SMS templates for service businesses: the twelve you actually need
Copy-ready text templates for confirmations, reminders, reschedules, missed calls, follow-ups, deposits, review requests and the rest, with the rule for each.
Frontiva · · 4 min read
A service business needs about twelve text templates: booking confirmation, two reminders, reschedule offer, missed-call reply, first follow-up, last follow-up, deposit request, hold expired, waitlist offer, review request, and the HELP reply. Each has one job and one rule. Below is a version of each you can adapt, with placeholders in brackets. Keep them short, name the business every time, and never put anything in a template the customer did not agree to receive.
Booking confirmation
"[Business]: you are booked for [service] on [day, date] at [time] with [person] at [address]. Reply CHANGE to reschedule. Forms: [link]."
Rule: everything the customer needs to find again, and one way to change it. Send by text and email.
Reminder, day before
"[Business]: reminder of your [service] tomorrow at [time] with [person], [address]. Reply CHANGE to move it."
Rule: afternoon of the day before. No promotions.
Reminder, same day
"[Business]: see you at [time] today for your [service]. [Parking note]. Reply CHANGE if something has come up."
Rule: two to three hours before. Include the practical detail that gets them there.
Reschedule offer
"No problem. For your [service] I have [slot 1], [slot 2] or [slot 3]. Which works?"
Rule: real alternatives from the live calendar, not a question about what day they prefer.
Missed-call reply
"Hi, this is [Business]. Sorry we missed your call. How can we help?"
Rule: name the business, acknowledge the call, one question. Nothing promotional. Our scripts post has industry variations.
First follow-up
"Hi [first name], [Business] here. Still want to get [service] booked? I have [slot 1] or [slot 2]."
Rule: the easy next step. Inside quiet hours.
Last follow-up
"[Business]: this is my last message about [service]. If you would like to book later, this number works any time."
Rule: honest and final. Then stop.
Deposit request
"To hold [day] at [time] for your [service], we take a [amount] deposit, credited to your service. Pay here: [link]. The hold lasts 30 minutes."
Rule: amount, what it is for, that it comes off the bill, and the hold window. Before confirming.
Hold expired
"[Business]: the hold on [day] at [time] has expired. Reply if you would still like it and I will check availability."
Rule: no silent expiry.
Waitlist offer
"[Business]: a [service] slot just opened [day] at [time] with [person]. Reply YES to take it. First to reply gets it."
Rule: one slot, one word to accept, and say how it is allocated.
Review request
"Thanks for coming in today, [first name]. If you have a moment, a review helps us a lot: [link]. If anything was not right, reply here and we will sort it."
Rule: only with consent to receive it, only after a completed visit, and always with the "reply here" route so problems come to you first. See asking for Google reviews by text.
HELP reply
"[Business] texts: appointment reminders and replies to your messages. Reply STOP to opt out. Questions: [phone] or [email]."
Rule: automatic, instant, and it must say who you are and how to stop. See STOP, HELP and the texts you must answer.
The rules that apply to all twelve
Name the business. Keep to one segment where you can (160 characters of plain text). No links you would not click yourself. Inside quiet hours for anything you initiate. STOP honoured everywhere, by the platform. And do not send marketing from a template the customer only agreed to for reminders.
Frequently asked questions
Should templates sound like a person?
They should sound like your business: short, plain, first names. They should not pretend a person typed them in the moment. "[Business] here" is honest and reads fine.
Can the AI personalise templates?
Yes: the service, the person, the slot, and anything the customer said in the conversation. It should not add anything the customer did not tell you.
How often should I review them?
Quarterly, and whenever a policy changes. Read the last twenty replies to each template; the confused ones tell you what to fix.
What Frontiva does here
In Frontiva the 24-hour and 2-hour SMS reminders are live in bookings, and automations send the follow-up messages you write, with every send passing the same consent, quiet-hours and frequency checks. Review requests and waitlist offers are not built yet. Our scripts post has more wording.