Most businesses know roughly how many calls they take. Far fewer know how many they miss — or what those missed calls are worth. You do not need an industry statistic to find out; your own numbers are more useful. Here is a four-step method.
Step 1: Count your missed calls
Your phone system or provider usually shows missed and abandoned calls. Pull a typical month and note:
- Missed calls — rang out or went to voicemail
- When they happened — lunchtime, after hours, busy mornings
- How many left a message — many callers will not
If you cannot get data, keep a tally for two weeks.
Step 2: Estimate how many were potential customers
Not every missed call is a sale. Some are suppliers, sales calls or existing customers with a quick question. Look at the calls you do answer: what share are new enquiries, and what share of those become customers?
Example: 40% of answered calls are new enquiries, and 30% of enquiries become customers.
Step 3: Put a value on a customer
Use the average value of a first job, booking or sale. If customers usually come back, you can use a lifetime value instead — but be conservative.
Example: an average first job is worth £180.
Step 4: Do the sum
Monthly value at risk = missed calls × share that are new enquiries × conversion rate × customer value
Example: 60 missed calls × 40% × 30% × £180 = £1,296 a month at risk.
Not all of that is lost — some callers will try again — so treat the result as an upper bound and compare it with what cover would cost.
Compare with the cost of cover
Using the same example, if 60 extra calls a month were answered by an AI receptionist and each lasted two minutes:
- Usage: 60 × 2 minutes × £0.42 = £50.40
- Plan: £0 on Free (one call at a time) or £99 on Pro (three at once)
So covering those calls would cost roughly £50–£150 a month, against up to £1,296 of potential revenue. Your numbers will differ — that is the point of doing the sum.
Reduce missed calls without hiring
- Overflow forwarding — send calls the team cannot answer to an AI receptionist
- After-hours cover — answer evenings and weekends instead of sending callers to voicemail
- Callbacks — make sure every captured message reaches the right person quickly
Read more about what an AI receptionist costs in the UK, or use the pricing calculator. If you need to present the numbers to a manager or owner, the AI receptionist business case sets out costs, KPIs and a 90-day rollout plan, and our industry statistics page lists sourced UK figures on how customers use the phone.
