The missed-call text-back playbook

A missed-call text-back costs almost nothing to set up and it does one thing. The second a call goes unanswered, the caller gets a text from you. That's the whole mechanism.

Done well it turns a decent share of dropped calls into booked work. Done badly it reads like spam and gets deleted on sight. The difference is mostly timing and wording.

The short answer

Text back within a minute. Use your business name, apologise in one line, ask one easy question. Follow up twice if they go quiet. And automate it, because you won't remember while you're on a job.

Why the first minute decides it

Somebody ringing a contractor is solving a problem right now. They've got three companies open and they're working down the list. If your text lands while they're still on it, you're back in the running. Twenty minutes later and someone else is already booked.

That's why a text beats a callback. A callback needs you free. A text goes out whether you're up a ladder or asleep.

What the message has to do

Four jobs, in order.

• Say who you are. An unknown number saying “sorry we missed you” reads as a scam. Lead with the business name.
• Acknowledge the missed call. One short line. No excuses, no essay.
• Ask one question. Not three. One they can answer in a sentence.
• Make replying effortless. They should be able to hit reply and type five words. Nothing else.

Wording that works

Keep it short enough to read on a lock screen. Something in this shape:

“Hi, this is DeskOwls. Sorry we missed your call. What can we help with? Reply here and we’ll get you booked in.”

For after-hours calls, set the expectation:

“Hi, this is DeskOwls. We missed you. Office is closed but we’re watching messages. Tell us what’s going on and we’ll sort a time.”

For urgent trades, offer the obvious out:

“DeskOwls here. Sorry we missed your call. Is this an emergency? Reply YES and we’ll ring you straight back.”

If they go quiet

Most people who ignore the first text aren't saying no. They got distracted. Two more touches is plenty.

• A few hours later: a short nudge offering two concrete times. Choices are easier to answer than open questions.
• The next day: one last line that makes it easy to close the door. “Still want a hand with this, or shall we leave it?” gets a surprising number of yeses.

Then stop. A third and fourth chase costs you goodwill and gets you blocked.

Mistakes that get you ignored

• Sending it an hour late. The window is minutes, not hours.
• Not saying who you are. Nobody replies to a mystery number.
• Writing a paragraph. If it needs scrolling it doesn't get read.
• Asking for a form to be filled in. The reply box is the form.
• Sending it from a number that cannot receive replies. Fatal, and more common than you'd think.
• Nobody watching the inbox. A reply at 8pm that sits until Tuesday has wasted the whole exercise.

Make it automatic

Every owner who runs this by hand stops within a fortnight, because the days you drop the most calls are the days you've got the least time. It has to fire on its own the second a call goes unanswered, from a number that can take replies, with someone or something ready to answer them.

That's where this joins up with answering the phone properly. A text-back recovers the caller. An AI receptionist means fewer of them needed rescuing at all, and it catches the replies that come in at nine at night.

Common questions

How quickly should the text go out?

Inside a minute. The point is to reach them while they're still looking for someone to do the work.

How many follow-ups is too many?

Two after the first message is about right. Beyond that you are annoying people who have already made their decision.

Can I send it from my mobile?

You can, but you will forget, and your personal number becomes your business line. A system that sends automatically from a business number is better on both counts.

Does it work for after-hours calls?

That is where it earns the most. Just be straight about the hours and make sure the reply gets answered rather than piling up until Monday.

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