The numbers behindthe phone.
Short, dated notes on what the data says about home-service calls, bookings and storms. Every figure carries its source, and none of them is a ProxMedia number.
ProxMedia is an AI marketing agency in Denver. We install the AI systems that answer calls and book jobs for service businesses, and we build the websites, local SEO, Google profile and Meta ads behind them.
Call booking rates by trade: what ServiceTitan measured
Plumbing 43 percent, electrical 41, HVAC 38. The same month, a typical shop booked 42 percent of its call leads. The useful part is what differs by trade and by season.
Not every unbooked call was a lost job
A missed-call number is only useful with the right denominator. SearchLight's September 2026 grading of 232,635 contacts shows what the unbooked calls actually were.
One day produced 56 percent of 2024's hail reports across nine Colorado counties
May 30, 2024: 86 of the year's 153 hail reports in Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld. The roofing phone is a one-week phone.
What 1,040 homeowners told Housecall Pro matters when they hire a pro
80 percent factor in online booking. 96 percent expect a professional, easy-to-use website. 53 percent are comfortable with AI handling the first inquiry. The test is whether a homeowner can book you at 9 PM without calling.
The review bar moved to 4.5 stars
Not perfect. 4.5. The share of consumers who say they will only use a 4.5-star business nearly doubled in a year, and the four-star floor moved too.
About half of new patient inquiries never become an appointment
Online forms booked 56.8 percent of the time, phone calls 47.2. The reasons callers did not book are the ones the front desk controls.
Colorado added 225 electrical contractor locations between 2019 and 2023
More shops, mostly small, long hours. A Colorado homeowner has more electricians to call than in 2019, and the one who picks up gets the job.
Even a paid lead books less than half the time
Plumbing 44.5 percent, HVAC 44.0, electrical 43.4. The lead was paid for. The booking was not.
A web form can wait 42 hours for a reply
37 percent within an hour. 23 percent never. The average, 42 hours. Fill out your own contact form tonight and time it.
Four in five Americans would rather talk to a person
79 percent prefer a human. So the AI does not replace the person who answers. It covers the calls nobody would have answered at all, says what it is, and hands off.
When an unknown number calls, only 14 percent of people answer right away
28 percent reject the call. 41 percent wait for a voicemail. If a homeowner got your voicemail and you call back from a number they do not know, most will not pick up.
Being asked for a review is normal now, and it works
78 percent were asked. 65 percent wrote one after being asked. Only 6 percent say they would never write one.
Where Colorado's roofing contractors are
Jefferson 121, El Paso 108, Denver 103, Arapahoe 102, Adams 92. A homeowner in the metro can call a lot of roofers before they get to you.
Only 27 percent would try a company chatbot again after a bad experience
49 percent would have used a chatbot if offered. 7 percent did. 87 percent say a path to a human is essential. A few jobs done well, and a visible way to a person.
Your Google profile did not stop working. It went stale
The reviews you earned last year still exist. A stranger decides whether they still count, and the bar for recency and replies moved in twelve months.
Four trades, four growth rates, one decade
HVAC up 11 percent, electricians 9, plumbers 7, roofers 5, all jobs 3. Every one of these trades grows faster than the economy. None of that answers the phone.
Eight in ten Colorado HVAC and plumbing locations have fewer than ten employees
1,651 under five employees. 460 at five to nine. About 30 at a hundred or more. The shop a Colorado homeowner calls is usually a handful of people, and the owner decides who answers.
Where small employers actually use AI
Most small employers that use AI use it to write things. Fewer than a third use it for the customer. The gap between those two numbers is where the phone sits.
Where the "100 times more likely" lead-response rule comes from
Six companies, 2007, web leads. The odds of reaching a live person dropped 100 times between five and thirty minutes. The study did not measure close rates and says so.
More med spas, fewer new guests
The number of med spas grew 18 percent in a year. New guest visits fell 11 percent. The second visit is the number to watch.
The Monday after the hailstorm
Hail is 26 to 54 percent of the premium depending on the county. Most roofing shops are under five people. The storm week is decided by the phone.
On call, but the phone is not
The tech is on call. The phone that reaches him is not. After 6 PM the booking rate falls to about a third of the morning peak, at every shop size.
The AI summary above your reviews is doing part of your selling
82 percent read the summary. 23 percent would decide on it alone. Search your own clinic and read what Google says about you before a patient does.
The job is done. Did the customer see it?
68 percent expect photo proof. Nearly 60 percent want the tech's name and photo before the visit. The work can be right and the customer can still feel out of the loop.
Two ways to lose the customer on a review
Ignore the review and 42 percent walk. Answer it like a form letter and 50 percent do. If software writes your replies, that second number is the one to watch.
Where Colorado's HVAC and plumbing shops are
Jefferson County has twice as many shops as Denver County. Five metro counties hold 43 percent of the state. A homeowner in any of them has a long list of small shops to call.
Thirty minutes on your phones, your jobs and what the numbers say.
- 30 minutes.
- No pitch on the first call.
- You see the three places jobs leak.
Rather talk now? (720) 814-2371 or isaiah@proxmedia.co. You talk to Isaiah, the person doing the work.