By the numbers

A missed call is a customer who went somewhere else.

Whatever your trade, people decide fast: they call, they check the reviews, they pick the first business that answers. Here is what the research says, with the source on every number.

Answering the phone

28%

of inbound business calls go unanswered, on average.

CallRail's own call data. Source

79%

of consumers say they will switch to a competitor that responds faster.

Invoca B2C Buyer Experience Report 2026, 693 US consumers after a high-stakes purchase; about slow replies to online forms. Source

75%

of consumers have hung up after waiting on hold too long.

Invoca, same 2026 report. Source

Most callers who reach voicemail don't call back, and many call the next business. The call you can't pick up is often the job you lose.

Reviews

97%

of consumers read reviews for local businesses.

BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, 1,002 US adults. Source

85%

are more likely to use a business after reading positive reviews.

BrightLocal, 2026. Source

68%

will only use a business rated four stars or higher, up from 55% in 2025.

BrightLocal, 2026. Source

74%

look for reviews written in the last three months.

BrightLocal, 2026. Fresh reviews count. Source

270%

higher purchase likelihood for an online product with five reviews than with none.

Northwestern University Spiegel Research Center, online retail data (not local services). Source

Being found

76%

of people who search on a smartphone for something nearby visit a business within a day.

Google/Purchased Digital Diary, May 2016, 1,000 smartphone users. Source

28%

of those nearby searches end in a purchase.

Google, same study. Source

27.6%

of clicks go to the number one Google result.

Backlinko, 1.3 million pages and 12.2 million queries. Source

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