SEATTLE -

Because of responses like “no,” “out of stock,” and “no appointments,” service providers could be losing almost $23,000 annually per location in revenue, according to insight data released from call analytics provider Marchex.

Marchex Institute’s most recent study on auto service agent phone calls with consumers points out how much money stores can often lose out on when unsatisfied consumers don't return after receiving a "no" type of answer.

Businesses with 100 plus locations could  lose an average of $2.3 million each year and auto service agents say “no” just about 6 percent of the time, according to the study.

“These types of insights are critical to identifying problem areas across a business and can be the first step toward a solution,” Marchex senior vice president and head of automotive Matt Muilenburg said in a news release. “Companies need to take a closer look at why they’re saying ‘no’ to their customers, consider the revenue loss that results from that, and determine what steps they can take to say ‘yes’ more often.”

While auto service providers say "yes" to consumers most of the time, the study still illustrates room for growth. Stores equipped with these insights and agents with an understanding of the implications that "no" types of responses can help stores be more competitive. 

Meanwhile, the study also found out that stores leave consumers unsatisfied the most on weekends.

On weekends, Machex found that among the calls it surveyed, store agents are 17-percent more likely to say that there aren’t any available appointments and they also say that they're closed 24-percent more often compared to weekdays.

Furthermore, the study insights come from over 1.8 million calls made to just about 5,000 stores of seven auto brands, which the Marchex Institute examined for 30 days, according to the company.

Marchex looked out for several different phrases indicating a negative response from dealership agents to see how many calls might end with a negative outcome.

While employing the Marchex script tracking tool, the Marchex Institute measured a total of 50 different phrases and variations suggesting a negative response to customer questions, as well as the frequency agents spoke those phrases to potential customers.

Last month, the company shared that Marchex speech analytics technology has interpreted an estimated 100 million phone calls, and more than 400 million minutes of conversations since April of last year.

Additionally, the call analytics provider explained that agents who offered car shoppers a satisfactory alternative option following a negative response did not make the cut for the study's ‘no’ calls list.