Why electricians lose work after the first call

Most electricians don't need more enquiries. In my judgement, they've got a gap between the phone ringing and a job landing in the diary. And it's not one gap. A no-power call, a rewire and a landlord's EICR go missing at different points, so a single fix won't cover the three.

You've already paid for each of those enquiries through the van, the website and years of reputation. This is where they slip away.

Which work leaks where

That table's my judgement from how the work runs. I found no UK data on electricians specifically, so count your own.

The no-power call

You've got the board off and both hands busy. The phone goes. You can't take it, and nobody sensible would. What counts is what the caller gets instead.

YouGov asked 2,046 UK adults about this for Answer4u in June 2026. 37% would give up on a business call within 60 seconds, and 6% would leave a voicemail. So a voicemail greeting won't save you. I'd expect someone sitting in the dark to try the next name, though the survey didn't ask that.

An instant text back to every missed call gives them a reply now, and gives you a conversation to finish between jobs.

Some of these calls aren't work. If the whole street's off, it's a power cut, and 105 is the number they need. One text saves you the drive and helps them. The text templates include it.

The evening fault is harder. An RCD tripping at 7pm doesn't make for a patient customer. Textmagic's vendor survey of 1,800 UK consumers in 2025 found 20.89% expected a text reply within five minutes, and 51% had been ignored or had to chase after texting a business. You won't always manage five minutes. You can always manage "I'm on a job, I'll ring you at 4."

Unknown numbers cause trouble as well. 69% of 1,000 UK consumers told MaxContact, another vendor, that they screen them. So if you're ringing back from a different phone, text first and give your name.

The one-socket job

A socket, a light, an outdoor point for the shed. These sink to the bottom of your phone, and I can see why, because they hardly pay.

But small jobs are how people try you out. Today's single socket may be next year's consumer unit. You needn't take them all. Just reply: give a rough price, save them up for one day, or say you're not the right fit. A clear no beats silence.

The rewire quote that goes quiet

On planned work, I'd look here first. You spend an hour in someone's loft measuring up, the quote goes off, and you hear nothing. You assume they've gone elsewhere.

Often they haven't. They're busy, or they can't tell why you cost more than the other one. And many trades simply vanish: 38% of people who asked a tradesperson for a quote never heard back in Opinium's 2023 survey for HomeServe. That measures the first response, not follow-ups, though I'd bet on the same habit carrying over.

So a short, polite nudge already puts you ahead of a lot of people. Two is plenty. At day three, check the quote made sense. At day seven, say you'll close it. Then leave them be.

Help them compare, too. List the testing, the certificate, the Building Regulations notification and the making good, so a lower price elsewhere explains itself.

The landlord job that stalls

Two leaks here, and neither involves price.

Access comes first. The landlord books you, nobody tells the tenant, and you're standing on a doorstep. Get the tenant's number, confirm with them yourself and warn them the power will go off.

Then there's the remedial quote. When a report calls for remedial work, a private landlord in England generally has 28 days or less under the 2020 Regulations. That makes it the most time-sensitive quote you'll write. Send it with the report. They're free to use someone else, so give them a reason not to.

Penalties land on the landlord, not you. MHCLG's guidance now says up to £40,000, while some sites still show £30,000. Don't use that to frighten anyone. Speed and clarity do the job.

The report you never look at again

Other trades hope a customer remembers them. You've got a date in writing. An EICR normally states the next inspection, up to five years on in a rented home. Leave that date in a pile of PDFs and you've thrown it away.

Word of mouth feeds off the same list: 36% of people who used a trader found them through someone they knew, according to Citizens Advice in 2026.

• Keep one list of customers, jobs, addresses and next inspection dates.
• Send a reminder ahead of the date, within the marketing rules.
• Ask for a review after each job.

Count your own month

No software needed. Take last month, or track the next one, and fill this in.

Yours will look different. Split the table by fault, planned and landlord work if you can, since an average hides a lot. A big drop at stage one means the phone needs fixing. A big drop at the end means follow-up, then your price and how it's presented, and the pricing guide can help there.

Only then buy more leads

A leaky process makes every lead dearer. Close the gaps and lead sites, adverts and SEO begin to earn their keep. How to get more electrical customers sets out the rest of the order.

David Bell, founder of Real Business Systems

David helps small UK businesses get found, answer every enquiry and keep customers coming back. We sell some of the services mentioned here, and we say so where they come up.