How much does a missed call cost a tire shop?

A missed call is not an annoyance. It is a quote you never got to give. The good news: you can put a dollar figure on it in about ten minutes, using numbers you already have.

1. Start with your average ticket

Open your POS and take the average of the last 50 tire jobs — tire, mounting, balancing, disposal, the works. Not the tire alone. Call that number T.

2. Count the calls you miss

Do not guess. For one week, look at the call log on the shop phone and count the calls that rang out during business hours. That is M per week.

If your phone system cannot show that, that is the first thing to fix — you cannot manage a number you cannot see.

3. Apply your close rate

Of ten people who call and get a real answer and a real price, how many book? Most shops know this roughly. Call it C.

4. Multiply

M × C × T = what the phone costs you every week

Example, and these are made-up numbers on purpose — put your own in: 12 missed calls a week, a 4-in-10 close rate, a $180 average ticket.

12 × 0.4 × $180 = $864 a week

That is roughly $3,700 a month walking to the shop down the road. Change the numbers to yours before you believe any of it.

Why the calls are missed in the first place

• The phone rings when the counter is busiest — Monday morning, first snow, the hour before closing.
• One person is doing quotes, ringing up, and answering. Something has to wait, and it is always the phone.
• Nobody is at the desk at 6:40 pm, and that is exactly when a driver notices a nail.

The caller does not wait long. They dial the next shop on the list before your voicemail greeting finishes.

What to do with the number

If M × C × T is larger than what it would cost to cover the phone, cover the phone. That is the whole decision. The options — voicemail, an answering service, a receptionist, software — only differ in price and in how much of the call actually gets handled.

Measure for one week first. A shop that knows its missed-call number makes a very different decision than one that assumes it does not miss any.

Want to hear it before you read another word? Call the demo line on +1 (805) 624-3366 and ask for a price on 225/65 R17.