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Local Voice research
78% of Callers Have Abandoned a Business After an Unanswered Call. What They Do Next.
CallRail found 78% of U.S. consumers have abandoned a business after an unanswered call. See what callers do next and how long they'll hold.
By Adam Brewer, founder of Local Voice. Figures checked October 10, 2026.
78% of U.S. consumers have abandoned a business after an unanswered call, according to CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 consumers. 82% say they'll call a competitor if you don't answer.
When nobody picks up, 42% say they leave a voicemail and 21% call another business right away. Holds lose callers too. Only 48% say they'll wait on hold past 2 minutes (Local Voice calculation), and 18% past 5 minutes.
Every figure was checked at its source on October 10, 2026. Derived figures are marked as Local Voice calculations, with the math shown in the methodology.
Key findings
78% of U.S. consumers have abandoned a business after an unanswered call, according to CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 consumers.
82% of U.S. consumers say they'll call a competitor if a business doesn't answer (CallRail, 2025).
When a business doesn't answer, 42% of U.S. consumers say they leave a voicemail and 21% call another business right away (CallRail, 2025).
Only 48% of U.S. consumers say they'll wait on hold past 2 minutes, and 18% past 5 minutes (Local Voice calculation from CallRail, 2025).
39% of U.S. consumers call long hold times their biggest complaint, rising to 49% of Gen Z (CallRail, 2025).
Plumbing and HVAC listings had a 90% discovery rate in BrightLocal's 2019 study of 45,264 Google listings from 2017 and 2018. Discovery searches are for a service, not a business name.
How many callers give up after an unanswered call?
Most of them. CallRail surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers and published the results on September 25, 2025. 78% said they have abandoned a business after an unanswered call.
82% said they'll call a competitor if you don't answer. That's a statement about what they'd do. The 78% is about what they've already done.
CallRail sells call tracking software, and it didn't publish the question wording or when the survey ran. It also didn't name who fielded it. Read the figures as what consumers say, which isn't always what they do.
What do callers do when you don't answer?
42% say they leave a voicemail. Smaller shares switch to online chat (24%) or call another business right away (21%). CallRail's 2025 survey reports each answer on its own.
Figure 1. When a business doesn't answer, 42% of consumers say they leave a voicemail and 21% call another business right away
Share of U.S. consumers giving each answer about what they do when a business doesn't pick up.
CallRail didn't publish the question wording or say whether people could pick more than one answer, so the bars aren't parts of a whole.
Source: CallRail, 2025. Survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers.
The bars add to 87%, but don't read them as a full split. CallRail didn't say whether people could pick more than one answer. Some may leave a voicemail and then call someone else.
Fewer than half say they leave a voicemail. 42% say they do, so 58% don't (Local Voice calculation). Another survey put the voicemail share far lower. Our post on whether callers leave voicemails compares the two.
82% say they'll call a competitor if you don't answer, but only 21% say they do it right away. That suggests many callers give you a short window before they move on. CallRail didn't publish the wording, so we can't line the two questions up exactly.
A shop misses 20 calls this week.
20 × 42% = 8 callers you can expect to leave a voicemail (8.4, rounded).
20 × 21% = 4 callers who call another business right away (4.2, rounded).
20 minus 8 = 12 callers who leave no voicemail. Some of them may reach you through chat.
These are survey shares applied to calls. Your own voicemail count for the week is the better number.
Why the next business is one tap away
Most Google searches that show a trade business's listing are searches for the service, not the business. BrightLocal studied 45,264 Google listings from September 2017 to December 2018. Plumbing and HVAC listings had a 90% discovery rate.
BrightLocal defines a discovery search as one where someone looked up a category, product or service you offer and your listing came up. The searcher typed something like "plumber" instead of your business name. In a search like that, your listing shows up beside your competitors.
Locksmiths: 97% discovery searches
Repairs: 96%
Tradesmen: 92%
Plumbing and HVAC: 90%
So when you don't answer, the caller doesn't have to look far. If they found you that way, the other businesses from the same search are still in their results. For the 21% in CallRail's survey who call another business right away, the next number is already in front of them.
The two studies measured different people at different times. BrightLocal's data covers listings in four countries in 2017 and 2018. CallRail surveyed U.S. consumers in 2025. Our discovery search breakdown by trade has the full chart.
How long will callers wait on hold?
Not long. 41% of consumers say they hang up after 1 to 2 minutes on hold, in CallRail's 2025 survey. Add the two longer answers and only 48% say they'll wait past 2 minutes (Local Voice calculation). 18% say they'll wait past 5.
Figure 2. Fewer than half of consumers (48%) say they'll wait on hold past 2 minutes
How long U.S. consumers say they'll wait on hold, in order of time.
The three published answers add to 89%. CallRail doesn't report what the other 11% said. 48% = 30% + 18% (Local Voice calculation).
Source: CallRail, 2025. Survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers. Not reported share and 48% are Local Voice calculations.
Table 1. The hold-time patience curve (Local Voice calculation)
CallRail (2025), 1,000 U.S. consumers. The 11% whose answer CallRail didn't report is left out, so the true shares could be up to 11 points higher.
