The right time to set up a text-back for a roofing company is a calm week, not the day after a hailstorm. You'll want a few quiet days to test it and settle on wording before the calls start stacking up.
Before you start
Gather three things: the number (or numbers) homeowners call, your normal business hours, and a rough idea of what you want callers to be told. If you have a sales line and a separate office line, decide whether one or both should send texts. If crew leads have their own phones, those usually don't need to be covered, since new customers rarely have those numbers.
Checklist
- Choose the lines. Usually the number on your yard signs, trucks and Google Business Profile.
- Set business hours. Calls outside them get your after-hours text.
- Write an everyday text and an after-hours text. Draft a storm version too, and keep it handy.
- Pick where replies go. A Client Hub inbox on your phone, a text to your cell, email, or a combination. If someone in the office schedules estimates, include them.
- Get the texting line ready. We set up the text-back line for you, so there's nothing to install on your end.
- Forward unanswered calls to the text-back line. From a cell phone it's a dial code; from an office phone system it's a portal setting. Setup covers the steps for your line.
- Test it. Call your number from someone else's phone, let it ring out, and make sure the text arrives and the reply comes through.
What to expect
Day to day, nothing looks different. The phone rings, you pick up if you can. If you can't, the call forwards after it rings out and the caller gets your text a few seconds later.
The difference shows when you come down off a roof. Instead of missed numbers, you'll often have replies with addresses and a sentence about the problem: "ceiling stain in upstairs bedroom" or "lost a few shingles in the wind." That's enough to decide who gets a call first.
Switching to storm mode
When a big storm rolls through, change the text to your storm version so callers know you're busy and working in order. Switch it back when things calm down. Because you control the wording, this is a quick edit, not a new setup.
If it's not for you
You can turn forwarding off at any time with a dial code or the portal setting, and your phone line works exactly as it did. The service is month to month.
For everything the setup asks for, see the Missed-Call Text-Back page.
Related reading
Missed-Call Text-Back is a text-back tool: it replies to the calls you can't pick up, and it doesn't answer calls for you. It's $89/mo list, or $49/mo at the founding rate while founding spots last, billed monthly with no contract. If it sounds like a fit, see how Missed-Call Text-Back works.