PortaPottyBossPro Blog — Weekly Service Scheduling

Service Reminder Texts for Porta Potty Customers: Night Before and On the Way

Fewer Calls Start With Better Information

Many of the complaints covered in Missed Porta Potty Service Complaints: Why They Happen and How to Stop Them come from customers who did not know when you were coming or whether you had been there. Reminder texts fix that. When the site contact gets a text the night before and another when the driver arrives, most "did you come?" calls never happen.

This article covers the reminders and alerts customers can receive and how to set them up so they help rather than annoy.

The Alerts Customers Can Choose

In PortaPottyBossPro, customers can choose their own alert preferences in the customer app:

• Night before: a reminder that service is scheduled for tomorrow.
• When they are next: an alert when they are the next stop on the route.
• When the tech arrives: a text when the driver gets to the site.

Each customer picks what they want. A superintendent who wants to know the truck is there might choose only the arrival alert. A homeowner who needs to open a gate might want all three.

Night-Before Reminders

The night-before reminder is the most useful for preventing wasted trips. It gives the customer a chance to tell you the gate will be locked, the site will be closed, or the units have been moved. Because it is sent the night before the scheduled day, a site that moved to Wednesday gets its reminder Tuesday night. Replies come back to the office through two-way texting, so the office can update notes or move the stop before the driver leaves.

On the Way and Arrival

The driver app sends automatic on-the-way and arrived texts to the customer. The arrival text is the one that ends most "did you come?" calls, because the site contact has a time-stamped message on their phone. The customer app also shows the route on service day on a live map, such as stop 12 of 20 with the crew 5 stops away, so the customer can see how close the truck is. Arrival Texts on Porta Potty Service: Letting the Site Know the Truck Is Here covers arrival texts in more detail.

Text and Email

Automated service reminders and alerts go out by text and email. Some customers, like property managers and accounting offices, prefer email. Site contacts on construction sites almost always prefer text. Make sure each contact has the right phone number and email on file.

Texts and Your Plan

PortaPottyBossPro plans include a monthly text allowance: 500 segments on Start, 1,000 on Pro and 2,000 on Crew, counting texts sent and received. Extra texts are available. Keep messages short so each one uses fewer segments. A weekly service site with arrival texts on uses one text per visit. Plan your alerts with that in mind.

Do Not Overdo It

More texts are not always better. A customer who gets three texts every week for a unit they never think about may start ignoring them, or ask you to stop. Default to the alerts that matter most for each type of customer and let them adjust in the app. Construction contacts usually want arrival. Event organizers often want all three on event days.

Two-Way Texting

Reminders work best when customers can reply. With two-way texting from the office, a reply like "gate is locked today, come tomorrow" or "please pump twice this week" goes to the office, tied to the customer. The office can answer, update the job and reschedule, all from the same place.

Who Gets the Texts

On many sites, the person who pays the bill is not the person standing next to the units. A general contractor's office pays, but the superintendent on site is the one who cares when the truck arrives. Add site contacts to each site so alerts go to the right person. A contractor with five projects might have five different superintendents, each getting alerts only for their own site.

For homeowners, the customer and the contact are the same person, which keeps it simple. For events, the organizer may want alerts during the event and none the rest of the year.

Setting It Up for New Customers

When you add a new customer, set up their contacts and alert preferences before the first service. Tell them about the customer app and the alerts they can choose. A customer who gets a useful arrival text on the first visit learns to trust it, and that trust carries through every visit after. Customers Requesting Porta Potty Service From Their Phone covers what else customers can do from the app.

Reminders and the Schedule

Reminders only work if the schedule is right. They go out based on what is assigned on the dispatch board, so a well-kept board means accurate reminders. To see how reminders fit with the Waiting List and driver app, visit PortaPottyBossPro portable toilet service scheduling software.