Why smart business owners are embracing AI to stop losing customers and cash.

That silence could be costing you more than you think.

Where your customers demand instant responses and constant connectivity, businesses are still losing thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of dollars each year from something as simple as not answering the phone. If you’re in trades, wellness, hospitality, or any appointment-driven business, here’s the uncomfortable question: How many of your missed calls are missed opportunities?

Let’s get straight to the numbers because they don’t lie.

• Between 22% and 62% of all calls to Australian small and medium businesses go unanswered, depending on the time of day and industry.
• 85% of callers whose calls go unanswered never try again.
• The average small business in Australia loses $126,360 per year due to missed calls.
• The total cost to the Australian economy? Over $8 billion annually, just from missed calls.

Sources:

• PwC Australia
• Forrester Research
• SMB Communications Reports, Australia/NZ Region

Let’s break it down by industry. These figures reflect just how widespread and costly missed calls are across service sectors: 

Imagine running a busy plumbing business and missing five calls a week, each one potentially worth $200. That’s $1,000 a week gone. Over a year? You’re looking at more than $50,000 in preventable losses.

Now apply that math to a real estate agency where a missed call could mean a lost listing, or a beauty salon where a regular client couldn’t rebook their appointment and never returns. These aren’t just one-off losses, they’re missed repeat business and word-of-mouth referrals.

This is the part that stings the most. Everyone worries about missing out on new customers but what about your loyal, paying clients who are trying to reach you?

Maybe they want to reschedule.
Maybe they have a question about a past job.
Maybe they’re ready to buy more.

When they can’t get through, frustration builds. And if they’ve had a bad experience before?

• 33% of customers will leave after just one negative interaction
• 92% will leave after two or three

So a missed call isn’t just a missed booking. It’s a relationship broken, and a client likely heading straight to your competitor.

There’s no single reason. In most cases, it’s a combination of issues that add up to one big problem:

• Phones ring while staff are with other customers or clients
• Calls come in outside business hours or during lunch breaks
• Solo operators can’t keep up during peak periods
• Businesses rely on voicemail,but most people won’t leave one
• There’s no overflow plan for high call volume times

And when calls go unanswered, every cent spent on advertising, SEO, or lead generation is wasted.

Here’s the good news. You don’t need to hire extra staff or answer your phone in the middle of a job to solve this. AI technology has made it fast, affordable, and incredibly effective to capture every call and convert it into action.

What AI Can Do for Your Business:

• 24/7 AI Call Answering: Never miss a call, even after hours or on weekends
• Instant Booking: AI can connect directly with your scheduling software to lock in appointments
• Past Client Support: AI can reference previous bookings or queries to provide relevant, helpful responses
• Smart Call Forwarding: If something’s too complex, the AI can pass it to a real person or take a message if they are not available
• Customisable Voice & Greeting: Choose voice/accent, set business-hour greetings, and more.  
• Call Summaries & Analytics: Get conversation summaries, track call volumes, failovers, and sentiment.  
• Always On, Always Safe: If AI can’t help, calls are redirected to a human failover number

The best part? These solutions can be branded and integrated into existing booking systems, allowing platforms to offer this as their own, powered by a system like Chaty.  For Example, Rezdy to:

• Check availability

• Make or modify bookings

• Cancel, confirm, or reschedule

There’s no downside to trying an AI call handling solution. It’s zero risk and potentially huge reward.

• No missed bookings
• No staff stress
• No unhappy customers
• No long hold times
• No extra staff costs
• No complicated setup
• No huge costs

Whether you’re a solo operator, a clinic owner, or running a multi-site business, your phone is your frontline. Missed calls are silent killers but now there’s a way to fight back without changing how you work.  Now Chaty has your back - with unlimited simultaneous call handling and consistent, professional service every time.

Every missed call is a chance for someone else to win your customer. It’s time to stop the silence and start turning calls into clients.

Take advantage of a free 14-day trial of Chaty’s AI assistant and experience what it feels like to never miss a call again.

Register here for your free trial now. No contracts. No setup fee. Just results.

It’s easy to put this off. But every week that passes means more missed revenue, more customer frustration, and more opportunity lost to your competitors.

