Forum Discussion
Do you return phone calls?
Looking back at trends I've noticed emerging in this post-COVID era of business, one that stands out to me is how frequently I hear potential clients share I am the only contractor that answered the phone/returned their call. People are far too often transparent regarding what a hard time they are having getting in touch with someone, let alone procuring a proposal to complete the work.
Being located in SE Michigan USA, I have to ask, is this just something that is a problem in my local market, or is this everywhere and something you've experienced as well?
Also, how do you handle following up with calls that can't be answered as they come in? How long is too long to circle back??
7 Replies
This seems to be a trend everywhere. Answering the phone during business hours must remain a top priority, especially as missed calls often translate to lost opportunities. We have a structured system in place with one in-office team member and two virtual assistants to ensure we don’t miss any calls. Let the competition drop the ball—this is an easy way for us to stand out by doing something as fundamental as being responsive. Once Jobber AI becomes available for after-hours and weekend calls, we’ll implement it to further enhance our customer service and capture every potential lead.
Jobber AI sounds exciting!!
We are in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We run a residential and commercial cleaning business. We get this a lot too. We are bigger now so we do have an office admin and a part time sales rep so we return (and more) all of our calls but when I was doing it on my own I used to return all my calls at the end of the day. I think if you want to grow you have to be consistent about it. My background is Executive Assistant and I am old school still. Solving anything by a phone call is so much faster. :)
well said judithvirag!!
This is happening also in Texas for the last few years, we have been told the same thing "You are the only company to answer my call or returned my call."
We return all call within 24hours, and even text them, if they do not answer. It works well.
It does work well!
Unfortunately, this seems to be the standard of today. We hear it over and over. These businesses that do this, did not go through the tuff times of the 1970's and 80's as we did and therefore do not understand the importance of customer relations. If a company does me this way, I move on to another quickly.
