Conversation scripts and reply playbooks

What's included

A playbook usually has four parts.

1. Intake questions by job type

For each of your three to five most common jobs, a sequence of two or three questions that gets what you need to quote or schedule. A drain call might need the address area and whether water is backing up; a roofing call might need the roof type and whether there's an active leak.

2. Promise lines

Short messages that set expectations: when someone will reply, when you can usually visit, what a service call costs if you publish it. These are the lines most often written badly, so we spend the most time on them.

3. Hand-off lines

The moment a person takes over, said plainly: "This is [Your name] from [Business name]. I've read your messages; can I call you in five minutes?"

4. Graceful exits

How to decline work you don't do, refer someone elsewhere, end a conversation with a wrong number, and confirm an opt-out when someone replies STOP.

An example thread, with placeholders

This is the kind of exchange we design for. Names are placeholders, not a real business or customer.

[Business name]: Hi, this is [Business name]. Sorry we missed your call; we're on a job. What can we help with? Reply STOP to opt out.

Caller: Water heater is leaking from the bottom.

[Business name]: Thanks for letting us know. Is the water spreading, or just a small puddle? And roughly where are you, [City] or nearby?

Caller: Small puddle. [Neighbourhood].

[Business name]: Got it. [Your name] will call you by [time] to set up a visit. If it gets worse before then, reply URGENT.

Five messages, one useful fact per message, and a clear promise. The questions don't ask for an exact address, date of birth or payment details; those belong on a phone call or at the visit. ISED's texting guidance reminds businesses to think carefully about personal information in texts.

Who it's for

Any contractor whose text threads stall after the first reply.

It's particularly useful when several people answer customer texts and you've noticed very different tones, or when an owner is the only one who knows "what to say" and wants to hand that off. If you plan to set up text-back as well, we write both together; see missed-call text-back setup.

Timeline

About two weeks.

1. Days 1–4: we read a sample of your real past texts and listen to how you describe your common jobs.
2. Days 5–9: drafts of the full playbook, organised by situation.
3. Days 10–14: your review and edits, then a 30-minute walkthrough with whoever will use it.

After a month of live use, we review real threads and rewrite the scripts that aren't pulling their weight.

How we measure it

We look at thread outcomes, not message counts:

• share of threads that reach a booked visit or a quote request
• median number of messages before booking
• share of threads where the customer stopped replying, and at which message
• opt-out replies, which tell you if any script reads as pushy

That last one matters. ISED notes that a high rate of unsubscribes can signal that customers see your messages as spam, even when they technically aren't.

Mistakes to avoid

• Asking everything at once. One question per text gets answers; four questions gets silence.
• Quoting by text without seeing the job. A range can help; a firm price on a job you haven't seen creates arguments later.
• Over-friendly automation. Exclamation marks and emojis on an automated message to someone with a flooded basement land badly.
• No exit line. If you don't do the work, say so quickly and kindly. It protects your reputation and your reviews.

For ready-made starting points, read our first-text templates guide. For cost, see pricing.