What's the best way to text customers?
Text your customers the same way you'd want to be texted: fast, clear, and only when it matters. Texting works because contractors and homeowners live on their phones. Here's how to do it right without becoming a nuisance.
Send updates at the right moments
Text when there's actual information to share. A crew is 10 minutes out. The material delivery is delayed. The inspection passed. Don't text "just checking in." Customers remember contractors who communicate when it counts. Aim for one message per significant job stage: job confirmed, day-before reminder, crew arrival window, work complete, invoice sent. If you're texting multiple times per day about the same job, you're texting too much. Set a baseline: mornings for same-day arrivals, evenings for next-day reminders, immediately after work wraps. Customers won't mind an 7 AM text about an 8 AM appointment. They will mind a 9 PM message about something that could have waited.
Be specific and actionable in every message
"We're on our way" is useless. "Crew arriving between 2-3 PM, parking on the street" is useful. Include numbers: arrival time windows, pricing, material costs, warranty lengths. Remove guesswork. If you need something from the customer—access to the backyard, a clear work area—say it directly. Don't make them read between the lines. Example: instead of "Let us know about the deck," try "Can we access the back gate, or should crew use the side entrance?" Short messages work. Two sentences is fine. Three sentences is better than one rambling paragraph. Use line breaks. Avoid walls of text.
Keep crew and customer conversations separate
Don't text customers with crew updates mixed in. Your crew needs logistics. Your customers need status and next steps. If you're managing both in one group chat, someone gets confused. Send crew a separate message: "Hey team, concrete pour at 342 Oak moved to Thursday, 7 AM start." Send the customer a different message: "We've moved your project to Thursday, starting early morning. You'll hear a knock by 7:15 AM." The customer doesn't need to know your supplier just canceled. Crew doesn't need a photo of the signed estimate. Split the channel. Most contractors use one business number for customers and tell crew to call or text a separate line. This works. So does a group chat for crew only and one-on-one texts for customers.
Set expectations for your response time
Customers text at odd hours. You don't have to reply at odd hours. Set it once in your first message: "We check texts between 7 AM and 5 PM on weekdays." Or put it in your business info. If a customer texts at 10 PM, they'll see your response in the morning and won't think you ignored them. You'll also stop feeling obligated to respond instantly. Most contractors get more leads and fewer headaches when they're clear about availability. If there's a real emergency—a burst pipe, a structural failure—customers will call. Text is for everything else. That clarity saves your sanity.
Bottom line
Text with purpose, not habit. Give customers the information they need when they need it, keep it specific, and separate your crew communications from your customer updates. Everything else follows from that.