Texting Customers: What Helps, What to Skip

Texting has become the easiest way to reach a customer, easier than a phone call they have to stop and take, easier than an email they’ll open in three days. Contractors use it for reminders, updates, and review requests. Used well, it makes you look organized. Used carelessly, it annoys people and can get your number blocked or reported.

The texts customers actually want

A few kinds of texts earn their place in anyone’s inbox because they answer a question the customer already has.

• An appointment reminder the day before, so they don’t forget and you don’t show up to an empty driveway.
• An “on my way” text with a rough arrival time, so they’re not staring out the window for two hours.
• A follow-up after an estimate, checking if they have questions before they decide.
• A review request once the job is done and they’re happy with it.

Each one is short, tied to something real that’s happening, and easy to ignore if they’re busy. That’s what makes it welcome instead of annoying.

Say who you are, every time

People get texts from all kinds of numbers they don’t recognize. Start with your business name so there’s no confusion about who’s reaching out and why. “This is [Business Name], your appointment is tomorrow at 10am” takes two extra words and removes all the guesswork.

Get permission before you send anything beyond the job at hand

A reminder about the appointment someone just booked is part of doing the job. A text three months later about a seasonal promotion is a different kind of message, and it needs the customer’s okay first. Ask once, plainly, when you have them on the phone or in person: is it alright to text you about deals and reminders down the road. If they say yes, you’re on solid ground. If you’re not sure they said yes, don’t send it.

Honor “stop” instantly

If a customer replies “stop,” or asks not to be texted, that’s the end of it for anything beyond the immediate job. Don’t text again to confirm they meant it. Don’t switch to email instead. Just stop. It costs you nothing to respect it, and it protects the relationship with everyone else who didn’t ask to be removed.

What never to send

Skip anything that isn’t clearly useful to the person receiving it. No repeated follow-ups after someone’s gone quiet. No texts late at night or early morning. No walls of text when three sentences will do. And never buy a list of numbers to text cold. Every text should go to someone who already has a reason to hear from you: a booked job, a past customer, or someone who said yes to hearing from you again.

Keep it factual, keep it short, and keep the customer in control of whether they hear from you again. That’s the whole rulebook. A system that sends the reminder and the on-my-way text automatically, and stops the moment someone opts out, makes this easy to get right every single time.