We can't place the curve under 1 minute. CallRail published no answer for under 1 minute, and 11% of answers aren't reported. Those people may hang up sooner or hold longer. The page doesn't say.
Hold time is also the top complaint for many callers. In CallRail's survey, 39% called long hold times their biggest complaint, and 49% of Gen Z ranked it first.
A second survey points the same way. In Invoca's 2026 report of 693 buyers, 75% said they'd hung up over a long hold, up from 50% in its previous report. Invoca surveyed different people at a different time, so treat the two as separate signals.
Your office puts 40 callers on hold for 3 minutes this month.
40 × 41% = 16 callers who say they'd hang up before you pick up (16.4, rounded).
Keep holds under a minute, or offer a callback, and you stay inside the window those 16 said they'd give you.
What to do this week
Time your hold. Call your own line at a busy hour and see how long you wait. CallRail's 2025 survey found 41% of consumers hang up after 1 to 2 minutes.
Offer a callback instead of a long hold. Take the caller's number and call back within minutes. Only 18% say they'll wait past 5 minutes.
Call back every missed number fast. 21% call another business right away. Quo's 2026 analysis found 69% of missed business calls got no callback within 48 hours.
Cover the calls you can't take. Fewer than half of callers say they'll hold past two minutes, so send overflow to a person or service that picks up. Local Voice sells AI phone agents for this, so factor that in.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of callers hang up and call a competitor?
82% of U.S. consumers say they'll call a competitor if a business doesn't answer, according to CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 consumers. 21% say they call another business right away. 78% say they've already abandoned a business after an unanswered call. CallRail didn't publish the question wording.
How long will customers wait on hold?
Not long. In CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, 41% said they hang up after 1 to 2 minutes on hold. 30% wait 3 to 5 minutes and 18% wait more than 5. Added up, 48% say they'll wait past 2 minutes (Local Voice calculation). CallRail didn't report the other 11%.
Do callers leave a voicemail when a business doesn't answer?
Fewer than half say they do. CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers found 42% say they leave a voicemail, so 58% don't. 24% switch to online chat and 21% call another business right away. CallRail didn't say whether people could pick more than one answer.
Why do callers go to a competitor so quickly?
Many found you through a search that also showed your competitors. In BrightLocal's 2019 study of 45,264 Google listings, plumbing and HVAC listings had a 90% discovery rate. Those were searches for the service, not a business name. CallRail's 2025 survey found 21% say they call another business right away. The two studies measured different people at different times.
Is the claim that 85% of callers won't call back true?
We couldn't find a study behind it. The 85% figure circulates on vendor blogs with no traceable source. The closest verified figure is CallRail's 2025 survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers: 78% have abandoned a business after an unanswered call. Use that number, with its source.
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Open the calculatorMethodology
CallRail survey
A survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, published September 25, 2025, by Danielle Wood. CallRail didn't publish the question wording, the fieldwork dates or who fielded the survey. It didn't say whether people could pick more than one answer. CallRail sells call tracking software.
Patience curve
Share still holding past 2 minutes = 30% (wait 3 to 5 minutes) + 18% (wait more than 5 minutes) = 48%. Past 5 minutes = 18%, as published. Not reported = 100% minus 41%, 30% and 18% = 11%. We assume each person gave one hold-time answer. CallRail doesn't say, but the three published answers add to 89%, which fits that.
Voicemail
Share who don't leave a voicemail = 100% minus 42% = 58%. The 42%, 24% and 21% are shown as separate bars because CallRail didn't say whether answers could overlap.
BrightLocal study
Google My Business Insights Study by Rosie Murphy, published July 15, 2019. 45,264 listings in 36 industries in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K., September 2017 to December 2018. BrightLocal reports medians. We use its published discovery rates for each industry and don't compute any ratios from its medians.
Invoca survey
Invoca's 2026 B2C Buyer Experience Report, published June 9, 2026, with 693 buyers. The share who've hung up because they were on hold too long rose from 50% to 75% since the previous report. Invoca doesn't say whether that share covers all respondents or only those who called.
Combining studies
The section on discovery searches pairs BrightLocal's 2017 to 2018 listing data with CallRail's 2025 consumer survey. The hold section sets Invoca's 2026 survey beside CallRail's. Each measured different people at different times.
Rounding
Worked examples multiply at full precision, then round half up to whole callers, as shown in each step.
When we checked
The CallRail, BrightLocal, Invoca and Quo pages were checked at the source on October 10, 2026.
Sources
CallRail. Why businesses can't afford to miss calls. Danielle Wood, September 25, 2025. Accessed October 10, 2026.
BrightLocal. Google My Business Insights Study. Rosie Murphy, July 15, 2019. 45,264 listings, September 2017 to December 2018. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Invoca. 2026 Report: Consumers Embrace AI, Demand for Fast Responses from Brands Increases. Owen Ray, June 9, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.
Quo. Small business callback statistics in 2026: Data from 16M+ calls. Rachel Bicha, August 20, 2026. Accessed October 10, 2026.
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