According to independent industry research, auto dealerships miss up to 40% of inbound phone calls. In an industry where most buyers still call before visiting or purchasing, that number represents a massive amount of lost revenue.

Why Dealerships Miss So Many Calls

Missed calls usually aren’t caused by a lack of leads — they’re caused by breakdowns in the call-handling process.

Common reasons include:

• Call transfers that go unanswered
  Calls are routed from reception to sales, service, or finance teams. If the receiving team is busy or unavailable, the call rings out.

• High call volume during peak hours
  Staff may be assisting walk-in customers or already on calls, leaving no one available to answer new inbound calls.

• After-hours calls
  Many customers call in the evenings, early mornings, or on weekends — times when staff coverage is limited or unavailable.

• No voicemail left
  A large percentage of callers don’t leave voicemails. When that happens, the opportunity is often gone for good.

When these calls aren’t returned quickly, customers don’t wait. They move on to the next dealership.