistic on this page. Most of the ones going round come from companies that sell phone answering. We sell phone answering, so we’ll let your call log do the talking.
Work it out in four steps
Count last week’s missed calls
Open your call log and count the missed calls from numbers you don’t know. Include the ones that went to voicemail.
Knock off the time wasters
Spam, suppliers and wrong numbers don’t count. What’s left is people who might have wanted a job done.
Guess how many went elsewhere
No message and no second call usually means they found someone else. Not sure? Call it half.
Times it by your typical job
Use what an average job brought in over the last few months. Your best job of the year doesn’t count.
What one job is worth, by trade
| A smaller job | A bigger job | |
|---|---|---|
| Plumber | Blocked drain: A$320 | Electric hot water system, installed: A$1,800 |
| Electrician | New powerpoint: A$200 | Switchboard upgrade: A$1,800 |
| Locksmith | Lockout in business hours: A$180 | Lockout after hours: A$280 |
| Air conditioning | Service and clean: A$200 | 5 kW split system, installed: A$2,500 |
| Roofer | Minor leak repair: A$500 | Tile roof restoration: A$7,500 |
| Pest control | General pest treatment: A$270 | Chemical termite barrier: A$3,500 |
Typical prices from What’s The Damage’s national cost guides for plumbers, electricians, locksmiths, air conditioning, roofing and pest control, last verified October 2026. They include GST, and they’re what the customer pays, not what you keep.
One lost job a week adds up
Take the plumbing row. If one blocked drain a week rings someone else, that’s A$320 a week at the typical price, or A$16,640 over a year.
Bigger jobs don’t need to go missing as often to hurt. One lost switchboard upgrade a month, at A$1,800 typical, is A$21,600 a year.
The job isn’t always the end of it, either. A customer who books someone else for the blocked drain may well ring them again for the hot water.
After-hours calls are often worth more
Calls after knock-off are easy to miss, and they’re often the better-paying ones.
What’s The Damage puts a typical after-hours plumbing visit at A$450, against A$320 for a standard blocked drain. An after-hours lockout is A$280 typical, against A$180 in business hours. For an electrician, an after-hours visit including the first hour is A$400 typical.
Not every one of those is a job you want at 10pm. But each one you don’t hear about goes to whoever does answer.
Put your own numbers in
Put in your own numbers. It works out what missed calls are worth to you a month and a year.
What the sum leaves out
It doesn’t count the customer who would have come back next year, or the mate they’d have sent your way. It doesn’t count the time you spend ringing back strangers who’ve already booked someone else, either.
It also can’t tell a tyre kicker from a real job. That’s why the third step is a guess, and why it’s better to guess low. A number you believe is more use than a big one you don’t.
What it costs to stop missing them
Voicemail is free. A human answering service will take a message from A$25 a month plus A$2.50 a call, before GST (OfficeHQ’s MessageExpress, checked October 2026), and you still ring back.
Ours answers as your assistant, books the routine jobs and texts you the urgent ones. It’s A$299 a month for a sole trader, with 100 minutes and 150 texts included.
If the calculator comes out well under A$299 a month, voicemail and a quick ring back at smoko might be the better deal. Better you know that before you ring us.
Missed call questions
How much does a missed call cost a small business?
Whatever the job would have paid, when the caller was ready to book and rang someone else. Count a month of missed calls, take out the spam, work out how many would usually turn into a job and times that by your typical job.
Do customers leave voicemails?
Some do. Check your own: count how many missed calls from new numbers last week left a message. That tells you more than any survey.
What’s a typical plumbing job worth in Australia?
What’s The Damage’s October 2026 guide puts a standard blocked drain at A$320, a burst pipe repair at A$550 and an after-hours visit at A$450. Those are typical prices, including GST.
What should I put for my typical job?
What an average job brought in over the last few months. A rough number is fine. If you need a starting point, the table above has typical prices for six trades.
How do I stop missing calls on the tools?
Voicemail, a human answering service, a missed-call text from your business name, or an AI receptionist that answers for you. Ours does the last two, from A$299 a month.
This phone is answered.
Ring us on the number below, or email. Either way, a human gets back to you.
0468 075 000Or email hello@offsitemate.com.au