Why does my remodeling company miss so many calls?
By the Margin Media team · Updated
A remodeling company misses calls because homeowners phone during the working day, when the owner and crew are on a job site with tools running, and again in the evening, when the office is closed. A small company has nobody whose only job is the phone, so new enquiries reach voicemail and the caller tries the next name.
When do remodelers miss the calls?
The calls are missed at predictable times. Knowing which of these are yours tells you what kind of cover you need, and whether you need it all day or only for a few hours.
- Mid-morning and mid-afternoon, when you are on site and cannot hear the phone.
- Lunch, when a homeowner calls on their break and your office person is on theirs.
- Evenings, when couples sit down together to talk about the project.
- Weekends, when they walk the house and decide to finally call someone.
- Any time two calls arrive together and the second one rings out.
How do you find out how many you miss?
Count them for two weeks. Your phone company's call log shows every incoming call and whether it was answered. Mark the ones from numbers you do not know. Those are the possible new homeowners. Then call your own line at 12:15, at 5:40 and on Saturday morning, and listen to what they heard.
What are the ways to cover the line?
There are four honest options. Hire or assign someone to answer, which works if there is enough other work to fill their day. Use an answering service, which takes a message at any hour. Use an AI receptionist, which answers and books. Or accept the misses and call back fast, which costs nothing and loses the impatient ones.
Whichever you choose, give callers a second way in. A text sent to a missed caller within a minute, offering to help, keeps a conversation going with someone who would not have left a voicemail.
How does Margin stop a remodeler's missed calls?
Mia, Margin's AI receptionist, answers every call, or only the ones your team misses: on site, at lunch, after five and on weekends. She picks up the second line while the first is busy and never puts anyone on hold. She books the consultation onto your portal calendar, and your office is told.
A caller who hangs up gets a text from your company within a minute. That part starts once the phone carriers approve your texting number, a few days to a couple of weeks. Every call and its transcript is in your portal, so you can see what was asked.
What Margin sets up for this.
- Mia, the AI receptionist, on every call
- Missed calls texted back within a minute
- Booking onto your calendar
- Your portal: every call, text and booking
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 remodelersSee the portal with a sample business
Related questions
Do homeowners leave voicemails for remodeling contractors?
Some do, especially current clients. A homeowner who has not chosen a remodeling company yet has less reason to: they have a list of names and can simply call the next one. Treat every missed call from an unknown number as a possible project.
What is a good way to test my remodeling company's phone?
Call your remodeling company from a number your team does not know, at 12:15, at 5:40 and on Saturday morning. Count the rings, note who or what answers, and ask to book a consultation. Do it without warning anyone.
Should a remodeler return missed calls by phone or by text?
Do both. Text first, within a minute if you can, naming your remodeling company and offering to help, then call when you are free. A text can be read in a meeting or at dinner, where a call from an unknown number is ignored.