Voicemail is the option almost every trade defaults to, because it is free and it is already there. It is also the reason a large share of your enquiries end up with a competitor.
Joe is answering as Sunshine Plumbing & Gas, a fictional business on the Sunshine Coast. Call or text her like a real customer would, then compare that to what the alternative gives you.
+61 485 067 607No registration. Real Joe. Real responses.
Think about what you do when a business you rang does not pick up. You hang up and try the next search result. Your customers do exactly the same thing.
Voicemail also puts the work back on you. You finish the job, sit in the ute, listen to four messages, write down numbers, ring each one back, and half of them do not answer because now they are at work. That is an evening gone and a couple of jobs lost.
Worse, voicemail tells the customer nothing. It cannot say you service their suburb, it cannot say you can be there Thursday, and it cannot tell the difference between a burst pipe and someone pricing a job for next month.
Joe answers on the first ring, every time, and answers texts too. She asks what the job is, where it is, and when they need it. You get a lead you can price, not a name and a callback.
| Voicemail | Workbench | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free. | $150 a month, plus $400 once-off setup. |
| What the caller hears | A recorded message and a beep. | A real conversation about their job. |
| Do they leave a message | Most do not. They ring the next business. | Not a question. The enquiry is captured on the spot. |
| Texts | Ignored until you pick up your phone. | Answered in seconds. |
| Job details captured | Whatever they choose to say, if anything. | Address, job type, urgency, timing, the things you need to quote. |
| Urgency | You find out when you listen back. | Flagged and pushed to your phone immediately. |
| Your evening | Spent returning calls. | Spent not returning calls. |
| Call back rate | You chase them, and many have moved on. | They are already booked or quoted. |
| Invoicing | None. | Accepted quotes become draft invoices in Xero. |
| Real cost | The jobs you never hear about. | One flat monthly price. |
Voicemail is only free if you assume every caller leaves a message and waits patiently for you to ring back. Neither of those is true. If Joe catches one job a month you would have lost, the subscription has already paid for itself several times over.
One price, everything included. Compare it to whatever you are paying now.
Run Workbench for a month. If Joe hasn't caught you at least one job you would have missed, tell us and you don't pay for that month. No forms, no argument.
Prices in AUD. GST not yet applicable.