Key takeaways
- Start with the new-loss response, the review request when mitigation is complete, and partner and past-customer touches.
- Trigger messages from job status changes in your job software, not from a calendar guess.
- Write as the project manager who stood in the customer's basement; never send a promotion to someone mid-loss.
- Keep a surge version of every callback promise, and never gate review requests.
Marketing automation for a restoration company should do three jobs your office cannot do reliably at 2 a.m. or in a freeze week: answer every new loss at once, ask for the review when mitigation is finished, and keep plumbers, property managers and past customers hearing from you. Set those three up well before adding anything else.
The first three automations
- New-loss response. The trigger is a missed call, a web form, a Local Services Ads lead or a partner referral. Within seconds, a text names your company, asks for the address and whether water is still coming in, and alerts the on-call tech. Every lead is logged with its source. The goal is simple: no new loss waits in silence.
- Review request when mitigation is complete. The trigger is the job status change in your job software when drying is signed off and the equipment is picked up. A text in the project manager's name thanks the customer and links to your Google review page, with one reminder a few days later, then nothing more. The timing matters: the home is dry and the crew's work is fresh, and the deductible conversation and the rebuild schedule have not started yet.
- Partner and past-customer touches. Two triggers share this one. When a referred job closes, the plumber or property manager who sent it gets a thank-you and a short status note. Before freeze season and before storm season, past customers and partners get one useful message with prevention tips and your 24/7 number.
These three follow a restoration job from the first call to the next referral. Each one replaces a task someone in your office means to do and often cannot, because the phones are ringing.
The first three automations
- Missed-call text-back When an inquiry goes unanswered
- Quote follow-up When a quote sits without a reply
- Review request When the work is finished
Keeping it personal
Automation feels personal in restoration when it sounds like the person who stood in the customer's wet basement. The customer just had a bad week. A message that reads like a coupon lands badly.
| Instead of | Send |
|---|---|
| "Dear valued customer, thank you for choosing us!" | "Hi Pat, it's Jordan from the crew that dried out your basement. Glad the fans are gone." |
| "Rate your experience in 30 seconds!" | "If our crew did right by you, a Google review helps other homeowners find us. Here's the link." |
| "Spring special: save on mold inspections this month!" | "A hard freeze is forecast. Here's where your main shut-off is, from our notes." |
A few rules keep it that way:
- Use what you know. The loss type, the project manager's first name, the room you worked in.
- Match the loss. Fire customers get a quieter tone and no follow-up offers for months.
- Stop on reply. Any reply from the customer pauses the sequence and goes to a person.
- Keep adjusters out of it. Messages to insurance adjusters and anything about a disputed claim are written by people, every time.
Tools
The tools are your restoration job management software or field service CRM for the job, and a marketing CRM such as HighLevel for the messages, connected so a status change in one starts the right message in the other. The job software knows when drying is signed off. HighLevel knows who has been asked for a review, who opted out, and which partner sent the job.
- Job software owns the job file, the readings, the photos and the status.
- HighLevel owns the lead, the sequences, the review link and the reporting by source.
- Your business number is registered for A2P 10DLC texting before the first automated text goes out (The Campaign Registry).
The CRM guide for restoration companies covers how the two connect.
Common mistakes
The common mistakes are bad timing, too many messages and nobody watching.
- Asking for the review at final invoice. That is when the deductible and the supplement come up. Ask when the drying is done.
- Gating reviews. Sending the link only to happy customers breaks Google's policy (Google's review policy), and the FTC's review rule bans suppressing negative reviews (FTC rule).
- Leaving the normal script running in a surge. A text that promises a callback within minutes while crews are hours behind turns a frustrated caller into a one-star review. Write the surge version before the season.
- Blasting the whole list with a discount. Nobody buys water mitigation on a coupon, and property managers unsubscribe.
- Texting before registration. Unregistered traffic gets filtered, and the messages you rely on never arrive.
- No owner. One person checks every automation weekly. The missed-call text-back guide shows what to test.
How VETS Growth Marketing helps
We build the three automations first, triggered from your job software's status changes and running in a HighLevel account in your company's name. Each one is a project with a live date, a surge version written before the season, and a weekly check. We report in losses answered, reviews earned and jobs from partners and past customers. Book a growth consultation and we will show you which of the three your company is missing.
Sources
- Prohibited & restricted content (Maps user-generated content policy), Google Maps Help
- 16 CFR Part 465: Use of consumer reviews and testimonials, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
- The Campaign Registry (A2P 10DLC brand and campaign registration), The Campaign Registry