Behind the Bark
Voicemail, Waiting Music, Incorrect Listings, and Busy Signals Are Where Your Leads & Revenue Go To Die.
Hard truth for tree service owners: the first company to answer the phone usually wins the job. If you send callers to voicemail, make them wait on hold, or let the line ring out when you’re on a job, you’re handing work to the competitor who simply picked up.
What the numbers say right now (across local services; your exact numbers may vary):
62% of calls go to voicemail or ring endlessly
85% of those callers never try again … they move to the next crew with good reviews
Each missed call can cost $100-$1,200 in revenue, depending on industry
Over a year, that can stack up to ~$126,000 in lost revenue
Why the usual “solutions” fail:
“We have voicemail” … 80% of callers don’t leave a message. By the time you call back, they’ve booked someone else.
“We’ll hire someone” … coverage gaps still happen (lunch, sick days, weekends, stacked calls). The phone keeps ringing.
“Most calls are spam” … many are, but the high-intent removals, crane jobs, and emergency storm calls are buried in that noise.
A simpler answer: have every call answered instantly, 24/7/365.
Qualify: “What’s the scope? Downed tree? Crane needed? Stump too?”
Book: Put estimates and onsite assessments on your calendar while they’re on the line
Answer FAQs: service areas, insurance, pricing ranges, timing
Handoff: Warm-transfer hot leads to you; filter out spam
Result: fewer dead-ends, more booked appointments, and fewer competitors stealing your pipeline while you’re up in a bucket truck.
Limb of the Week
Make your phone a profit center. Three moves to implement this week:
1) Measure speed-to-answer and missed calls
Pull the last 30 days from your phone system: total calls, missed calls, after-hours calls
Target: answer in under 10 seconds during business hours; 24/7 coverage for overflow and after-hours
2) Build a no-leak call flow
Ring group (office + owner) → overflow to a 24/7 answering/AI agent like ours → immediate calendar booking
Enable “missed-call text-back” within 60 seconds: “Saw we missed you … can you tell me a bit more about what you’re looking for?”
3) Give your agent what it needs to close
Services list, service areas/zip codes, basic price ranges, insurance info, calendar rules (estimate slots, buffers)
Clear escalation rules: when to live-transfer vs. schedule
If you’re covered 24/7 and callers can book without waiting, you’ll pick up 3-5 extra jobs a week in most markets simply by catching what you already paid to generate.
Sawdust
Here’s a quick pruning that can make a mess disappear fast:
Missed revenue calculator: missed calls x close rate x average job value = money left on the table
Example: 40 missed calls x 35% recovery rate x $1,000 job = $14,000/month
Voicemail fail-safe (if you must have one):
“We answer most calls on the first ring. If we miss you, we’ll text you in 60 seconds to book your estimate.”
Then actually send the text automatically and include a booking link.
Train-your-agent checklist:
Services: removals, pruning, storm response, crane work, stump grinding
Service radius and zip codes
Price ranges and minimums (estimates okay)
Calendar rules: estimates, onsite assessments, buffers
Insurance, licensing, and payment options
Escalation: what triggers a warm transfer to you
Kickback
Hot take: voicemail is “a competitor referral service” if used wrong.
When a homeowner has a tree on their roof, do they wait for a callback? Or do they call the next company that actually picks up?
If answering every call added just one crane job this week, would that cover the cost of fixing your phones? Then why let the next one slip?
No long contracts. No opaque reporting. No competing with your competitors.
We’ll dig in and show you exactly where you’re bleeding money and how to stop it.
This isn’t a sales pitch. It’s a $100 working session built on your data.
If you don’t walk away with at least $1,000 in value, we’ll refund your $100, no questions asked. (Just know, no one has ever requested a refund… 😉)
See what’s really costing you calls, jobs, and growth.
Written by Jacob Hastings
Head of Growth & Client Strategy at Growth Ring Media
