Missed-call text templates for plumbers, HVAC and other trades (Canada)

Short answerA good missed-call text for a trade opens with your business name, says you’re on a job or closed, asks one question, gives a booking link and ends with “Reply STOP to opt out”. Keep it under about 300 plain characters, so it fits in two segments, keep offers out of it, and send one follow-up at most. Ten ready templates below.

If you work with your hands, your phone rings at the worst moments: under a sink, up a ladder, halfway through a panel. A missed-call text-back answers for you with a text from your business number. How the system works is in our note on missed-call text-back in Canada. This one is the wording.

Every business below is made up for this example: Harbour Plumbing, Kettlewind Heating & Air, Lumenwick Electric, Fernhollow Cleaning and Hinge & Level Handyman. Swap in your own name, your own hours and your own link.

What should a missed-call text say?

Your business name, one question, one link and the STOP line, in under about 300 plain characters. The rules behind every template here:

• Name first. The caller should know who is texting before they read anything else.
• One question, one link. Ask what they need, give the booking link, stop there.
• “Reply STOP to opt out” at the end, in every text, including the follow-up.
• Two segments at most. One text holds 160 plain characters; a longer one is split into parts of 153, so two parts carry 306. A single curly apostrophe or emoji switches the whole text to a different encoding: 70 characters for one text, 67 per part once split. That’s why the templates below use straight apostrophes and no dashes or emoji.
• Only promise what you’ll do. “We’ll call you back today” is fine if you will. If you won’t, ask them to book instead.

What to text when you’re on a job

Say you’re working, ask what they need and give them a way to book without waiting for you. The standard one for a plumber:

For an electrician, sort the job type first, because a repair and a quote need different answers:

A one-person shop can write in the first person. It’s pre-written, but it’s true, and you are the one who reads the reply:

After hours and emergencies: what to text

After hours, the text has one extra job: separate the emergency from everything else, and point the emergency somewhere a person will actually answer.

Only put an after-hours number in the text if someone really picks it up. If you don’t run one, drop that sentence. A text that promises help nobody gives is worse than no text.

A heating company may get a call about a gas smell. FortisBC’s own advice is to go outside first, then call its emergency line or 911, so the text says exactly that:

Quote requests, follow-ups and returning the call

For quotes, ask for exactly what you need to price the job, so the next message can be the number:

Then send the price they asked for, and nothing else:

If the caller doesn’t answer the first text, send one follow-up the next morning, and then stop:

One follow-up is our rule, not a number from the Act. Silence after two texts is an answer, and a third text starts to feel like a campaign.

When you type a text yourself, between jobs, keep the same shape:

And when you call back instead, open with who you are and which call it was:

What should the booking link open?

A page that carries the same name as the text and lets the caller finish the job in under a minute, on a phone.

• Your name at the top, matching the text, so they know they’re in the right place.
• The jobs you take online: a service call, a quote visit, a tune-up, each with what it includes and how long it takes.
• Your service area and hours, so someone outside your area finds out before booking, not after.
• A short quote request: address, what’s wrong, a good time to call. Three fields beat ten.
• A link on your own domain. ISED’s texting guidance reminds businesses that customers will likely hesitate to click even legitimate links in a text. Your own name in the address gives them a reason to trust it.

What not to say in a missed-call text

No offers, no excuses, no fake live chat and no chasing.

• No discounts. “Book today and save 10%” turns a reply into a promotion. Keep offers for people who said yes to them.
• No “we’re slammed”. It reads as “we may not have time for you”, which sends the caller back to the search results. “We’re on a job” says the same thing better.
• No fake live chat. “Just saw your call, what’s up?” when nobody saw it breaks trust the moment they reply and wait.
• No prices you can’t stand behind, and no arrival times you can’t keep.
• No second follow-up, no emoji and no curly quotes.

In our system, the text-back is included in the plan, and the wording is written with you, so it sounds like your company, not like a template. Texts switch on once carriers approve your business number, usually in 1–2 weeks. See what it covers on our AI automation page, or get a free demo site built within 48 hours of a 15-minute call. Not ready for a call? Ask for a free video audit of your site or Google profile.