Cost of missed calls
What missed service calls cost, and how to price an AI receptionist.
Adjust the missed-call math to your dealership, then see what to weigh when comparing AI receptionist pricing. Cleo picks up on the first ring, day or night.
Missed-call math
What your missed calls could cost each month.
Illustration only. It multiplies the numbers you enter. It is not a Cleo result, forecast, guarantee or price. Booked appointments are not completed visits or revenue.
Worked example with the starting numbers: 600 calls × 35% unanswered = 210 missed calls. 210 × 27% = 56.7 appointments. 56.7 × $350 = $19,845 a month in service revenue. This is an illustration built from the numbers you enter, not a Cleo result, forecast or price, and Cleo’s fee is not part of it. The starting numbers come from published sources: Cleo’s line that 35% of dealership calls never reach a person, Stevens Creek Subaru’s 447 booked appointments from 1,678 answered calls, and El Cerrito Honda’s $350 average repair order. Replace them with your own.
Real dealership results
What answered calls became at two Cleo dealerships.
1,678
Calls Cleo answered at Stevens Creek Subaru, September 21 to October 20, 2026
447
Of those calls ended as a booked appointment (booking-outcome calls)
30
Of those appointments were booked while the service department was closed
A booking-outcome call is a call that ended as a scheduled appointment in Cleo’s call log. It is not a completed appointment and it is not revenue: Cleo does not report whether customers arrived or what work was paid for. Booked appointments and transfers are separate outcomes, not a breakdown of the answered calls. These are one dealership’s results, not a promise of yours.
El Cerrito Honda, in a separate 30 days: 633 calls answered and 112 appointments booked, 34 of them while the dealership was closed. Its case study estimates $39,200 in service revenue from those 112 appointments, based on an average repair order of $350.
El Cerrito Honda case study, Cleo dashboard, rolling 30 days captured September 26, 2026
Pricing an AI receptionist
What to weigh before you compare prices.
01 · How the price is built
Ask which of these a quote uses: a flat monthly fee, a rate per minute or per call, a charge per booked appointment, or a mix, with or without a setup fee. Then ask what happens above the included volume, and whether the price is per rooftop or for a group.
02 · What the call can finish
An assistant that takes a message costs less to run than one that books into your scheduler. Confirm which scheduling system it books into, whether it checks open times before offering one, and what it does when no time is available or a booking fails.
03 · When it answers, and who steps in
Check the hours it covers, how fast it picks up, and where calls go when a person is needed: a transfer, a callback task for your team, or nothing. A cheaper plan that skips nights or overflow leaves the missed-call cost in place.
Weigh a price against what a booked appointment is worth to your store, not against the cost of a call. The calculator above does that division for any quote you enter.
Before you sign
Questions to put in every quote.
Count outcomes, not answered calls
Ask how the vendor counts a booked appointment, whether it is a completed visit, and how it reports transfers and callbacks. Cost per booked appointment is the monthly price divided by the appointments booked. Cost per answered call hides how many calls never needed a booking.
Check the setup and the term
Ask what setup involves, how long until it answers calls, what the contract term is, and what you can export if you leave. Cleo can be live in under 7 days. Confirm your scheduler connection, service rules, opening hours and escalation destinations before launch.
Cleo does not publish a price on this page. To see how Cleo would answer your service calls and book appointments for your dealership, book a 30-minute demo.
FAQ
Still have questions?
How much does an AI receptionist for a car dealership cost?
It depends on the vendor and how the price is built: a flat monthly fee, a rate per minute or call, a charge per booked appointment, or a mix. This page does not state a Cleo price. A quote is worth paying when the appointments it books are worth more than its monthly price, so divide the quote by your average service revenue per appointment to find how many bookings cover it.
What does a missed service call cost a dealership?
What should I weigh when comparing AI receptionist pricing?
Is an answered call the same as revenue?
Contact
Put a number on your missed calls.
Book a 30-minute demo and see how Cleo would answer your service calls and book appointments.
