What to Do When a Lead Doesn't Answer the Phone

62% of inbound leads don’t answer the first outbound call. They filled out your form, clicked your ad, or left a voicemail. You called back. No answer. And if you’re like 80% of contractors, that’s where it ends. One attempt. Maybe two. Then the lead sits in your CRM collecting dust while you spend more money generating new ones.

Those unanswered calls aren’t dead leads. They’re leads who were busy, skeptical, or fielding calls from three other contractors at the same time. The contractor who follows up systematically wins the job. The one who calls once and moves on loses it.

This isn’t about speed to lead, which covers how fast you make that first contact. And it’s different from following up on unsold estimates, where you’ve already had a conversation and quoted a price. This is about the gap in between: you have a lead’s contact info, but you can’t get them on the phone.

Why leads don’t answer

Understanding why helps you fix how you follow up.

They don’t recognize your number. 87% of people don’t answer calls from unknown numbers. Your business line shows up as an unfamiliar number, and it goes to voicemail alongside the spam calls and robocallers they’re ignoring.

They submitted to multiple contractors. A homeowner searching for “plumber near me” often contacts 3-5 businesses at once. By the time you call back, they might already be on the phone with a competitor, or they’ve booked someone who responded faster. 78% of buyers go with whoever responds first, according to data shared frequently on contractor forums. A plumber on ContractorTalk described losing a $4,200 water heater installation because he waited 3 hours to return a call. The homeowner had already booked with a competitor who called back in 8 minutes. Read more about the hidden cost of slow response.

The timing is bad. They’re at work, driving, in a meeting, or putting kids to bed. Their need for a plumber is real, but they can’t talk right now. A single call at the wrong time doesn’t mean they don’t want your service. It means you called at a bad time.

They’re comparison shopping and not ready. Some homeowners are gathering information days or weeks before they’re ready to commit. Your first call catches them in research mode. They need a second or third touchpoint before they’re ready to engage.

The follow-up cadence that works

The data on follow-up attempts is unambiguous. Contractors who make 5 or more follow-up attempts close 32% more leads than those who stop after 1-2 tries. Most revenue is recovered between attempts 3 and 6.

Here’s a specific cadence that balances persistence with professionalism, spread across 7 days:

Attempt 1: Immediate call (within 5 minutes)

Call the lead as fast as possible after they submit. If they don’t answer, leave a voicemail under 30 seconds: “Hi [name], this is [your name] from [company]. I got your request about [service]. I’d love to help. I’ll follow up with a text in just a moment. You can also reach me directly at [number].”

Attempt 2: Text message (2 minutes after missed call)

Immediately after the voicemail, send a text. Text messages after a missed call get a 45% response rate compared to 12% for a second phone call. A text is low-pressure and easy to respond to.

Keep it short: “Hi [name], this is [your name] from [company]. I just tried calling about your [service] request. Happy to answer any questions. Just text back or call me at [number].”

For more on building text into your follow-up process, read our guide on text message marketing for contractors.

Attempt 3: Second call (next business day, different time)

Call again the next day, but at a different time than your first attempt. If you called at 10 AM yesterday, try 2 PM or 5:30 PM today. Leads are 28% more likely to answer on the second attempt when you vary the time of day.

If they don’t answer, leave a shorter voicemail: “Hi [name], following up on your [service] request. We have availability this week and I’d like to get you on the schedule. Call or text me at [number].”

Attempt 4: Text with value (day 3)

Send a text that provides something useful instead of just asking them to call back. “Hi [name], just wanted to let you know we’re offering free diagnostics this month for [service]. No obligation. Let me know if you’d like to schedule a time.”

Adding a specific offer or piece of useful information to follow-up texts increases response rates by 34%. You’re giving them a reason to engage beyond “we want your business.”

Attempt 5: Call or text (day 5)

One more call attempt. By this point, you’ve made contact attempts across multiple days and times. If they answer, great. If not, leave a final voicemail referencing your earlier messages.

Attempt 6: Breakup text (day 7)

The “breakup” message is the most important text in the sequence. It creates urgency through scarcity of attention.

“Hi [name], I’ve tried reaching you a few times about your [service] request. I don’t want to keep bothering you, so this will be my last message. If you still need help, just text or call me anytime at [number]. We’d love to help when you’re ready.”

Breakup messages get a 22% response rate because they trigger loss aversion. The prospect realizes they’re about to lose access to a contractor who’s been responsive and persistent.

A contractor on ContractorTalk shared his follow-up philosophy: “2 calls and then give it a month and send a nice email, then let it go.” The data shows that approach leaves money on the table. Contractors using a structured 5-6 touch sequence over 7 days recover 32% more revenue than those who space attempts over weeks.

Text vs. call: the data

Phone calls feel like the right approach, but the numbers tell a different story for follow-up attempts.

First contact should always be a call. Homeowners with urgent issues want to talk to a person, and calling first shows responsiveness.

Follow-up attempts should be primarily text. After the first missed call, texts outperform calls at every stage:

• Second attempt: 45% text response rate vs. 12% call answer rate
• Third attempt: 38% text response rate vs. 8% call answer rate
• Fourth attempt and beyond: 25% text response rate vs. 4% call answer rate

Text messages also get faster responses. The average response time to a contractor’s text is 11 minutes. The average callback time after a voicemail is 4.5 hours, if they call back at all.

90% of customers prefer text communication with home service businesses, a stat that comes up repeatedly in Reddit contractor threads. One HVAC contractor automated his post-call text through Hatch (an outbound automation tool) and saw his contact rate jump from 23% to 51% on leads who didn’t answer the initial call.

