Call booking rate is the number that sits between your phone ringing and your techs rolling. Raise it five points and you book more jobs without buying another lead. Most owners we would expect to read this cannot say what theirs is.
There is one detailed public benchmark, from ServiceTitan. This post goes through what it says, what it leaves out, and how to measure your own rate by CSR, by hour and by branch.
The benchmark
ServiceTitan published its call booking data in a blog post dated October 25, 2022. The figures are from June 2022 and cover more than 3,000 trade businesses on its platform in the U.S. and Canada, across all sizes.
By trade
| Trade | Call booking rate |
|---|---|
| All trades, typical shop | 42% |
| Plumbing | 43% |
| Electrical | 41% |
| HVAC | 38% |
| Garage door and water treatment | 31% |
By shop size
| Shop size | Call booking rate |
|---|---|
| 25 or more technicians | 59% |
| Fewer than 5 technicians | 24% |
The post says rates fall as size drops, through 15 to 24 and 5 to 14 technicians, but it gives no figures for those two bands.
By time of day
| Shop size | At peak (mornings) | After 6 p.m. |
|---|---|---|
| Large | 61% | 21% |
| Small | 26% | 9% |
Booking rates were highest in the morning in the data.
Other things in the post
- Rates were 2% to 5% higher each month of 2022 than in 2021.
- HVAC rates were higher in shoulder seasons and lower in summer, without figures.
- For shops with 5 to 14 technicians, a 5% lift is described as worth roughly $100,000 in revenue, or less than one extra booked call per weekday. The post is inconsistent about whether it means a 5% increase in booking rate or in business, and does not show the calculation, so treat that figure as a rough illustration.
How to read it
It is a ServiceTitan customer benchmark. Shops that run ServiceTitan skew larger and better systemized than the industry as a whole. If you are small, the 24% and 26% figures are likelier to describe your world than 42%.
The definition is loose. The post gives no formal definition of booking rate. It describes the share of incoming calls that turn into jobs, and notes that CSRs must classify calls correctly as opportunities or not. That classification changes the number a lot. A shop that tags every vendor call and wrong number as "not an opportunity" will show a higher rate than a shop that tags nothing.
It is old. The data is from June 2022. Treat it as a reference point, not a target.
It says nothing about why. The gap after 6 p.m. could be fewer CSRs, voicemail, different caller intent or all of them. We discuss the evening gap in after-hours lead capture for contractors.
Booking rate is not answer rate. A call can be answered and not booked. Missed call statistics for home services separates the two.
What to do with the time-of-day numbers
The evening drop is the most useful part of the data for staffing and routing decisions.
If your large-shop rate falls from the high 50s to the low 20s after 6 p.m., you have three things to examine.
- How many evening calls are you getting? If volume is low, the loss may be small. Count them.
- Who answers them? Voicemail, an answering service, an AI receptionist that can book, or a rotating on-call tech each produce a different rate.
- What is the mix? Emergency calls convert differently than price-shoppers. Split them in your reporting.
Pull the numbers before you buy anything, and see what the speed-to-lead research says for how booking fits into the wider response picture. Our missed call cost formula turns a gap in booking rate into dollars.
How to measure your own booking rate
Step 1: Define it in writing
Pick one definition and keep it. A workable one:
Booking rate = calls that ended in a scheduled job, divided by calls that were booking opportunities.
Then define a booking opportunity. We suggest: an inbound call from a new or existing customer asking for service, an estimate or a diagnosis. Not opportunities: vendors, wrong numbers, job status checks, technician calls, spam and robocalls.
Write the list down so every CSR tags the same way.
Step 2: Require a call outcome on every call
In your field service software or call tracking tool, every call should end with one tag: booked, not booked with a reason (price, no availability, out of area, just shopping), or not an opportunity. Without it, nothing downstream can be trusted.
Step 3: Spot-check the tags
Pull 20 calls a month and listen. Compare what the CSR tagged with what happened. If many "not opportunity" calls are actually service requests, your rate is inflated. ServiceTitan's own post recommends reviewing recordings to coach CSRs and having owners call their own business to hear the experience.
Step 4: Cut it four ways
| Cut | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| By CSR | Shows coaching needs and who is carrying the shop. Compare on the same hours and call mix. |
| By hour and day | Shows where coverage is thin. The after-6 p.m. window is the first place to look. |
| By branch | In multi-location shops, one branch often runs far below the rest. |
| By lead source | A paid marketplace lead, a Google call and a repeat customer book at different rates. |
Step 5: Look at volume with the rate
A CSR with a 70% booking rate on 40 calls and one with a 50% rate on 200 calls are not comparable. Always show the count next to the rate. Watch for CSRs who get the easy calls.
Step 6: Review monthly, coach weekly
The ServiceTitan post describes one company that went from the 60s to consistently hitting 90 by setting incremental monthly targets and reviewing progress in one-on-ones. That is one company's story and not a benchmark, but the method is sound: small targets, regular review, recognition when hit.
Common mistakes
- Comparing your rate to 42% without checking your definition. Your number and ServiceTitan's may not be measuring the same thing.
- Letting CSRs tag their own calls with no audit.
- Averaging across branches. The average hides the problem branch.
- Blaming CSRs for a coverage problem. If three calls arrive in one minute and one person answers, the rate is a staffing outcome.
- Treating answered as booked. Answering is the first step only.
When the numbers point to a fix
If the data shows weak booking in specific windows, the fix is often coverage or routing. If the data shows weak booking in all windows for specific CSRs, it is training. If it shows weak booking where nobody answers, you need a way to capture and book those calls, which is what the after-hours qualification and missed-call recovery pieces of our Booked-Jobs Recovery System do. For the phone side more broadly, see our AI customer support service. If you want help pulling and reading your own numbers first, our free AI Readiness Audit is the place to start.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good call booking rate for an HVAC company?
ServiceTitan's June 2022 data put HVAC at 38%, plumbing at 43% and electrical at 41%, across its customers. Large shops with 25 or more technicians booked 59%. Use these as reference points and set your target from your own baseline.
Why do booking rates drop after 6 p.m.?
ServiceTitan's data shows large shops falling from 61% at peak to 21% after 6 p.m., and small shops from 26% to 9%. The post does not explain the cause. Coverage, voicemail and the type of caller are all likely contributors.
How do I calculate booking rate?
Divide calls that ended in a scheduled job by calls that were booking opportunities. Define opportunities in writing, exclude vendors, wrong numbers and status checks, and have every CSR tag calls the same way.
Is a higher booking rate always better?
Not if you reach it by only taking easy calls or by tagging hard calls as not opportunities. Watch booking rate alongside call volume, average ticket and cancellations.