So basically I got into this thing with our dispatch team because I feel like we're sending customers way too much info that they don't actually read or care about, right? Like we send these long automated updates with technician name, estimated arrival, job status, parts ordered, blah blah blah. And I was talking to this homeowner last week who was like "I just want to know when you're showing up" which made me think... what if we're overcomplicating this?
So I guess my question is like, from the field side but also dispatch/ops side — what do your customers actually open? What do they respond to? Because I feel like we're writing novels when maybe a text with "on our way, 20 min out" is all anyone wants. But then I'm not the one who gets the angry calls if we don't tell them enough, so... idk. Curious how other teams balance this.
in my experience the customers who want updates are the ones who aren't home and want to know when to head back. everyone else just wants you to show up in the window you said.
we started putting a note in the booking: "text updates available — reply YES to subscribe"
take rate is like 15%. tells you everything.
Art, that's an interesting approach — another way to think about it is that you're letting customers self-select into the communication style that suits them. We've seen similar results with preference centers, though I'll note that in some markets we've found the opt-in rate skews toward younger homeowners and commercial clients, while older residential customers often prefer a phone call or no contact at all.
From a broader operational perspective, I'd suggest tracking not just open rates but callback volume tied to notification timing. We found that a significant portion of our "where are you" calls were coming 15-20 minutes after the "en route" notification, which told us our ETA buffer was too optimistic. Fixing the ETA reduced calls more than changing the message content did.
Connor, you might also consider whether the channel matters as much as the content — some of our customer segments engage far more consistently with email than SMS, which surprised us initially.
Art, that's an interesting approach — another way to think about it is that you're letting customers self-select into the communication style that suits them. We've seen similar results with preference centers, though I'll note that in some markets we've found the opt-in rate skews toward younger homeowners and commercial clients, while older residential customers often prefer a phone call or no contact at all.
From a broader operational perspective, I'd suggest tracking not just open rates but callback volume tied to notification timing. We found that a significant portion of our "where are you" calls were coming 15-20 minutes after the "en route" notification, which told us our ETA buffer was too optimistic. Fixing the ETA reduced calls more than changing the message content did.
Connor, you might also consider whether the channel matters as much as the content — some of our customer segments engage far more consistently with email than SMS, which surprised us initially.