AI call handling isn’t experimental. It’s already helping businesses like yours take back control of their phones and their revenue.

The next time your phone rings, who will answer? Make sure it’s someone who can help every time!

Running a JetSki tour company in Sydney might sound like the ultimate lifestyle gig, but for this owner-operator, the reality involved more time fielding phone calls than flying across the harbour. And as the Australian economy tightened and weather impacted bookings, tough choices had to be made.

“We had someone who used to handle the calls, but it wasn’t a full-time job. When sales dropped, we couldn’t justify keeping them on. The problem was, we didn’t have a better solution until Chaty came along.”

The team quickly realised that without someone dedicated to the phone, they were missing more than just calls; they were missing revenue. While the owner was out on the water with clients, the phone kept ringing.

And after-hours? The silence was costly.

“We kind of knew we were missing some calls in the evenings, but when we looked into it, we were getting an average of 10 calls per week after hours. That was shocking. How many bookings had we lost without even knowing it?”

They aren’t alone. In Australia:

• Between 22% and 62% of small business calls go unanswered. Chaty blog dumper
• 85% of those callers never try again
• The average missed call is worth anywhere from $100 to $1,200, depending on the service

For a business where each JetSki tour could be a $200 to $400 experience, those missed opportunities added up fast.

Facing rising costs, a shrinking team, and unpredictable call patterns, the owner gave Chaty’s AI receptionist a try, and everything changed.

“We were honestly blown away. It didn’t just answer questions, it took bookings, it handled after-hours calls, and what really impressed us was how it could reschedule clients too, even changing dates within Rezdy. That was a game-changer.”

Chaty was quickly trained in the most common enquiries:

• Tour options and availability
• Safety questions and weather policies
• Booking changes, cancellations, and rescheduling via Rezdy
• Last-minute availability
• Directions, parking, and preparation tips

And unlike a human, Chaty never clocked off.
Whether it was 3 calls or 30, it handled them all, simultaneously and without missing a beat.

“We also love that we can log in and instantly see summaries of every call. It gives us visibility we never had before - no more guesswork.”

Replacing a part-time admin role with Chaty didn’t just solve the call-answering problem, it freed up budget that was redirected straight into advertising.

“We used the money we would have spent on wages to invest in paid ads. And because Chaty was there to catch every enquiry, we weren’t wasting a cent of that ad spend.”

The results were almost immediate.

• More leads were converting into bookings
• Fewer calls were missed, even during tours
• After-hours callers were now getting answers, and locking in sessions
• Clients could reschedule without the runaround

While it’s still early days, the combined impact of advertising and Chaty’s AI receptionist has already been measurable.

“Our booking ratio has grown by 30%. And we’re just getting started.”

That figure reflects both:

• More calls answered = More conversions
• More money for marketing = More people reached

It’s a flywheel effect. With Chaty handling the admin load, the business can scale more confidently and without the typical growing pains of hiring and training new staff.

JetSki tours are naturally seasonal, heavily impacted by weather, school holidays, and travel trends. For businesses like this, flexibility is key. And Chaty delivers.

“It’s perfect for our kind of business. We don’t need to guess when to staff up or cut back. Chaty is just there, working away, whether we’ve got 3 calls or 30.”

With Chaty:

• You pay a fraction of the cost of a human admin
• You capture every enquiry, even at night or on a public holiday
• You get call summaries, sentiment insights, and booking data at your fingertips
• You get peace of mind that no booking is slipping through the cracks, 

If your business lives and dies by bookings, missed calls aren’t just a nuisance; they’re a revenue leak. Whether you’re running tours, classes, treatments, or tastings, you can’t afford to let enquiries go unanswered.

This Sydney JetSki operator has shown what’s possible when you combine smart AI with smart marketing.

“We wouldn’t go back. Chaty is now a core part of how we run, and grow our business.”

Experience the power of an AI receptionist that works when you can’t. Chaty connects with your booking software, handles complex client conversations, and never misses a beat.

 Try Chaty free for 14 days:  Start here

Whether you’re on the water, in a workshop, or enjoying your weekend, Chaty has your business covered.

Running a boutique distillery sounds like a dream, but for the team behind Wildflower Gin Distillery on the Gold Coast, the reality involved far more ringing phones than relaxing G&Ts.

