Missed-call text-back, set up so it actually sends.
When you can't pick up, the caller gets a text from your business number within seconds instead of a voicemail greeting they won't wait through. It's the simplest fix we set up for service businesses, and the one we most often find set up in a way that quietly fails.
Four steps, all automatic except the last.
A call rings out
You are on a roof, under a sink or driving. The call goes unanswered, or to voicemail.
A text goes back in seconds
From the same number they called, in your words: who you are, that you are on a job, and one question that moves things forward.
Their reply lands in one inbox
Alongside your web enquiries and Facebook messages, attached to a contact record, not buried in your personal texts.
You pick it up when you're free
By then you usually know what they need and roughly where, so the call back is a quote, not a game of phone tag.
Four things it needs to work.
Most broken setups we see have the feature switched on and one of these missing.
It has to be your published number
Text-back only fires if the system controls the number that receives the call. Your website, Google profile and truck should all show that business number, forwarded to your cell. Publish your personal cell instead and the feature has nothing to work with.
Your texting has to be registered
Business texts sent from software in the US go through A2P 10DLC registration. Twilio, for example, now blocks texts to US numbers from unregistered 10DLC numbers, so skipping it can mean nothing sends. We explain how registration works in the A2P 10DLC guide.
The message has to sound like a person
Something like “Hi, it's [your name] from [your business] — sorry I missed you, I'm on a job. What can I help with?” gets replies. A wall of links and a menu of options does not.
It has to stop the moment they reply
One automatic text, then a human. Anything that keeps firing after someone has answered reads as a robot, and people stop answering robots.
Common questions.
Do I have to give up my cell number?
No. You keep your cell. The business number is what you publish, and it forwards calls to your cell. Customers who already have your cell can keep using it; text-back just won't cover those calls.
Won't people find an automatic text annoying?
Not when it is one short, honest message. Many callers would rather get a text they can answer in their own time than a voicemail box. The annoying versions are the ones that send five messages or pretend to be a person who isn't there.
What does it cost?
It is included in every plan below. The texts themselves are billed at cost from your own account balance, with no markup from me.
Does it work for texts and web enquiries too?
The missed-call part covers calls. Texts, web forms and Facebook or Instagram messages arrive in the same inbox with their own instant replies, so every way a customer reaches you gets an answer.
What it costs
Simple plans. Real results.
Every plan starts with a one-time setup: Website $497, Local SEO $497, Dominate $1,997. Your site, Google profile and lead system go live 3 business days after we have your info, photos and access. Dominate adds ads and lead tracking, live in about 2 weeks. Just need a website? It's $250 a month.
Local SEO
Show up on Google in every town you serve.
per month
- 2 new town or service pages a month
- Weekly Google Business Profile posts
- Missed-call text-back and review requests
Dominate
Ads, lead tracking and the full growth engine.
per month · 20-Lead Guarantee
- Everything in Local SEO, plus instant replies, quote follow-up and win-back texts
- Google Ads and Local Services Ads, with every lead tracked to a booked job
- Monthly LTV:CAC report, weekly check-ins and a growth meeting
Setup: Website $497, Local SEO $497, Dominate $1,997. Local SEO: 3-month minimum. Website and Dominate: 6-month minimum; on Dominate, ad spend is paid directly to Google. Optional AI phone agent minutes are billed at cost. SEO results aren't guaranteed; the 20-Lead Guarantee applies to Dominate only.
See everything included →Book a free Growth Call.
20 minutes. We'll learn how you're getting jobs now and where you want to go, then tell you which plan fits, or if none do yet. No obligation.