The short answer
Most inbound calls are not enquiries. They are the same status question repeated: where is it, when will it be ready, has it been done. Every one of those is a symptom of information the customer cannot reach.
Count them for one week
Tally every inbound call by reason. Not in detail, just five categories on a sheet by the phone.
| Reason | Count | Can the customer self-serve? |
|---|---|---|
| Where is it / what's the status | ___ | Yes |
| When will it be ready | ___ | Yes |
| Booking or changing something | ___ | Yes |
| A genuine question or problem | ___ | No |
| New business | ___ | No, and you want these |
Multiply the first three rows by average handling time and the fully loaded cost of whoever answers. That is the annual number.
The three levels of fix
Level one: a status page or link. Cheapest. The customer can check without phoning. Removes maybe half the calls.
Level two: proactive notification. Tell them before they think to ask. This is considerably more effective than self-service, because the best call is the one that never occurs to the customer.
Level three: self-service actions. Let them change the thing, not just see it. Rebook, reschedule, amend the delivery address.
What not to do
Common questions
How do I know how much calls cost us?
Tally calls for one week by reason. Multiply the status-question ones by average handling time and by the fully loaded cost of the person answering. Annualise it. The number is usually larger than people expect.
Won't customers just call anyway?
Some will, and some prefer to. But if you notify them before they think to ask, the call never occurs to them. Proactive updates beat self-service, which beats a phone number.
Is this worth building something for?
Compare the annual cost of the calls to a one-off build. If one person spends two hours a day answering questions a status page would answer, the arithmetic usually makes the decision.