How to set up a missed call text back

A missed call text back is an automatic text to a caller you didn't answer. It tells them you saw the call and asks what they need. Keep it to arranging a callback, test it before you switch it on, and check the consent rules with your texting platform and a lawyer.

Why text back a missed call at all?

Because a caller who reaches nobody may call the next number. One lawn care owner in a Jobber case study put it this way: "The first person that gets back to them usually gets the job." That is one owner's view, and the page gives no response-time number.

A Harvard Business Review study of online sales leads concluded that most companies are not responding nearly fast enough. I left out the speed multipliers that get attached to that study online, because I couldn't find them in it.

Scorpion, a marketing vendor, reports that a plumbing company in Omaha booked 60 jobs in just over a month from missed-call follow-ups. It also reports $28,000 in new jobs in the first week. The same case lists SEO, paid campaigns and website work, so the texts may not explain all of it. And it counts booked jobs, not money collected.

Replying fast fits how people behave, and I found no clean number for what it is worth to you. Your own count supplies that.

Can I text someone who just called me?

The federal rule doesn't settle it, so this page won't pretend to. Here is what the rule does say.

Under 47 CFR 64.1200, a text sent by autodialer needs the recipient's prior express written consent if it includes or introduces an advertisement. The same goes for telemarketing. The same rule defines that consent as a signed written agreement. Its do-not-call provisions also reach text messages to wireless numbers.

Whether an automatic reply to a person who just called counts as marketing is the grey area. Ask your texting platform and a lawyer before you turn it on. Until then, keep the first text to arranging the callback. A coupon or a promotion pushes it toward advertising, the kind of autodialed text that rule covers.

What should the text say?

Four things: who you are, that you missed the call, one question, and when you'll call back. Only promise a time you will keep.

During business hours:

Hi, this is [Business name]. Sorry we missed your call. What do you need help with? We'll call you back by [time]. Reply STOP to opt out.

After hours:

Hi, this is [Business name]. We're closed until [opening time]. Tell us what you need and your town, and we'll call you back in the morning. Reply STOP to opt out.

Leave out prices, appointment times and any promise of same-day service. The text can't confirm any of them, and a wrong one is worse than silence.

How do I set it up?

You can do all of this yourself, after two weeks of counting.

1. Count your missed calls. Check your phone log for two weeks. Note how many came in, at what hours, and how many were new callers.
2. Find the cause. A phone on silent in the truck needs a different fix than a closed shop at night. Fix that first.
3. Name who answers. Pick the person who reads and answers the texts, and the time by which they'll do it.
4. Write the two messages. Use the business-hours and after-hours versions above.
5. Turn it on in your business phone or texting app. Ask the provider in writing how it handles consent and opt-outs.
6. Test it. Call your business line from another phone, once during hours and once after. Check that one text arrives, that STOP works, and that a person sees the reply.
7. Track it for a month. Log missed calls, replies, jobs booked from replies and complaints. Keep texts sent separate from jobs won.

If it sends duplicates or misfires, pause it. An unreliable automatic text is worse than none.

What if I pay for Google Local Services Ads?

Then a missed call can cost money. Google's help page says you pay for valid leads. It lists a missed call during your business hours as one, when the customer stays on the line for more than 20 seconds.

So an unanswered ring can still be billed. The Local Services Ads guide and the answer on Local Services Ads versus Google Ads cover how that billing works.

What about emergencies and after hours?

A text can't dispatch a crew. Say when you open and when you'll call back, and give urgent callers another way to reach you if you have one. Don't imply that someone is on the way.

What do I do next?

A way to reach you without a phone call. A visitor who can't talk right now needs somewhere else to go. A ProveWorth website puts a tap-to-call button on every page and a quote form under each service. See the website plan, or read how ProveWorth works.

Sources

• Cornell Legal Information Institute, 47 CFR 64.1200 (a copy of the federal rule)
• Google Local Services Ads Help, how leads work
• Scorpion, missed-call case study (the vendor's own account)
• Jobber, lawn care case study (the vendor's own account)
• BYU ScholarsArchive, The Short Life of Online Sales Leads (Harvard Business Review)