Answering service ROI calculator
A 24/7 answering service only makes sense if it brings in more than it costs. Set your numbers below to see the net gain, the return, and how fast Hey Jodie pays for itself out of the calls it answers for you.
Your numbers
Calls that ring out, hit voicemail, or come after hours.
How many missed callers were genuine new jobs.
What a typical booked job is worth to you.
The monthly fee used as your cost.
Every $99 a month returns about $1,733 in recovered work, and pays for itself in 2 days.
of urgent callers will not leave a voicemail. They hang up and call the next number.
Hey Jodie answers day and night, including the evenings and weekends people call.
Calls are answered, the job is booked, and the details land in your inbox.
How the return is worked out
The return is simple subtraction. Take the revenue an answering service wins back from calls you currently miss, then take away what the service costs you a month. What is left is your net gain. Divide the recovered revenue by the fee and you get the return - how many times over the service pays for itself.
Set how many calls you miss in a typical week - the ones that ring out, hit voicemail, or come after hours.
Of those missed callers, set how many were genuine new jobs, then enter your average job value.
Choose the plan you would run. The calculator uses that plan price as the monthly fee.
See the net gain a month and a year, the return on the fee, and how fast it pays for itself.
Net gain / month = (missed calls/month x % that would book x job value) - Hey Jodie fee Why the maths usually works out
One recovered job covers a lot of months
For most trades the monthly fee is less than a single job. Answer one missed call that would have booked and the service has often paid for itself for the month, with the rest of the recovered work landing as profit.
Missed callers do not wait around
When someone has an urgent problem they call the next number on the list, not your voicemail. Around 85% of urgent callers will not leave a voicemail, so every missed call you answer live is revenue you would otherwise have handed to a competitor.
Frequently asked questions
Is an answering service worth it? +
For most businesses that miss genuine new-customer calls, yes. The return comes down to two things: how much revenue you win back by answering calls you currently miss, and what the service costs. If recovered revenue is higher than the fee, you are ahead. Put your own numbers in above to see the net gain and the return for your business.
How is the ROI calculated? +
It takes the calls you miss a week and annualises them to a month, applies the share that would have booked, and values each booking at your average job value. That is the recovered revenue. Subtract the Hey Jodie monthly fee and you get the net gain. Divide recovered revenue by the fee and you get the return.
What return should I expect? +
It depends entirely on your call volume and job value, which is why the calculator uses your own numbers rather than a headline figure. A business with high-value jobs and several missed calls a week will see a much larger return than one with low-value work and few missed calls. The result above is specific to what you enter.
What is the payback period? +
It is how long the service takes to cover its own cost out of recovered revenue. If the calls you miss are worth more than the fee within a few days, the payback is short and everything after that is gain. The calculator shows this as a number of days based on your figures.
Does the calculator assume I recover every missed call? +
No. You set the share of missed callers that would actually book - the rest are wrong numbers, suppliers, or people just browsing. Only the callers that would have become paying jobs count towards recovered revenue, so the return stays realistic.
Which Hey Jodie plan should I use in the calculator? +
Pick the plan you would actually run. The fee in the calculator comes straight from the plan you select, so the net gain and return reflect your real cost. Most businesses start on Professional, but switch the plan in the dropdown to compare the return on each.
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