PlumbingBossPro Blog — Water Heaters & Maintenance Plans

Flush Reminders by Text and Email: Getting Plan Members Ready for the Plumber

The most expensive maintenance visit is the one where nobody is home. The tech drives across town, knocks, waits, calls, and leaves. The van's time is gone and the member is still due. A large share of those wasted trips can be prevented with a reminder that arrives at the right time and says the right thing.

After the Charge, the Reminder

Auto-charge at completion, from Auto-Charging Maintenance Plan Visits When the Plumber Taps Complete, only works if the visit actually gets completed. Reminders are what get the member ready for it.

PlumbingBossPro sends automated reminders and alerts by text and email. Some go out from the office side when a visit is scheduled. Others go out from the tech's phone during the day.

The Alerts Customers Choose

In the customer app, members choose which alerts they want:

• Night before — a heads-up that the visit is tomorrow.
• When they're next — a message when the tech is on the way to them.
• When the tech arrives — so they know to open the garage or the side door.

Letting members choose keeps the texts welcome. Someone who works from home might only want the arrival alert. Someone who has to leave work early wants the night-before alert for sure.

The on-the-way and arrived texts go out automatically from the tech's phone as they work the route. The tech does not have to type anything.

The Live Route Map

In the customer app, members can also see today's route on a live map: “You're stop 12 of 20 — the crew is 5 stops away.” For a member waiting at home for a water heater flush, that is the difference between pacing by the window and getting on with their day.

What to Put in a Flush Reminder

A good reminder is short and useful. For a water heater visit, it helps to tell the member what to do:

• “Your yearly water heater flush is tomorrow. Please clear a path to the water heater.”
• “We'll need about an hour without hot water.”
• “If the water heater is in the attic, please make sure the access is clear.”
• “Reply to this text if you need a different day.”

That last line matters. A member who can reply and reschedule is a member who does not leave you standing at a locked door.

Two-Way Texting From the Office

Replies come back to the office through two-way texting. When a member writes “Can we do Friday instead?” the office answers in the same thread, moves the visit and confirms. No phone tag, no voicemail.

Texting also helps before a visit is even scheduled. When a cluster of flushes comes due on the Waiting List, the office can text those members to offer a day and book the ones who say yes. That is often faster than calling down a list.

Keep an Eye on Your Text Allowance

Plans include a monthly text allowance: 500, 1,000 or 2,000 segments sent and received on Start, Pro and Crew. Short messages use fewer segments. Keep reminders brief, avoid unnecessary symbols, and let customers choose their alerts so you are not sending texts nobody wants. Email reminders go alongside for members who prefer them.

Texting is available for customers in the US and Canada.

When Reminders Are Not Enough

Some members still will not be home. When that happens, the tech taps Skip and notes why, such as “No answer, garage locked.” The office sees the skip with the note and can text the member to rebook. Because the plan is set by days between visits, the skipped visit stays due until it is actually done.

If the same member misses repeatedly, it is worth a call. They may have moved, or they may be about to cancel. Cancellations get their own guide in When Members Cancel: Recording Why People Leave Your Plumbing Maintenance Plan.

Reminders Are Part of the Service

Members do not just pay for a flush. They pay to not have to remember. Every reminder that arrives on time reinforces that the plan is working for them. For how reminders fit with the Waiting List, the checklist and billing, go back to the PlumbingBossPro water heater service software overview.