Why don't callers leave a voicemail for my plumbing company?
By the Margin Media team · Updated
Callers do not leave a voicemail for a plumbing company because their problem is urgent and voicemail offers no answer. A message means waiting, with no idea when or whether you will call. Another plumber is one tap away. Voicemail works for regular customers who know you. It loses the new ones, who are the callers you paid to reach.
What is the caller thinking?
They are thinking about the water. A person ringing a plumber has usually already tried to fix it or ignore it, and has now given up. They want two things from the call: someone who understands the problem, and a time. Voicemail gives neither. So they hang up before the beep and ring the next name on the screen.
Does a better greeting help?
A little. A greeting that says who you are, that you are on a job, and that you will call back within a stated time keeps some callers. It will not keep the urgent ones. And it only works if you keep the promise, which is hard when the reason you missed the call is that you are busy.
What works better than voicemail?
Anything that replies at once. The options, from least to most involved, are below. What they share is that the caller hears or reads something within a minute, while the leak is still their only thought.
- A text to every missed caller straight away, asking what the problem is.
- Forwarding unanswered calls to a second person, such as a partner or office hand.
- An answering service that takes the details and passes them to you.
- An AI receptionist that answers, asks about the job and books a time.
How does Margin replace voicemail for a plumbing company?
With Margin, a call you cannot take is answered by Mia instead of going to voicemail. She asks what is wrong, answers questions and books the job onto your portal calendar, and your office is told. A caller who hangs up anyway gets a text from your company within a minute, and the conversation carries on by text.
The text-back starts only once phone carriers approve your business texting number, which takes days to a couple of weeks. Call answering does not wait for that.
What Margin sets up for this.
- Missed calls texted back within a minute
- Mia, the AI receptionist, on every call
- Booking onto your calendar
What a business needs is decided on its audit. It is a one-time setup fee and a monthly fee, with exact numbers on the audit.
How Margin works for plumbersSee the portal with a sample business
Related questions
Should a plumbing company turn voicemail off completely?
Not necessarily. Keep voicemail as the last fallback for regular customers and suppliers. A plumbing company should just stop relying on it for new callers, who rarely leave a message, and put a text or a live answer in front of it.
What should a plumber's voicemail greeting say?
Say the company name, that you are on a job, when you will call back, and that they can text the same number with their address and problem. A plumber who names a callback time and keeps it loses fewer callers than one who says leave a message.
Do customers prefer texting a plumber to leaving a message?
Plenty find a text easier, because they can send a photo of the leak and get on with their day. For a plumbing company, a text thread also keeps the address and the problem in writing before anyone drives out.