A blended approach works best. Call first, text immediately after, then alternate between calls and texts for subsequent attempts. The call attempts keep you from feeling like spam. The texts give them an easy way to respond on their schedule.

What to say (and what not to say)

Every follow-up message should include three elements: who you are, why you’re calling, and a specific next step.

Good: “Hi Sarah, this is Mike from Reliable Plumbing. Following up on the water heater issue you submitted about. We have a tech available Thursday morning if that works. Call or text me at 555-0123.”

Bad: “Hi, just following up. Give us a call when you get a chance.”

The first message tells the lead exactly who you are, references their specific need, offers a concrete time, and makes it easy to respond. The second is forgettable and gives them nothing to act on.

Never sound annoyed or desperate. “I’ve been trying to reach you” comes across as guilt-tripping. “I noticed you haven’t responded” sounds passive-aggressive. Keep every message upbeat and service-oriented, as if each one is the first.

Reference the specific service they requested. “Your plumbing issue” is weaker than “the garbage disposal replacement you asked about.” Specificity proves you’re paying attention and separates you from the automated drip campaigns they’re ignoring from other companies.

Contractors on r/hvac consistently emphasize personalizing every follow-up message with specific project details. “Following up on your AC repair” gets ignored. “Following up on the Trane unit that’s short-cycling in your Scottsdale home” proves you were actually paying attention and separates you from every other automated drip campaign.

When to stop following up

After 6 attempts over 7 days with no response, move the lead to your long-term nurture list. Don’t delete them. Don’t mark them as dead. They may not be ready now, but 35% of leads who don’t respond within the first week end up booking a contractor within 90 days.

Add them to a monthly check-in sequence. A simple text every 30 days: “Hi [name], just checking in. If you still need help with [service], we’d love to assist. No pressure.” This keeps you top of mind without being aggressive.

For leads that go completely dark beyond 30 days, our guide on re-engaging cold leads covers the specific strategies that bring dormant prospects back to life.

Revenue impact of systematic follow-up

The math on follow-up is staggering.

Assume you generate 40 leads per month. 62% don’t answer the first call. That’s 25 leads sitting untouched if you give up after one attempt.

With a systematic 6-touch follow-up cadence, you’ll connect with roughly 40% of those 25 leads. That’s 10 additional conversations per month. At a 30% close rate and an average job value of $2,100, that’s 3 extra booked jobs worth $6,300.

Over a year, systematic follow-up recovers an average of $8,400 per month in revenue that single-attempt contractors leave on the table. That’s $100,800 per year from leads you already paid to generate.

You’re not spending more on marketing. You’re not buying more leads. You’re extracting value from the leads you’ve already got.

On the Owned and Operated podcast, John Wilson describes follow-up as “the board” — the daily schedule board that should never be empty. His team runs outbound text and call sequences specifically to fill open slots. The philosophy: if the board is empty, it’s a follow-up problem, not a lead generation problem.

Automating the cadence

Running a manual 6-touch follow-up on every lead is unsustainable once you’re generating more than 15-20 leads per month. You’ll forget attempts, lose track of who’s at what stage, and let leads fall through the cracks.

A CRM with automated follow-up sequences handles this. Set up the cadence once, and every new lead gets enrolled automatically. The system sends texts on schedule, reminds you when to make call attempts, and tracks responses.

Most field service CRMs like Jobber, Housecall Pro, and GoHighLevel support automated text sequences. Even a basic setup that auto-sends the first text after a missed call will capture leads you’re currently losing.

One contractor on Reddit described using GoHighLevel’s automated sequences to follow up on every lead that doesn’t answer within 5 minutes. The system sends a text, waits 24 hours, calls, waits 48 hours, sends a value-add text, then fires a breakup message on day 7. He estimated the automation recovered 6-8 jobs per month that would have otherwise been lost to “no answer.”

Common mistakes that kill follow-up

Waiting too long between attempts. A 7-day follow-up cadence works. A 30-day cadence doesn’t. If you call once, wait two weeks, and call again, the homeowner has already hired someone else.

Using the same approach every time. Five phone calls in a row with no text in between feels like harassment. Mix your channels. Call, text, call, text with value, call, breakup text.

Not leaving voicemails. Some contractors call repeatedly without leaving a message. From the lead’s perspective, they just see missed calls from an unknown number. Voicemails establish who you are and why you’re calling.

Generic messages. “Just checking in” is easy to ignore. “Following up on the kitchen faucet replacement you requested for your Scottsdale home” is specific enough to prompt a response.

Giving up too early. 48% of contractors never follow up at all. Another 32% give up after one or two attempts. Simply making it to attempt 5 puts you ahead of 80% of your competition.

Building follow-up into your daily routine

Block 30 minutes each morning for follow-up calls and texts. Work through your list of unanswered leads from oldest to newest. This ensures no lead goes more than 24 hours without an attempt during the active follow-up window.

Keep a simple tracking sheet or use your CRM’s task system. For each lead, note the date and type of each attempt. When you connect, note the outcome. When you exhaust the 6-touch sequence, move them to monthly nurture.

The contractors who book the most jobs aren’t the ones generating the most leads. They’re the ones who follow up on every single lead with a system that doesn’t depend on memory, motivation, or how busy the day gets.

Your leads are raising their hands and asking for help. When they don’t answer the phone, they’re not saying no. They’re saying not right now. The contractor who’s still there when “right now” arrives is the one who gets the job.