What is missed-call text-back for a service business?
By the Margin Media team · Updated
Missed-call text-back is a setup where anyone who calls a service business and gets no answer is sent a text within a minute or so, offering to help. The caller replies by text, and the conversation carries on there until they book or get their answer. It catches the callers who would never leave a voicemail.
Why does a text catch people voicemail doesn't?
A text catches them because it asks nothing of them. A new caller who hears a voicemail greeting has to decide to wait for a call back from a business they have never used. Most would sooner dial the next name on the list. A text that arrives while the phone is still in their hand is easy to answer.
What does a good text-back look like?
A good one reads like a person at your business wrote it. It names the business, says sorry for missing the call and asks one question. A bad one is a generic line with a link, sent from a number the caller doesn't recognise.
- It arrives within a minute of the missed call.
- It comes from the business's own texting number.
- It asks what the caller needs, in one line.
- Someone, or something, answers the reply straight away.
Where does text-back fall short?
It falls short when nobody answers the reply. A text that says how can we help, followed by an hour of silence, is voicemail with extra steps. It also does nothing for callers on a landline, and it is second best to simply answering the phone.
It also can't start on day one. Phone carriers require every business to register its texting number before it sends texts like these, and approval takes time.
How does Margin's text-back work?
Margin sets it up so a missed caller is texted back within a minute from your business's own texting number, and Mia carries on the conversation by text: answers the question, offers a time and books it. Bookings land on the portal calendar and the office is told.
Texting starts once phone carriers approve your number, which takes days to a couple of weeks. Margin handles the paperwork. Every thread is in your portal to read.
What Margin sets up for this.
- Missed calls texted back within a minute
- Mia, the AI receptionist, on every call
- Booking onto your calendar
- Your portal: every call, text and booking
What a business needs is decided on its audit. It is a one-time setup fee and a monthly fee, with exact numbers on the audit.
Related questions
Is missed-call text-back better than an AI receptionist?
They do different jobs. An AI receptionist answers the call, so nothing is missed in the first place. Text-back catches the caller who hung up anyway. A service business that wants no lead wasted usually runs both.
How fast should a missed-call text go out?
Within a minute or so. The point is to reach the caller while they are still holding the phone and before they have rung another service business. A text that arrives an hour later is mostly wasted.
Why can't my business start texting customers straight away?
Phone carriers require a service business to register its texting number and say what it will send before automated texts go out. Approval usually takes from a few days to a couple of weeks.