Owned and Operated
Posts
The Highest-ROI Marketing Channel?

The Highest-ROI Marketing Channel?

It could be for your biz

John Wilson
December 31, 2025

Happy Holidays, and welcome to the second edition of “Clicks to Calls.” (Here’s the first one if you missed it.)

I have a good one for you today. We’re talking all about one of the highest-ROI marketing channels that exists. A channel that you may be overlooking.

Answer. The. Phone.

It’s really that simple. I explain the ins-and-outs below.

Check out these resources before you go any further…

Here’s a simple way to buy parts and supplies at a lower cost
Read this call center guide with scripts, org charts, and more
Are you turning old customers into new jobs?

The Easiest ROI Win You’re Missing

This week, I’m breaking down one of the highest-ROI growth levers I see service businesses ignore: answering the phone.

I’ve watched operators unlock 20–30% growth simply by tightening phone coverage on nights and weekends. The demand was already there. The leads were already paid for. The only thing missing was someone on the other end of the line.

I’ll walk through why phone coverage multiplies the ROI of every marketing channel you run, how missed calls quietly kill conversions, and what it actually takes to turn your phones into a reliable revenue driver instead of a hidden leak.

A Simple Way to 3x Lead Conversions

Most companies focus on getting more leads. The smarter move is to first convert the ones you already earned.

That’s where ReferPro fits in.

Referrals are already your highest-ROI leads. They convert 3x higher, close faster, and come from customers who trust you. ReferPro automates the entire referral flow with text and email campaigns, personalized links, and instant rewards.

But here’s the kicker. Referral leads only matter if someone actually answers the phone.

ReferPro helps you generate better calls. Answering the phone helps you turn them into revenue.

If you want more loyal customers, more inbound calls, and higher ROI from every answered phone, ReferPro is worth a look.

Where Phone Calls Break Down

When most owners think about marketing ROI, they think about new channels. LSAs. PPC. Direct mail.

What rarely gets the same attention is what happens after the phone rings.

Here’s what consistently shows up when operators tighten their phones:

Calls are answered during nights, weekends, and peak hours
Fewer leads fall through the cracks
Existing marketing channels perform better
Teams spend less time reacting and more time closing

The takeaway is straightforward.

Answering the phone doesn’t create new demand, but it dramatically improves how much revenue you capture from the demand you already have.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Let’s take a look at the bare minimum you can achieve by simply getting more serious about answering phones during off-peak hours.

Real trend:

Growth is showing up where businesses stop going dark. Extended phone coverage is quietly outperforming new channels.

Turn Ringing Phones Into Real ROI

The first shift is how you think about the phone. It isn’t an operational nuisance or a staffing problem. It’s an investment decision. If you are already paying for leads, then answering the phone is the mechanism that allows those investments to pay off.

The fastest wins don’t come from adding complexity. They come from removing friction. In this case, the friction is simple. Calls are coming in when no one is available to answer them.

Start With Coverage, Not Systems

Before changing scripts, tools, or processes, start with coverage. Growth shows up when businesses stop going dark during predictable windows.

Look closely at when calls are currently missed:

Nights
Weekends
High-volume overflow periods
Times when your best people are already overloaded

These windows are where easy wins live. Larger companies already cover them. Smaller operators often don’t. That gap is opportunity.

Use Time as the Lever

Answering the phone isn’t about working harder. It’s about extending when your business can say yes.

Adding weekend coverage alone:

Expands your selling window by two days every week
Creates dozens of additional opportunities per year
Unlocks revenue that previously didn’t exist

You don’t need perfect execution. You don’t need to close every call. Even a small number of incremental wins matter because those opportunities were previously zero.

Treat Phone Coverage Like Any Other ROI Decision

Every expense should justify itself. Phone coverage is no different.

Ask the same questions you ask about marketing:

Does this help us capture demand we already paid for?
Does it improve conversion without increasing spend?
Does it move revenue enough to justify the cost?

Because the leads already exist, answering the phone consistently clears this bar more often than new channels do. The upside is real. The downside is limited.

Protect EBITDA, Not Just Top-Line Revenue

Missed calls don’t just cost revenue. They quietly erode profitability.

When phones aren’t covered:

Marketing efficiency drops
Cost per booked job increases
EBITDA takes the hit

Answering more calls improves conversion first, which improves margins second. That matters because profitability, not activity, is what actually compounds over time.

Reduce Chaos by Reducing Misses

Phone coverage also protects attention. Missed calls create reactive work. Follow-ups. Complaints. Scrambling to recover lost opportunities.

When calls are handled consistently:

Fewer fires show up later
Teams stay focused on closing and delivery
Owners regain time to work on higher-leverage priorities

This is operational leverage, not just revenue capture.

Keep the Change Narrow and Focused

The biggest mistake is trying to fix everything at once. The most effective approach is choosing one high-impact change and executing it well.

Phone coverage works because:

It’s a narrow initiative
It doesn’t compete with other major projects
The upside is immediate and measurable

Medium changes create outsized outcomes when the baseline isn’t optimized.

The Real Strategy

You don’t need more leads.

You need to stop losing the ones you already paid for.

Answering the phone turns time into revenue, improves the ROI of every channel you run, and strengthens the foundation of the business without adding complexity. That’s why it consistently shows up as one of the cleanest, highest-return moves an operator can make.

Who’s Answering Your Phones?

Every missed call is demand that never turns into revenue.

Quick Staffers helps you stop the bleed by placing trained, day-one-ready CSRs who can answer calls, book jobs, and follow up when your in-house team can’t. Nights, weekends, overflow, and growth periods included.

Looking to give your CSRs a boost with AI? Here’s the solution.

Top GPB Mistakes…And How to Stop Making Them

These are the things burying companies in search results:

Wrong primary category (kills you instantly)
No review strategy
Fake review bursts
Never posting
Never adding photos
Trying to rank too far outside your radius

Fix these and your GBP becomes a top-3 channel.

Take a few minutes to audit how your phones are handled during nights, weekends, and peak hours. If the caller can’t reach a real person (when necessary), there’s a good chance your highest-ROI opportunities are slipping through the cracks.

Apple | Spotify | YouTube

👊 John

Disclosure: Some of the content and links in this newsletter are sponsored or affiliate links, which means we may receive payment or earn a commission if you click through or purchase. However, all opinions expressed are entirely my own.