Texting services for contractors who can't always pick up

Missed-call text-back setup

Start here if you miss more than one call in ten. It's the single change with the shortest path to recovered jobs.

The missed-call text-back service covers the trigger (what counts as missed), the first message, separate rules for business hours, evenings and weekends, and a test plan. We check that the text arrives from your real business number, not a random short code, because callers ignore texts they don't recognise.

Choose this first if: you're a solo operator or a small crew, calls come in while you're working, and you don't have anyone answering live.

Conversation scripts and reply playbooks

Add this immediately after text-back, or alongside it. A first text gets a reply; scripts decide whether that reply turns into a booked visit.

The reply scripts service gives you a short library of messages: the follow-up questions for your most common job types, a polite way to decline work you don't do, the after-hours promise and the line that hands the thread to a person. We write them in your company's voice and keep them short enough to read on a phone in a truck.

Choose this if: you already have text-back from your phone provider but the threads go nowhere, or different staff answer in very different ways.

Shared texting inbox and team hand-off

Add this once two or more people reply to customer texts. Without it, threads get answered twice, or not at all.

The shared inbox service sets up one view of every conversation, with ownership rules: who replies during the day, who covers evenings, how a tech in the field flags a thread for the office, and what happens if nobody responds within your promised window.

Choose this if: you have an office manager or dispatcher and field staff, or you've had a customer say "I texted and nobody got back to me."

Quote and job follow-up by text

Leave this until the first three are running smoothly. It's the most valuable over time, and the one where consent matters most.

The quote follow-up service writes and schedules a small number of check-ins: one or two after you send an estimate, and one after a finished job. They go only to people who asked you for a quote or did business with you, and every message names your business and offers a way to opt out. Our CASL guide explains why those details matter.

Choose this if: you send a lot of written estimates and many never get a yes or no.

A simple way to decide

Answer three questions:

1. How many calls did you miss last month? If you don't know, ask your phone provider for a call log. Above about 10% missed, start with text-back.
2. How many people reply to customers? One person: text-back plus scripts. Two or more: add the shared inbox.
3. How many estimates are still open? If it's more than a handful each month, quote follow-up is worth a look once the basics work.

The pricing page shows how this fits into our monthly plans, and the guides explain the thinking in more depth if you'd like to try some of it yourself first.

What every service has in common

Whatever you pick, a few things don't change:

• Your accounts, your number. The texting tool and the conversation history are in your business's name.
• Plain messages. No links in first texts, no all-caps sales lines, no emojis unless your brand really talks that way.
• Consent habits built in. Business name in every text, a STOP option, and a record of how each person came to be in your inbox.
• A human hand-off. Automation handles the first minute; a person handles the job.

Questions about how we work? See the FAQ or the about page.