An unanswered plumbing call could be a new repair, a repeat update or a request outside your area. They do not all have the same value. Start with the calls you could realistically turn into paid work. The plumbing answering workflow helps define useful intake; the calculator below only works out the arithmetic.
Replace the example with your own records
The starting scenario uses five missed calls each week, a $400 average job and a 40% close rate. These are illustrative inputs, not plumbing industry averages or measured Wenly results. Monthly revenue at risk is missed calls multiplied by job value, close rate and 52 divided by 12.
Try your own plumbing call scenario
The starting numbers are examples, not averages. Change them to match your business.
Lost to missed calls
You could be losing about $3,467 a month.
That is about $41,600 a year, from about 9 jobs a month.
5 calls a week × $400 × 40% × 4.33 weeks a month.
Wenly Starter is $99 a month. At your average job, winning back 1 job a month covers it.
Start free for 7 daysCount potential jobs, not rings
- Exclude spam, vendors and repeated attempts about the same issue.
- Separate new enquiries from updates on work already booked.
- Exclude work outside your services or service area when you would decline it.
- Account for successful callbacks instead of assuming every missed call was lost.
- Use a period that includes quiet days as well as bursts of demand.
Use collected job values
An estimate for a repipe is different from an invoice for a drain clearing. Group similar work when the mix varies. Use collected values from comparable completed jobs and do not assume a caller asking about a heater will buy a replacement. Your close rate should also allow for availability, price objections and customers who call several shops.
Gross revenue is not margin
Build the estimate from your own call log
Recognize the request
Start with missed calls and mark repeat enquiries.
Record useful context
Separate your actual job types and service-area exclusions.
Choose the approved route
Replace the worksheet’s example values with collected results.
Confirm the next step
Review callbacks, accepted jobs and contribution after coverage changes.
| Request or option | Capture or test | Decision that stays with your team |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate leak enquiry | Count one underlying request | Avoid counting one job more than once |
| Installation estimate | Use its own close rate and collected value | Keep it separate from urgent repairs |
| No available plumber | Exclude work you could not accept | Answering cannot add field capacity |
The result does not subtract parts, labor, travel, subcontracting or the cost of fitting in another job. It assumes each counted enquiry is unique and none would be recovered later. A busy owner may have no capacity to take extra work. Lower the inputs or model separate cases instead of treating a large calculator result as money owed to you.
Compare coverage with the work it helps you accept
Read current Wenly prices and allowances, then add your follow-up and setup effort. Compare that cost with the contribution from actual additional work rather than gross revenue alone. The after-hours guide for one-truck shops also covers phone rotations and human call centres without inventing provider prices.
Improve the handoff before buying more coverage
A record missing water status, the unit or the right callback slows follow-up. Review the plumbing intake checklist and answering-service scope. A useful callback request does not promise an arrival time or a booking. Track which leads become accepted work and which were outside your capacity.
Check the estimate against outcomes
Compare the scenario with real enquiries, callbacks, accepted jobs and collected payments. Review reasons for declining work and changes in your service hours. A low result may mean your existing phone process is sufficient. A larger result is a reason to test coverage, not proof of revenue recovered.
Use the standalone plumbing calculator for another scenario and review after-hours answering before changing your forwarding. No measured outcome is claimed here.
Continue with plumbing call answering workflow, after-hours answering and fallback setup, scope of a plumbing answering handoff.