As a small, hands-on business, Wildflower’s core team was frequently away from the phone. Whether they were distilling gin, bottling product, hosting weekend bar sessions, or enjoying their well-earned days off, one thing was constant: calls were going unanswered.

“On Mondays and Tuesdays, we have no staff. During the week, we’re flat out with production. And after hours? That’s just me, with my phone glued to my side, hoping I don’t miss a booking.”
— Owner, Wildflower Gin Distillery

The nature of their business meant that every missed call could be:

• A bar booking was lost to another venue
• A gin class that didn’t get filled
• A wholesale enquiry that never came back

And while voicemail existed, very few callers left one. Sound familiar?

Wildflower’s situation isn’t unique. In fact, according to recent data:

• Between 22% and 62% of calls to Australian small businesses go unanswered.
• 85% of people don’t try again if their call is missed.
• The average small business loses over $126,000 per year from missed calls aloneChaty blog dumper.

For hospitality venues like Wildflower, where weekend bookings are critical and bar seats are limited, every call matters. But without a full-time receptionist, answering everyone simply wasn’t feasible.

Initially, the team at Wildflower was hesitant about using AI to handle such an important and personal part of the business. Could an AI assistant really manage customer conversations with care and competence?

“We were a little nervous at first. But it didn’t take long to train Chaty in the kinds of questions people asked and the results were incredible.”

In just days, Chaty was up and running. The AI receptionist:

• Answered every call day or night
• Answered FAQs about bookings, classes, private events and hours
• Took bookings directly into our Rezdy system
• Captured wholesale leads and instantly notified the team
• Delivered conversation summaries so they could follow up promptly

Once Chaty was in place, something remarkable happened: Wildflower started seeing more bookings, not fewer.

“We were blown away when we saw the numbers. We didn’t just stop missing calls... we grew. We’ve seen a 22% revenue increase since adding Chaty.”

Here’s how:

• Recovered missed calls: The 15% of calls they used to miss are now answered instantly
• Captured after-hours enquiries: Many bar and class bookings now come in during the evening, even when the team is off the clock
• Created freedom for the owner: No more phone anxiety while out or on holidays
• Call insights & summaries: Every call is logged and summarised for easy action

For small business owners, true time off is a luxury. But with Chaty in place, the owner of Wildflower has finally been able to step back without stepping away.

“Now I can actually take a holiday. I don’t need to sleep with my phone anymore. Chaty takes care of things even if I’m on a plane or at the beach.”

And during the week, when the distillery is busy crafting and bottling their award-winning gin, the phone no longer pulls focus. Instead, it becomes a source of opportunity, not interruption.

Wildflower’s success with Chaty came down to a few key factors:

• High-value, time-sensitive calls: Bookings and sales needed real-time handling.
• No full-time admin staff: Like many small businesses, they had to juggle roles.
• Integration with existing systems: Chaty synced seamlessly with Rezdy, with no manual effort.
• Customised voices and hours: The AI had a friendly, branded voice and knew when to speak differently after-hours
• Low cost, high ROI: Chaty paid for itself in just weeks
• Failover safety: If something couldn’t be handled, the call was redirected to a real person

Chaty didn’t replace the team’s personal touch; it simply filled the gaps, reclaimed revenue, and gave the owner their life back.

If your business is missing calls, even just a few a day, you could be losing tens of thousands each year. And if you’re constantly “on call,” Chaty may be the invisible teammate you didn’t know you needed.

With:

• 24/7 call answering (weekends and holidays included)
• Instant booking integration with platforms like Rezdy
• Custom voices, branded greetings, and adjustable call handling rules
• Missed call alerts, call summaries, and customer sentiment insights
• Built-in failover system to ensure no call goes unmanaged

...Chaty ensures you’re never out of touch, even when you’re off the clock.

Wildflower’s verdict? “We’d never go without it now.”

Ready to stop losing business to missed calls?

Try Chaty for yourself:  Free for 14 days. No contracts, no setup fees, no hassle, just better business.

 Start your free trial at chaty.com.au

Whether you're distilling gin, running a café, managing a clinic, or just trying to take a weekend off — Chaty has your back.