Lost Sales Calculator
Multiply your monthly inquiries by the share you answer late or never, your close rate and your average order value, and you see how much is at risk each month.
At risk each month
1,000
Sales at risk: 20
- Inquiries answered late or not at all, per 100
- Sales lost, per 100
1,000 inquiries × 20% × 10% × 50 = 1,000
This is an estimate from your numbers, and it doesn't predict how much you'd get back.
The lost sales formula
Monthly inquiries × % not answered in time × close rate × average order value = amount at risk each month.
A worked example
With 1,000 inquiries a month, 20% answered too late or never and a 10% close rate, you have 20 sales at risk. If the average order is worth 50, that's 1,000 at risk each month.
What Harvard Business Review found
Harvard Business Review audited 2,241 US businesses: 37% answered within an hour, 16% within 1 to 24 hours, 24% took longer than 24 hours and 23% never answered. Among those that answered within 30 days, the average was 42 hours. The same article cites a separate study of 1.25 million sales prospects. Businesses that made contact within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify a prospect as those that made contact an hour later, and more than 60 times as likely as those that waited 24 hours or more. To qualify means to have a meaningful conversation with the person who decides, and none of these figures enters your calculation.
How we calculate lost sales
First we work out how many inquiries go unanswered or get a late reply: monthly inquiries × that percentage. Then we apply your close rate to get the sales at risk. Finally we multiply by your average order value.
The arithmetic uses only the four numbers you enter. No figure from a study changes it.
Frequently asked questions
Still have a question?
Message us on WhatsAppYou decide, based on your business: an inquiry was answered too late if the person had already bought elsewhere or stopped replying. Count the ones you never answered as well.
Take the inquiries you answered on time in a month and count how many ended in a purchase. If it was 10 out of 100, your rate is 10%. If you don't have the data, start with a conservative estimate.
No. We cite them as context. The result comes only from the numbers you enter.
Not necessarily. The result shows what's at risk by your numbers, and answering faster doesn't guarantee that all of those inquiries will buy. Use it as a reference for your decision.
Still have a question?
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