Sources and methodology
Where the numbers on my free tools come from: the research I read, the assumptions I made, and how each tool does its math.
Revenue calculator
I take the calls nobody answers, keep only the share of callers who hang up without a message, and count how many of them would have become customers at your usual win rate. Then I do the same for web leads that wait too long, using a gentle version of what the lead-response studies found.
Last, I add the paid hours your team spends retyping and chasing that software could do. The free number uses the low end of every range, so your real number is more likely higher than lower.
missed_calls = calls × miss_rate × 0.69 × win_rate × value × 12 × (0.5 to 1) slow_replies = leads × win_rate × value × 12 × decay[reply_time] busywork = people × hours × hourly_cost × 50 × (0.5 to 0.8) at_least = sum of the low ends
0.69 is Moneypenny's share of callers who reach voicemail and hang up without a message. Everything else in these formulas is either your number or one of my working assumptions listed below.
value and win_rate are yours. Every default is my working assumption until you change it. The total is never a promise and never financial advice. It is a flashlight, not an invoice.
The quick version
The quick number uses the same math as the full calculator, with three of your answers and conservative defaults for everything else.
It adds two lines: calls nobody answers, and web leads that wait until later in the day to hear back. Busywork is left out of the quick number, so it stays on the low side.
Website agent
The agent loads your homepage and also reads your robots.txt and sitemap. It runs 13 objective checks, like whether the page is on HTTPS, has a title and description, can be indexed, has a tap-to-call link, and carries business structured data.
It runs a set of checks in four sections. Each section's score is the share of its checks your page passed. The overall score combines the four by weight: findability 30%, speed and mobile 25%, trust and conversion 25%, local and AI search 20%.
If a page is built with JavaScript and some content can't be read reliably, those checks are skipped and covered in the full analysis instead. Nothing is guessed.
Every finding quotes something real from your page. Issues are ranked high, medium, or low by how many points they cost you. Grades: A is 90 and up, B is 80 to 89, C is 70 to 79, D is 60 to 69, and F is below 60. The score is my own method, not a score from Google, and it does not predict rankings or revenue.
My working assumptions
These are my judgment calls, not research findings. I keep them on the cautious side so the tools are more likely to underestimate than overstate.
- Aamir's working assumptionQuick calculator
About half of new inquiries are phone calls
I split your monthly inquiries evenly between calls and web leads (forms, texts, and email).
- Aamir's working assumptionQuick calculator
1 in 5 calls goes unanswered
Moneypenny found a third of the businesses it surveyed failed to answer incoming calls. I use a gentler 20%.
- Aamir's working assumptionBoth calculators
Half of the lost callers would have gone elsewhere anyway
The low end counts only half of the callers who hang up, because some would have called back or bought somewhere else. Call it the "some of them were telemarketers" discount.
- Aamir's working assumptionBoth calculators
Slow replies lose 0 to 65% of the wins
0% within 5 minutes, 10 to 20% within the hour, 25 to 45% the same day, 40 to 65% the next day or later. The quick calculator assumes a same-day reply. The Harvard and MIT studies found much steeper drops, but they measured qualifying leads at large companies, not closed jobs at a small business, so I cut them way down.
- Aamir's working assumptionBoth calculators
3 in 10 people you talk to become customers
The default win rate. In the full calculator you can set your own.
- Aamir's working assumptionQuick calculator
Typical job value by business type
Clinic $1,200, home services $900, professional services $2,500, salon or fitness $300, restaurant or retail $80, anything else $600. These only fill the box. Type your own number.
- Aamir's working assumptionFull calculator
50 working weeks, and software can take 50 to 80% of the busywork
Used for the busywork line. Even spreadsheets deserve a vacation.
- Aamir's working assumptionWebsite agent
How the four website sections are weighted
Findability 30%, speed and mobile 25%, trust and conversion 25%, local and AI search 20%. My judgment of what matters most on a small business homepage.
Research I used
- Moneypenny, small business call report (2016) ↗
Revenue calculator A survey of 300 micro businesses plus call data from 10,000 businesses. 69% of callers who reached voicemail hung up without leaving a message, and 33% of the businesses surveyed failed to answer their incoming calls.
- Oldroyd, McElheran and Elkington, "The Short Life of Online Sales Leads," Harvard Business Review (2011) ↗
Revenue calculator An audit of 2,241 U.S. companies: 37% answered a web lead within an hour, 23% never answered, and the average reply took 42 hours. A companion study of 1.25 million leads found firms that replied within an hour were nearly 7 times as likely to qualify the lead as firms that waited an hour longer, and more than 60 times as likely as firms that waited 24 hours or more. (Figures as summarised by SmartCompany, linked next.)
- SmartCompany, "Are you letting online leads go cold?" (2011) ↗
Revenue calculator The write-up I used for the Harvard figures above.
- Lead Response Management study, James Oldroyd (MIT) with InsideSales.com, as summarised by Electronics Cooling (2011) ↗
Revenue calculator The odds of reaching a lead were 100 times better when called within 5 minutes instead of 30, and the odds of qualifying it were 21 times better.
- Xero, "The time tax on small business" ↗
Revenue calculator Cites a survey finding the average entrepreneur spends roughly 36% of the working week on administrative tasks.
Ready when you are.
A free 30-minute call. Walk me through how calls, leads, and follow-up move through your business, and I'll tell you where I'd start. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so and point you to someone who is.