Missed the call? Your caller still hears from you in seconds.

Why missed calls cost more than they look

Most contractors underestimate missed calls because they only see the voicemails. The calls that matter most are the ones that leave nothing behind.

Try this with your own numbers. Suppose your business gets 120 inbound calls a month and 25% ring out because you're on a roof or under a sink. That's 30 missed calls. If a third of those were genuine job inquiries, you lost 10 potential jobs. At an average ticket of $650 and a close rate of 40% on answered inquiries, that's about $2,600 a month walking to a competitor, or more than $31,000 a year, before you count repeat work and referrals.

A text-back doesn't win all of those back. It gives you a second chance with each one, and our missed-call math guide walks through how to estimate your own recovery rate honestly.

What a good text-back conversation looks like

A good first text answers three questions the caller has right now: did they reach a real business, will someone get back to them, and what should they do next. Everything else can wait.

Here's the shape we start from, with placeholders you'd fill in:

Hi, this is [Business name]. Sorry we missed your call; we're on a job right now. What can we help with? If it's urgent, reply URGENT and [Your name] will call you back within [time]. Reply STOP to opt out.

Notice what it doesn't do: no links, no sales pitch, no request for personal details. The caller answers in their own words, often with more detail than they'd leave on voicemail. Then a person, or a carefully limited set of follow-up questions, takes it from there. The reply scripts service covers how we write and test these for your trade.

Our four services

Each service stands on its own, though most owners start with the first two.

• Missed-call text-back setup: the trigger, the first message, business-hours and after-hours rules, and a test plan before anything goes live.
• Conversation scripts and reply playbooks: the questions to ask, the order to ask them in, and the moment a human should step in.
• Shared texting inbox and team hand-off: one place where office staff and field techs can see every thread, with clear ownership.
• Quote and job follow-up by text: a respectful nudge on open estimates and a check-in after the work, only to people who asked to hear from you.

The services overview explains how to choose between them.

Texting with consent in mind

The fastest way to ruin a good texting setup is to treat every phone number you've ever collected as a marketing list. Canada's anti-spam legislation (CASL) applies to commercial text messages, not just email.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's consent guidance explains that implied consent from an inquiry generally lasts 6 months and from a purchase up to 2 years, and that unsubscribe requests must be honoured within 10 business days. Its page on texting for good client relations adds practical points: name your business in the text and respect a STOP reply. We build these habits into every setup. We summarise the rules; we don't give legal advice. Our plain-language CASL guide links the official sources.

Proof from our HVAC work

Text-back is only worth setting up when calls are coming in. These are results from our HVAC work, where the volume of inbound leads made fast response matter:

• BCWide.ca reached 3× leads in 90 days.
• CanroHeat.ca saw 250% lead growth.
• HVACDeal.ca generated 500+ leads at a 12:1 ROI.

None of those numbers came from texting alone, and we won't pretend otherwise. They show what happens when a contractor gets more people to call, which is exactly when an unanswered phone starts costing real money. See the results page for what transfers to other trades.

Who this is for

Text-back pays off fastest for businesses where the owner or a small crew answers the phone between jobs. Typical fits:

1. Emergency trades, such as plumbing, heating, electrical and drain work, where callers decide in minutes.
2. Small crews of one to ten people without a dedicated dispatcher.
3. Businesses running ads or ranking well locally, so calls are arriving but some go unanswered.
4. Seasonal trades that get flooded during a cold snap, a heat wave or a storm.

If you already answer 98% of calls live, you probably don't need us, and we'll say so. If you're not sure, our pricing page and FAQ cover cost and contracts, or start with the areas we serve to see how this works in your province.

How to start

Pull last month's call log from your phone provider before we talk. Look for three things: total inbound calls, calls not answered, and the hours those missed calls happened. Bring those numbers to a free consultation and you'll leave with a clear yes or no on whether text-back is worth it for you.

CallText.Chat is part of the Sedighi.ca and SAZ.ca group of companies, and our parent agency for trades is Trades.Agency. You can reach us on the contact page.