Why a missed call is usually a lost job
Somebody with a leak, no power or a job they have been putting off is not loyal to you yet. They found three or four names on Checkatrade or Google, and they ring down the list. If yours rings out, the next number is one tap away, and the first firm that picks up or replies usually gets the work.
Voicemail rarely saves it. A lot of people do not leave one at all, and the ones who do often keep ringing round while they wait for you. By the time you are off the ladder, the job has gone to whoever answered.
It is not that you are slow. You are working. The problem is that the caller cannot tell the difference between "on a job, will ring back" and "not interested".
The five ways trades deal with it
| What you do | What the caller gets | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Let it go to voicemail | A recording | Most new callers hang up and ring the next firm |
| Ring back at the end of the day | Silence for hours | By then they have usually booked someone else |
| Pay a call-answering service | A person, but not you | They cannot price the job or answer the technical question, so the customer still waits for you |
| Use an AI receptionist | A bot that books or quotes | Many people do not want a bot booking work in their home, and a price you later change loses them. More on that |
| Text back every missed call | A text from your business within seconds | It works on the number you advertise, so that number has to be the one on your listings |
What a good missed-call text says
Four things, in plain words: who you are, that you are on a job, when you will ring back, and that they can reply with what they need. Nothing else. It is not an advert, it is the answer to the question they have just asked: did anyone get my call?
Hi, it's Brennan Heating. Sorry I missed you, I'm on a job. I'll ring you back within the hour, or reply here with what you need.
Sent within seconds, that text does what voicemail cannot: it stops them dialling the next number, because they know a real business got their call and is coming back to them.
How to set it up and keep your mobile number
You do not need a second phone or a new app on your mobile. With Slate you get an office line to advertise. A call to it rings your own mobile exactly as now; when you cannot take it, the caller gets the text back in your business name, and the call and any reply land on your job board.
- Put the office line on your Google profile, your Checkatrade listing, your van, your quotes and your invoices, on the same day.
- Keep your own mobile number. It keeps working as it always has, for the people who already have it.
- Ring the office line from another phone, let it ring out, and watch the text arrive. That is the whole test.
Only calls to the number you advertise are texted back. That is why step 1 matters: new customers find you through your listings, so the office line has to be the number they see there. Why a separate business number helps anyway.
Work it out on your own numbers
Whether it is worth it comes down to three numbers only you know: how many new-work calls you miss in a week, how many of those would have become a job, and what an average job is worth to you. Put yours in below. The full sum, explained.
Calls you miss in a week
Be honest. Count the ones you rang back two hours later.
What an average job is worth
Your money, not your turnover.
Of those, how many book someone else?
They rang because they wanted it done. If they don’t want you now, they’ve booked the next name.
Walking out of the door
£39,000
a year, in 87 jobs that went to someone else.
It pays for itself if it keeps 1 job a month of the 22 calls you miss.
Your own figures say it pays for itself many times over.
The starting figures are a guess: put in yours. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Straight answers
- Will customers find an automatic text annoying?
- It is one text, to somebody who has just rung you and got no answer, saying who you are and that you will ring back. It answers the question they had. That is the only thing Slate sends on its own, and there is a switch to turn it off.
- Do I have to change my mobile number?
- No. You keep your own mobile number, your handset and your WhatsApp. You advertise the office line instead, and it rings the same phone.
- What if I would rather ring them back than text?
- You still ring them back. The text only buys you the time to finish what you are doing, so they wait for your call instead of ringing someone else.
- What does Slate cost?
- £249 a month, one plan. The first 25 firms pay £199 a month for as long as they stay. You get 14 days free from the day you start, and if you are not happy within 14 days of your first payment, you message us and we refund it in full.
Slate OS gives you an office line that rings your mobile and texts back every call you miss, within seconds, in your business name. Quotes, invoices and chasing happen from your phone.