When someone calls your business and you miss it, 80% of them will not leave a voicemail — they'll call your competitor instead. These 5 templates are designed to stop that from happening. Send within 5 minutes of a missed call and your chance of converting that lead jumps dramatically. Copy them directly into your phone or automate them entirely.
Short, human, and explains the missed call without being apologetic. "I was on a job" signals you're busy and in demand — not ignoring them.
Send this as your default first response within 5 minutes of any missed call. Works for any trade, any situation.
Separates emergency leads from quotes instantly. Emergency = call back immediately. Non-urgent = you can finish the job you're on first.
Perfect for plumbers, electricians, HVAC — trades where emergencies happen. Helps you triage without dropping everything.
Skips the "what do you need" step and goes straight to booking the appointment. Assumes they want to move forward — and most do.
Best for landscaping, cleaning, pest control — services that run on scheduled visits rather than emergencies.
Sends after hours so they wake up to a reply from you — before they've called anyone else. You're already in the conversation before the work day starts.
Set this up as an automated response for all after-hours calls. This one alone can recover 20–30% of missed evening leads.
Catches leads who didn't reply to your first text. One follow-up recovers roughly 15% of leads that went quiet — that's free money.
Send exactly 24 hours after your first text if they haven't replied. Don't send twice in the same day — it comes across as desperate.
Response time is everything. A lead who called 5 minutes ago is 7× more likely to convert than one you text an hour later. They've already moved on mentally. Automate these texts so they go out the second a call is missed — not when you remember to send them.
Only 20% of people listen to voicemails from unknown numbers. Nearly everyone reads a text within 3 minutes. Stop relying on voicemail to do the heavy lifting — it isn't working.
Sending these manually is better than nothing — but automating them is 100× better. An automated system can detect a missed call, pull the caller's name from your CRM, personalise the template, and send it within 10 seconds. Every time. Even at 2am on a Sunday.