Free training · Phone & AI · 7 min
Stop losing the calls you can't answer.
Someone who calls you has already decided to talk to a business like yours. When the call rings out, most of them try the next name on the list. Here's how to see what that costs and fix it, starting with the free moves.
01Count it before you fix it
For one week, log every call you miss: the time, whether you reached them back, and how long it took. Your phone's recent-calls list is enough. A week of real counts beats a year of guessing, and it tells you whether this is a small leak or the big one.
02Fix your voicemail today
Change your greeting to ask for a text: "You've reached [Business]. I'm on a job right now. Text this number with what you need and I'll get right back to you." People who won't leave a voicemail will often send a text, and you can answer a text between jobs.
03Text back every missed call
An instant text after a missed call ("Sorry I missed you, this is [Name] at [Business]. What can I help with?") keeps the conversation with you instead of the next business. Many business phone services offer this as a setting; if yours doesn't, it's a simple automation. Only text people about the call they made, and honor anyone who asks you to stop.
04Set a call-back rule
Pick a rule you'll actually keep, such as every missed call returned within the hour during business hours. Put it where you'll see it. Speed matters: the research behind our home page found leads answered within an hour were seven times as likely to qualify as those answered later.
05When an AI receptionist makes sense
If the week's count shows you miss calls every day, or a real share of your calls come after hours or while your hands are full, the free moves won't catch them all. That's when an AI receptionist pays: it answers in your business's name, knows your services and hours, books the appointment, and texts you who called. Call (213) 727-7238 to hear one.
Your turn
What missed calls cost you each month
Use your best guesses. You can change them after your one-week count.
An estimate from your inputs (4.3 weeks a month), not a promise. Your one-week count makes it real.
Keep it
Email me this training
You'll get the link to this page and your exercise results, and the next training in the series. One email, no sequence chasing you. Privacy.
The three texts that keep a lead from walking.
The three messages to send automatically (missed call, form reply, two-day follow-up), generated for your business.
AI integrations
See how this part is built and managed inside the Donahue Works system.
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