Spam and Scam Call Economic Impact Report

What Do Spam and Scam Call Flags Cost U.S. Businesses?

Legitimate, American businesses report employee layoffs, eliminated jobs, reduced hiring, and lost revenue as a result of incorrect spam and scam flags on their outbound calls.
Headshot of Will Schmidt
Will Schmidt
Down arrow

Key Findings

Get the most important insights from our survey. Then, scroll down to explore the full data in detail.
53% have lost more than 10 positions
78% have lost 1 position or more
15% report over $100k in lost revenue
35% report up to $30k in lost revenue
81% have lost revenue
78% believe SMBs have been hurt the most
54% have noticed answer rates decrease
76% believe phone sales are still effective

Survey Key Findings of the impact of “Scam Likely”

PhoneBurner commissioned a survey of 351 U.S.-based sales representatives, managers, VPs, and C-suite executives who are employed full-time at organizations and make multiple outbound calls each day.
53% have lost more than 10 positions
53% of respondents report more than 10 positions affected due to incorrect “Spam” or “Scam Likely” flags (layoffs, job eliminated, etc)
78% have lost at least 1 position
78% of respondents report a minimum of one position affected due to incorrect “Spam” or “Scam Likely” flags (layoffs, job eliminated, etc)
15% report over $100k in lost revenue
15% of respondents report over $100,000 in lost revenue
35% report up to $30k in lost revenue
35% of respondents report $5,000 to $30,000 in lost revenue
81% have lost revenue
81% of respondents believe that their company has lost revenue due to having their calls incorrectly flagged as “Spam” or “scam Likely”
78% believe SMBs have been hurt the most
78% of managers, VPs, and C-suite executives believe SMBs are disproportionately impacted by “Spam” or “Scam Likely” call flagging
54% have noticed answer rates decrease
54% of respondents have noticed sales metrics, like answer rates, decrease
76% believe phone sales are still effective
76% of managers, VPs, and C-suite executives believe that phone call-based sales are still an effective means of acquiring new customers

Are Your Outbound Calls Flagged Spam or Scam?

Every month, roughly 33% of all outbound calls are flagged as spam or scam. To put it in perspective: if you made 20 million phone calls last month, that means 6 million of your legitimate calls could have been flagged.

Businesses are trying to remind medical patients of important appointments, provide auto insurance quotes to a parent looking to buy their daughter her first car, or follow up with an unemployed job seeker waiting for "that special call." But these calls get incorrectly flagged as spam or scam.

  • How many employees have you had to lay off, or entire positions eliminate, as a result?
  • What effect does this have on your ability to hire new employees?
  • How much lost revenue does that translate to for your company?

To find out, PhoneBurner surveyed U.S.-based sales managers, directors, VPs, and C-suite executives regarding the true cost and detrimental effects of incorrect spam and scam flags on outbound sales calls.

Lost Jobs

The health of an organization is measured by the people working there. When outbound calls are incorrectly labeled as spam or scam, businesses have to layoff workers, eliminate positions, or choose not to hire new employees.

78% of respondents report a minimum of one position affected

53% report more than 10 positions affected

31% report between 11 and 50 positions affected

13% report between 51 and 100 positions affected

9%—or almost 1 in 10 respondents—report more than 100 positions affected

Lost Jobs

Estimated lost jobs chart due to Scam Likely

Lost Revenue

Legitimate, American businesses report that they’ve lost considerable revenue due to having their outbound calls incorrectly flagged as spam or scam. Lost revenue ranges from less than $5,000 all the way up to $1,000,000.

81% of respondents believe their company has lost revenue due to having their outbound calls incorrectly flagged as spam or scam

84% of respondents who work at a company with over 50 employees report lost revenue

35% of respondents report $5,000 to $30,000 in lost revenue

15% of respondents report over $100,000 in lost revenue

Lost Revenue

Estimated lost revenue chart due to Scam Likely

Businesses Are Hurting

Incorrect spam and scam call flags don’t discriminate based on company size. While companies of all sizes feel pain from these flags, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) get the worst fallout.

76% of all survey respondents believe SMBs feel the impact of incorrect spam or scam call flagging more than others

78% of managers, VPs, and C-suite executives believe SMBs are disproportionately impacted by incorrect spam or scam flags

Impact On Small Businesses

SMBs are being impacted the most  chart due to Scam Likely

Decreased Answer Rates

When calls are incorrectly labeled spam and scam, the crucial sales metrics that teams rely on to validate and prove their hard work take a massive hit as well.

54% of respondents have noticed sales metrics, like answer rates, decrease

Noticed Decreased Answer Rates

Decrease Answer Rates chart due to Scam Likely

The Phone
Still Wins

Good news: the phone is still the most personable and scalable tool at your disposal to sell and close deals. It remains the preferred channel of communications for outbound teams.

73% of all respondents (7 in 10) still believe in phone-call based sales

73% of entry level employees still believe in phone-call based sales

78% of sales managers still believe in phone-call based sales

77% of C-suite executives still believe in phone-call based sales

74% of companies that make $500,000 to $5 million in revenue still believe in phone-call based sales

79% of companies that make $5 million to $50 million in revenue still believe in phone-call based sales

Phone call-based sales is still effective for business

The phone is still a great selling tool chart despite Scam Likely

Take Action Today

It’s imperative that you do everything in your power to ensure your outbound calls are trusted and identifiable. The spam and scam call flagging issue is intimidating, but it’s not insurmountable. You can take back control of your outbound calls—right now—with some help from these resources.

Trust That Your Calls Are Trusted

You don't have to go through this alone. PhoneBurner can help.

Learn how ARMOR™, Branded Caller ID (BCID), and our power dialer software can alleviate the pressure and allow you to focus on what matters most—running your business.

ARMORTM
Answer Rate Monitoring Optimization & Remediation—done for you.
ARMOR protecting your team's number reputation and answer rates
View ARMORTM
Branded Caller ID
Restore trust by taking control over what contacts see when you call.
Branded Caller ID allows you to Update your company name, show company logo, and add a reason for calling
View BCID
Dialer Software
Power dialer software purposefully built to maximize live conversations.
Sales rep turning leads into revenue with PhoneBurner's power dialer software
Learn more